The goal of the project is to improve 6-16 biology education through the production and dissemination of a manual describing small scale campus-based long-term ecological research sites (school-based LTER sites). A common feature of ecology curriculum at the high school level and in many instances at the undergraduate level is a lack of an experimentally-based field experience. School-based LTER sites will allow pre-service and in-service teachers to be actively involved in ongoing short- and long-term ecological research. The manual will detail how to establish LTER sites on school grounds and provide examples of experiments that could be conducted at the sites. The approach differs from traditional uses of school yards by presenting experiments patterned after those in the literature. For the Rocky Mountain West, long-term experiments are presented to address the effects of nutrient availability, enhanced water availability and grazing on short grass prairie succession. Experiments that have greater relevance to other regions of the country will also be developed. Regardless of the questions asked or size and budget of the LTER sites, all the experiments will be simple in design, low in cost, low in maintenance and will be explicitly tied to national standards and benchmarks (AAAS 1993, NRC 1996). The University of Northern Colorado views this project as central to its mission as the science education leader in region and to this end has committed over $20,000 in the form of graduate stipends, tuition, and equipment dollars towards its development and implementation (see Budget Justification for details). The manual will be developed over a three period by a team that includes the PI's, and a group of invited in-service teachers, biology researchers and science educators from different geographic and demographic regions of the US. The PI's for this project represent a blend of researchers in ecology and biology education, including experience in theoretical eco logy, population ecology, animal behavior, and student learning. Moreover, they possess over 20 years experience teaching at the middle and high school levels. The input from additional team members is critical to the success of the project and to insure that the manual be applicable to the widest possible audience. While teachers, researchers and science educators share common interests, the reality is that they write to different levels and communicate to different audiences through different venues. The team will meet once per year in a workshop setting to develop the manual. In year one, the team will setup the demonstration plots and activities relevant to each team member's region will be developed. In year two, the team will meet again to refine the exercises. In year three the team will finalize and submit the first edition of the manual. The manual will be disseminated through a national publisher in coordination with the University of Northern Colorado Research Corporation (see Dissemination Plan). Additionally, results will be published in professional journals and presented at national professional meetings. As an added bonus, the campus-LTER sites will also be used to enhance the current ecology and science methods curriculum at UNC. Students (a large percentage of which are pre-service teachers) will be active participants in both short-term and long-term experiments. The pre-service teachers will be exposed to a potent instructional tool that they might integrate into their curricula. Sites will also offer opportunities for faculty and graduate students interested in pedagogically based research. The University of Northern Colorado is well positioned to conduct this project. The University has a long tradition of leadership in science education. Department of Biological Sciences includes faculty specializing in both biology content and pedagogy.
