The Stroud Water Research Center and West Chester University are building on research of the Christina Basin Critical Zone Observatory as a way to communicate Earth system science to teachers, informal educators and children of migrant agricultural workers in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Humans occupy a dynamic, ever-changing environment at the surface of the Earth called the Critical Zone. This zone, stretching from the base of the soil to the top of the vegetation, is where humans come into direct contact with, and have an impact on, Earth systems. Understanding the principles and processes that form this environment is vital to understanding the planet and human impacts on the environment. This project creates place-based educational experiences for participants that introduce them to both natural processes and human impacts that shape the environment within Earth's Critical Zone. By linking processes that act at the local scale to conditions that occur at the global scale, this project provides participants with a means to comprehend the integrated and complex nature of Earth system science. To accomplish this, the project develops, delivers and evaluates: 1) workshops/graduate courses for teachers and informal educators; and, 2) after-school and summer activities for children of local migrant agricultural workers.
The primary goal of this project was to communicate the principles and processes of Critical Zone science to teachers, informal educators and educationally at-risk youth. While the original goal of the project was to integrate Critical Zone data sets with earth science curriculum, the project focused upon development of sensors for data collection by students for use in earth science lessons. The objectives of this project were to 1) Develop, deliver and evaluate workshops/graduate courses for teachers and informal educators and 2) Prepare after-school and summer activities for children of local migrant agricultural workers that illustrate how local actions can perturb processes within the Critical Zone that, in turn, affect both their local and the global environment Educator Training and Resources: Teacher training, as a part of in-service training and a Migrant Education Workshop, included an introduction to Critical-Zone science, the use of the Model My Watershed application and a sensor-building workshop. Community educators, from the Chester County, Penn State Agricultural Extension Service, 4-H Program were introduced to sensor kits and use for program activities. As a result of the project, funds were obtained through West Chester University to integrate sensor science into the Geographic Information Systems curriculum. The Model My Watershed model is also used in these courses, highlighting available Critical Zone data and linking sensor mapping to spatial analysis. Student Programs and Resources: The project had success with after school and summer programs. This included 4-H programs, Migrant Education programs, community centers, after school programs, programs at the Wetlands Institute, and in-school programs. The summer programs included students from two southern Chester County school districts, Avon Grove and Kennett Consolidated. The project had success working with students in the Kennett Consolidated School District, a district with a large Hispanic population. During the summers, we offered programming through the Penn State University's Agricultural Extension Service's 4-H program, for children of migrants. West Chester University students, along with Dr. Coutu, provided sensor-based curriculum and projects to participants in 4-H programs. This occurred during the three summers of the program and during a few Fall programs (most 4-H programs are run during the summer months.) Activities were repeated at a number of different locations each summer. Working with migrant students is challenging, as families move frequently and participants change constantly. In Chester County, 4-H has close ties with Migrant Education, Girl Scouts, and to some extent, Boy Scouts. These group often offered cross-curriculum so each organization and their leaders were introduced to the products of this grant. The project participated in an after-school program for three years at the Kennett Middle School and conducted an after-school science club for 4th and 5th graders at the Greenwood Elementary. The Kennett program, After-the-Bell, included sensor instruction, GPS training and the use of Model My Watershed. Two programs, directly developed from this grant, are now regularly offered courses during the After-the-Bell program. This includes an earth science program that connects hands-on watershed activities, with an introduction to GIS technology, GPS, and Model My Watershed. The second program introduces sensor technology, programming of sensors with basic coding, data collection, and interpretation of data, based upon earth science lessons. A program at the Greenwood Elementary School used GLOBE material to introduce the students to soils. The second year, we developed a more tailored program that included taking students into the school yard to collect their own soil cores. Students from West Chester University, faculty, and staff from the Stroud Water Research Center, supported these activities. A number of summer camp and long term activities were offered using the project curriculum. A week long program was provided through the Chester County Migrant Education Program. The project was invited to teach sensors, GIS skills, and Model My Watershed in the context of earth science lessons. The end of this program included a field trip to a mushroom house to learn how sensors are used to grow mushrooms. This program was also provided at the Garage Community Center. A unique population at the Garage Center program was a Girl’s group that participated in the same curriculum as the Migrant Education program. A similar program was offered at the Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor, New Jersey. This was a summer camp program offered to Stone Harbor residents. This curriculum was refined and extended through a program at Kennett High School. This program worked with junior and senior students who started a chapter of the National Society for Black Engineers. Ten students, connected to migrant worker families, participated in a semester-long project of building, programming, and utilizing sensors. The students learned the basic sensor skills, researched sensor technology and selected new technology to learn. Transmitters, receivers, and GPS units were added to the sensor curriculum and built by these students.
