Teacher Workshops
The ARM Education and Outreach Program plans on conducting teacher in-service training as requested by the local communities and regions hosting the ARM Program's data gathering field sites.
Laura Marsh presenting at the Teacher Inservice at Eben Hopson Middle School in Barrow.
Teachers measuring the temperatures of their "ocean" with and without sea ice in the insulating sea ice lesson.
November 2002 ARM Climate Change Workshops
Laura Marsh and Carrie Talus of ARM Education recently presented teachers' workshops in basic climate change science at three schools in the North Slope. Marsh's presentations included a discussion of global climate change such as El Niño, sea level rise, global warming, ecology of climate change, and the greenhouse effect and the Bringing Climate Change into the Classroom handout. Talus presented information on the ARM Program and the ARM Education Program. She also shared information about the Iñupiat traditional knowledge effort, which included inviting elders into the classroom to share what they know about climate and weather. During the workshop, the teachers also participated in hands-on activities on arctic microclimates, melting sea ice, insulating sea ice, and a computer lesson using real ARM data called “Comparing Temperature, Pressure, and Humidity.” A Pen Pal Program was also offerred to the teachers in an effort to start correspondence between students in the Arctic and the Tropical Western Pacific.
The North Slope Borough School District covers the top of Alaska and is entirely above the Arctic Circle. Its boundaries are the same as those of the North Slope Borough, covering 88,000 square miles. It is 650 miles from east to west, making it the largest school district in the U.S. The school district has eight widely spread villages and is primarily Iñupiat Eskimo. The November 2002 ARM Education workshops were held for Eben Hopson Middle School teachers in Barrow, science teachers at Alak School (K-12) in Wainwright, and all teachers at Meade River School (K-12) in Atqasuk. At the workshop, teachers received ARM Education curriculum books, science posters for their classrooms, an ARM Education totebag, and other education materials.
2002 Curriculum Workshops in the TWP
ARM Education conducted teacher workshops in the TWP during April and May of 2002. These workshops focused on teaching climate change curriculum and aiding the teachers to become more comfortable with teaching environmental science in the classroom. Teachers were given ARM educational packets, handouts and viewgraphs, hands-on classroom project information, a book entitled Weather Explained - A Beginners Guide To The Elements, and other educational materials. The workshops included collaboration from the Roger Williams Park Zoo's Tree Kangaroo Project and the Wildlife Conservation Society of Papua New Guinea.
2001 North Slope of Alaska Teacher In-Service Day
In October, ARM Education led an all day teacher in-service for the Barrow (Alaska) High School teachers. The in-service included information on the ARM Program, why ARM scientists study global climate change, and the goals of ARM Education as well as having a guest speaker from the National Weather Service. ARM Education staff taught two hands-on lessons to the teachers. One lesson was on microclimates in the Arctic and the other on the thermodynamics of pizza. Both of these lessons involved active participation from the teachers and included activity sheets and informational materials for the teachers to bring back to their own classes. The in-service also included field trips to the ARM site, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) site and the National Weather Service site to show the teachers what data is being gathered at each site and the possibility for class field trips.
Teacher Reactions to Past Workshops
"It was worth attending the workshop to receive first hand updated information, to refresh the mind, to meet and share ideas with teacher colleagues, good break from the classroom, very inspirational."
- Nauru teacher, Grades 8 - 10
- Port Moresby teacher, Grades 7 and 8
- Teacher from Manus Island, Grades 2 and 4
Teacher Evaluation Results:
