ISIS Teachers Visit USGS Woods Hole Science Center


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ISIS Teachers Visit USGS Woods Hole Science Center

By Bill Winters
August 2007

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Bill Winters and Dave Mason with the science teachers from the Connecticut Institute for Science Instruction and Study

Above: Bill Winters and Dave Mason (first and second from left) pose with 22 high-school and middle-school science teachers from the Connecticut Institute for Science Instruction and Study (ISIS), who visited the USGS Woods Hole Science Center to learn about gas hydrates and other topics of USGS research. [larger version]

Dave Mason discusses the use of pressure vessels to preserve sediment samples containing natural gas hydrate

Above: Dave Mason (right) discusses the use of pressure vessels to preserve sediment samples containing natural gas hydrate recovered during field expeditions to India, Canada, Alaska, and other offshore U.S. locations. [larger version]

For the fifth time since 1995, a group of teachers from the Institute for Science Instruction and Study (ISIS) visited the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Woods Hole Science Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The Connecticut high-school and middle-school science teachers toured the center on March 24, along with Gennaro Frumento and Scott Graves, coordinators of the ISIS program and professors in the Department of Science Education and Environmental Studies at Southern Connecticut State University.

ISIS, established in 1985, is an intense, 2-year interdisciplinary program directed at advanced-degree science teachers interested in bringing new technologies, ideas, and discoveries into the classroom. This year's group had a tour of the Woods Hole facility, including a visit to GHASTLI (Gas Hydrate And Sediment Test Laboratory Instrument) and other instrumentation in the Geotechnical Laboratory used by Bill Winters, Bill Waite, and Dave Mason. The teachers received a presentation on gas hydrates and USGS gas-hydrate field and laboratory programs. They also viewed video clips about a force-12 storm weathered by the Ocean Drilling Program’s JOIDES Resolution and about various USGS field programs.

Numerous fact sheets and Web-related handouts about gas hydrates and coastal processes (especially those in Long Island Sound) were provided for the teachers by Nancy Soderberg and Cida Freitas. During the tour of the center, the teachers also viewed hallway posters depicting ongoing gas-hydrate work performed by Debbie Hutchinson, Carolyn Ruppel, and John Pohlman. Because each of the teachers instructs more than 100 students per day, the information gained during the Woods Hole visit potentially reaches vast numbers of students. We look forward to seeing the next group in 2 years!

Teachers from the Institute for Science Instruction and Study Visit the USGS Center in Woods Hole
August 2005