Impact of GLC On Teachers Over the four years of the project, GLC worked with 171 teachers and 7schools. The program had a dramatically positive impact on the teachers involved. The GLC staff did an excellent job of establishing relationships with participating teachers, teaching them to use Lesson Study techniques and how to use the school garden as a resource for learning and creativity. As a result, teachers' overall attitudes towards teaching improved. Lessons became more flexible and useful across the curriculum. The teachers involved were seen by GLC staff to have made observable
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Minda BorunUniversity of California Botanical Garden
The Coalition for Watershed Education, consisting of the Land Access Information Association, Great Lakes Children's Museum, Interlochen Public Radio and Northwestern Michigan College Great Lakes Studies Institute will implement a comprehensive science education project for youth and adults. The major components include: Watershed Discovery field experiences, Soundscapes radio broadcasts, Waterscapes exhibits, a project website, and the expanded Great Lakes Coalition for Watershed Education. Watershed Discovery is a field-based experience for youth ages 11-17. Teams of 6-10 youth will work with mentors who specialize in GPS, GIS, geology and geography to research and collect data on the Great Lakes watershed. These students will also use their new knowledge to produce radio segments as part of the Soundscapes component. Youth teams will be trained to interview sources, gather information and write scripts for use on the local National Public Radio affiliate. The Great Lakes Children's Museum will design a permanent, interactive watershed of 1,500 square feet, as well as a traveling exhibit of 500 square feet for visitors ages 7-12. Other deliverables include "A Community Guide to Watershed-based Science Education" (available in print and CD-ROM), a one-day regional dissemination conference, and an interactive website. Strategic impact will be realized through the development of a novel model for watershed education, its subsequent replication and summative evaluation outcomes. It is estimated that over 40,000 children will be reached by this community-wide initiative.
IslandWood, a national model for outdoor learning in the Pacific Northwest, proposes to partner with Boys and Girls Clubs of America to plan and pilot a multi-platform informal science initiative. The project will capture the attention of a broad audience, bring viewers into ecosystems they wouldn't otherwise experience, and illuminate the connections to everyday lives through 5-minute video shorts. Support materials for staff at informal learning institutions, and parents of children ages 5-11 who want to learn through neighborhood explorations will be the centerpiece of an online community of support. The scope of this planning project will be to create and evaluate support materials and a pilot video, and design an online environment. Over the year-long planning period the project will continue to develop the relationship with Boys and Girls Clubs of America with the intent to produce and distribute the project nationally beginning in 2010