NOAA's National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) , in collaboration with teachers across the nation, the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office and a professional contractor TERC (Boston, Mass.), are currently developing the Estuaries 101 Curriculum.
Several steps are being followed to develop Estuaries 101. Visit this website often to follow the progress of curriculum development, to find opportunities to provide feedback, and learn about opportunities to test educational products!
Step 1. Design and implement a national teacher needs assessment.
The needs assessment is available! It targets formal and informal K-12 educators throughout the nation. This assessment will determine obstacles to teaching about estuaries, and teacher's preferences for accessing and utilizing various educational products in their classrooms. The results gathered from this survey will shape the development of the Estuaries 101 curriculum. Timeline:
- Needs assessment is drafted ..............................Oct 2006 - Jan 2007
- Focus groups with teachers are held ..................Jan 2007
- Needs assessment is revised ..............................Feb 2007
- Teachers complete final assessment ...................Feb 2007 - Mar 2007
- Final report of assessment results is published ....June 2007
Step 2. Design and develop Estuaries 101 curriculum.
The Estuaries 101 curriculum will be presented in four parts: K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12 grades. The curriculum for grades 9-12 will be developed first. The lessons will utilize field-based estuarine research and data to interpret the health and function of estuaries. Timeline:
- Design 4 modules of Estuaries 101 for grades 9-12.....Feb 2007 - Sept 2007
- Pilot Chesapeake Bay module with teachers................May 2007 - Dec 2007
- Pilot remaining 3 modules with teachers.....................Oct 2007 - Dec 2007
- Lessons are revised....................................................Dec 2007 - Feb 2008
- Final lessons are published on the estuaries.gov site ...March 2008
Step 3. Implementing Estuaries 101 through professional teacher training.
In 2008, NERRS educators will train and support teachers on the use of the KEEP products, such as the 9-12 grade portion of Estuaries 101 and the powerful web-interface that manipulates data for teaching various estuarine concepts.
Currently, some Reserves offer teacher training on existing lessons and activities. Complimenting this existing training, Teacher on the Estuary programs will be offered. Teacher on the Estuary programs are professional development workshops to be offered at individual Reserves across the country and at national education conferences. To learn about upcoming events, including professional teacher training workshops, please visit the NERRS education calendar frequently.
