Funded by the National Science Foundation, this workshop series was designed to promote collaborative learning between educators and scientists (1:3 scientist-educator ratio) in order to create online learning resources that align with National Science Education Standards, as well as Climate and Ocean Literacy Principles.

For this particular event, 15 educators were matched with 5 ocean and climate scientists from the University of Connecticut to improve their collective understanding of Earth's major ocean - climate systems. COSEE-OS staff facilitated interactions between internationally known scientists and informal and formal educators to infuse cutting-edge research topics into educational products such as concept maps that hyperlink to scientist-vetted images, video, news items, and educational resources. This workshop was the first COSEE-OS concept mapping workshop to combine groups of formal and informal educators when working with scientists; the goal of which was to give the scientists a breadth of educator perspectives, and for the informal and formal educators to mutually benefit from each other's experience in a diversity of teaching experiences.

Scientists' topics at this workshop were broad reaching, but had a local connection to the Long Island Sound, a marine water body separating Connecticut and Long Island, NY. Topics ranged from copepod toxin resistance and its effect on whole ecosystems, to invasive species concerns, mathematical models of nutrient flow, and concerns about persistent organic pollutants and their travels about the globe.

Click here for a group photo of our workshop participants.

Workshop materials: Participant's Agenda | Facilitator's Agenda

LEARN MORE About Concept Maps from this Workshop

Workshop contact: Annette deCharon