I was a fellow of the National Science Foundation GK-12 CarbonEARTH program, which stands for Carbon Researchers and Teachers Together for Humanity from 2012-2014. The program partners graduate students with elementary and middle school teachers at rural or inner-city schools to bring new and relevant science into the classroom. CarbonEARTH fellows work closely with partner teachers to design and teach science curriculum and improve science communication skills.
I was partnered with Laura Warner, a 4th grade teacher at rural Philipsburg Elementary School, in Philipsburg, PA. We have worked together to develop a science curriculum that is engaging and teaches big science ideas, such as the conservation of matter, energy flow and landscape evolution. I also worked closely with 4th grade teacher Cindy Warming and her CarbonEARTH Fellow Andrea Giordano, a chemistry Ph.D. student at Penn State. The classes have partnered together to explore how we measure weather and the chemistry behind our food.
For more information about the CarbonEARTH program, please visit http://carbonearth.org/.
Some of my favorite activities are highlighted below.
I was partnered with Laura Warner, a 4th grade teacher at rural Philipsburg Elementary School, in Philipsburg, PA. We have worked together to develop a science curriculum that is engaging and teaches big science ideas, such as the conservation of matter, energy flow and landscape evolution. I also worked closely with 4th grade teacher Cindy Warming and her CarbonEARTH Fellow Andrea Giordano, a chemistry Ph.D. student at Penn State. The classes have partnered together to explore how we measure weather and the chemistry behind our food.
For more information about the CarbonEARTH program, please visit http://carbonearth.org/.
Some of my favorite activities are highlighted below.
WPSU - Beyond the Classroom: CarbonEARTH
Here is an interview I participated in talking about the annual CarbonEARTH Expo, where students teach their parents, siblings and the community about the science they have accomplished throughout the year.
http://radio.wpsu.org/post/beyond-classroom-carbonearth
Here is an interview I participated in talking about the annual CarbonEARTH Expo, where students teach their parents, siblings and the community about the science they have accomplished throughout the year.
http://radio.wpsu.org/post/beyond-classroom-carbonearth
Philipsburg Elementary Weather Balloon Project
Philipsburg Elementary School 4th grade students launched a weather balloon from the elementary school soccer field on Tuesday, September 24th. After learning about how weather is measured and building their own rain gauges, thermometers, barometers and anemometers, students collected similar data recorded on a flight computer attached to a helium filled weather balloon. It was a perfect sunny day for the launch, and the balloon rose 83,000 feet before landing in a stream near Carlisle, Pennsylvania three hours later. Photos captured views along the journey and a GPS was instrumental in recovering the balloon. The airborne computer also recorded air temperature and pressure as well as wind speed, information the students used to learn how scientists graph and interpret data. Ultimately students added the data and photos from the weather balloon to a floor to ceiling model of the layers of the atmosphere they had made out of construction paper. The students were quite excited to show they sent a balloon into the stratosphere.
Philipsburg Elementary School 4th grade students launched a weather balloon from the elementary school soccer field on Tuesday, September 24th. After learning about how weather is measured and building their own rain gauges, thermometers, barometers and anemometers, students collected similar data recorded on a flight computer attached to a helium filled weather balloon. It was a perfect sunny day for the launch, and the balloon rose 83,000 feet before landing in a stream near Carlisle, Pennsylvania three hours later. Photos captured views along the journey and a GPS was instrumental in recovering the balloon. The airborne computer also recorded air temperature and pressure as well as wind speed, information the students used to learn how scientists graph and interpret data. Ultimately students added the data and photos from the weather balloon to a floor to ceiling model of the layers of the atmosphere they had made out of construction paper. The students were quite excited to show they sent a balloon into the stratosphere.