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Great
Lakes Education and Technology
It’s never too early (or too late, for that matter) to introduce someone to the wonders of the Great Lakes. Sometimes all it takes is a single event—the first yellow perch landed on a homemade fishing line or the gentle rocking of a sail boat on Lake Michigan—that sparks a lifetime of enthusiasm for our freshwater seas. Other times, as educators know, it takes considerably more effort to develop the right blend of experiential learning and follow-up lesson plans to effectively teach a scientific concept. Recognizing this challenge, Sea Grant programs across the nation are increasingly using technology to make the best science-based information on the oceans and Great Lakes available to the widest audiences. A good example is the recent online research expedition sponsored by the University of Delaware Sea Grant program. An international team of scientists has been conducting research at hydrothermal vents in the Pacific Ocean, about 1,100 miles off Costa Rica. An educational component enabled classrooms to "dive in" to the research via an interactive Web site: http://www.ocean.udel.edu/extreme2003. The program involved nearly 46,000 students in classrooms across the United States and in Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Uzbekistan. Thousands of students also participate each year in the well-known JASON Project, a real-time science teaching and learning program. The program reaches students via satellite or the Internet and offers a first-hand view of scientific research. Closer to home, Michigan Sea Grant’s own educational objectives are to: 1) Lead Great Lakes science education initiatives for a variety of audiences. (2) Increase access to science education through the use of state-of-the art technology tools, and (3) Identify new opportunities for partnership with Michigan universities, state agencies and non-government organizations. In this special online issue of upwellings, Michigan Sea Grant reaches beyond local and regional borders by adapting Great Lakes educational concepts for the World Wide Web. The lessons focus on water clarity, oxygen and carbon dioxide, weather and water temperature, and the aquatic food web. The educational lessons were drawn from the Great Lakes Education Program curriculum, which was assembled and reviewed in 1999 by more than 50? Michigan educators. Each of the online lessons meets state educational standards and uses colorful graphics and informative sidebars to help explain fundamental lake concepts. Additional lesson plans covering basic wetland concepts and biological control are available on the Purple Pages, the web site for the Purple Loosestrife Project, a hands-on program for educators and their students. Additional features of Michigan Sea Grant’s educational site provide information on Great Lakes camps and programs, grants and fellowships and web links to some of the key environmental education organizations within the state, region and nation.
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