Mobilizing Enduring NSDL Resources in Plate Tectonics Research for Earth Science Education

University Of California-San Diego Scripps Inst Of Oceanography, La Jolla CA

Investigators

Abstract

This project is developing a data-oriented digital library collection on education in plate tectonics, the central earth science paradigm. The effort brings together earth scientists with their expertise in research concepts and data access and educators with their expertise in methods and practice of teaching and their knowledge of how to enhance scientific literacy. The host institution, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), has a hundred year rich history in oceanographic research and is one of four key institutions that developed plate tectonics in the 1960's. A current NSDL grant supports a collection of marine geological and geophysical data and documents along with information technology tools that help "bridge the gap" between science data archives and libraries. Items in the plate tectonics collection are being linked to the historic and modern marine geological and geophysical data in support of inquiry-based teaching methods. To combine these collections in a coherent and systematic way, a method of semantic resolution across collection-specific metadata is being developed, thus enriching the metadata content provided to the NSDL globally. The project is also enabling the professional development of teachers through interactions with a local school district and 40 teachers nationwide who are attending two intensive summer workshops. This is followed up through mentoring during the subsequent implementation of the resources of the plate tectonics collection in the classroom.