Beyond Stone Walls: Towards a K-8 Curriculum

University Of Connecticut, Storrs CT

Investigators

Abstract

0331163 Thorson This project is an extension of the highly successful book for children "Stone Wall Secrets," authored by the PI. It reflects a collaboration between the researchers at the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, the educators at the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut, and the teachers at the Dorothy Goodwin Elementary School in Storrs, CT. The project is producing a standards-based, integrated curriculum that directly addresses needs expressed by the Connecticut State Board of Education. The project will deliver research-based, field-tested educational materials that will be catalogued through the reviewed section of the Digital Library for Earth System Education, <a href="http://www.dlese.org/">DLESE</a>. The project has three key goals: 1) to integrate geoscience research and education by enhancing the existing partnership between science and education at the University of Connecticut, 2) targeting K-8 schooling by developing, evaluating, revising, and disseminating a standards-based, integrated curriculum based on "Stone Wall Secrets" and a trans-disciplinary approach curriculum, and 3) leveraging the innovative, field-tested products after two years into alternative funding.