CENSNet: An Architecture for Authentic Web-based Science Inquiry in Middle and High School

University Of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

This forty-eight month project will provide middle and high school students and teachers with access to live scientific data from the Center for Embedded Networked Sensing (CENS). It will result in curricular modules that are built around sensor networks and that target core life science content and inquiry standards. Current funding for scientific research has provided an ecosystem monitoring network that supports extensive remote investigations of the James Reserve in California. This project adds the educational interface and supporting materials to support authentic investigations by schools. It allows schools to do investigations and inquiry in the same way and in the same environment as scientists. The project builds on the $20 Million STC project to create a network of sensors for scientific use. The proposed project aims to create a student-friendly view of the CENS sensor network, with wrap-around instructional activities for classroom use in a broad range of the sciences. Dissemination of these activities will be in conjunction with the CENSnet project. A research component includes the study of fading technological and pedagogical scaffold for inquiry and measuring student gains.