Collaborative Research: Introducing the Principles and Processes of the Earth's Critical Zone to Teachers, Informal Educators and Academically At-Risk Youth

West Chester University Of Pennsylvania, West Chester PA

Investigators

Abstract

The Stroud Water Research Center and West Chester University are building on research of the Christina Basin Critical Zone Observatory as a way to communicate Earth system science to teachers, informal educators and children of migrant agricultural workers in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Humans occupy a dynamic, ever-changing environment at the surface of the Earth called the Critical Zone. This zone, stretching from the base of the soil to the top of the vegetation, is where humans come into direct contact with, and have an impact on, Earth systems. Understanding the principles and processes that form this environment is vital to understanding the planet and human impacts on the environment. This project creates place-based educational experiences for participants that introduce them to both natural processes and human impacts that shape the environment within Earth's Critical Zone. By linking processes that act at the local scale to conditions that occur at the global scale, this project provides participants with a means to comprehend the integrated and complex nature of Earth system science. To accomplish this, the project develops, delivers and evaluates: 1) workshops/graduate courses for teachers and informal educators; and, 2) after-school and summer activities for children of local migrant agricultural workers.