UNM Today: = Fellows Help Mid-school Students=92 Scientific Curiosity E-MRGE

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March 15, 2007

Fellows Help Mid-school Students=92 Scientific = Curiosity=20 E-MRGE

3DEMRGE Middle school students, teachers and graduate = fellows are=20 beginning to reap dividends from a partnership between UNM, Belen and = Socorro=20 Consolidated School Districts, Sevilleta Long-Term Ecological Research = Program=20 and Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, funded for three years with a = $1.6=20 million grant from the National Science Foundation.

Photo: UNM graduate student Anthony Salem explores materials = behavior=20 with liquid nitrogen alongside students at Belen Middle School as part = of the=20 National Science Foundation=92s GK-12 Program called Ecohydrogeology in = the Middle=20 Rio Grande Environment or E-MRGE.

The program, titled E-MRGE or Ecohydrogeology in the Middle Rio = Grande=20 Environment, rotates graduate fellows between school systems and the = U.S. Fish=20 & Wildlife outreach program. The E-MRGE fellows work with middle = school=20 teachers to demonstrate and promote the teaching and learning of = science.

Led by principal investigator and Biology Professor Scott Collins and = co-investigator Laura Crossey, professor of Earth and Planetary = Sciences,=20 program goals include demonstrating key scientific concepts, connecting = middle=20 school learning to the habits and skills required for future study in = science=20 disciplines, providing science professional role models, enhancing = teachers=92=20 content knowledge and understanding of principles of science, and = assisting in=20 science instruction.

The active learning projects are also designed to help teachers meet = New=20 Mexico science standards. Teachers receive support and university credit = through=20 summer courses offered by UNM=92s Albuquerque Teachers Institute.

=93We are learning about global climate change and human impacts on=20 ecosystems,=94 said Juliana Medeiros, a Ph.D. candidate in Biology. =93I = was really=20 shocked when one student told me that he couldn=92t sleep the night I = showed them=20 the movie =91An Inconvenient Truth.=92 The important part, I feel, is = that we are=20 also working on solutions to these issues.

=93Many of my students have told me that I am their favorite teacher = and that=20 they really enjoy the lessons. I think that most of them have never been = asked=20 to develop their own scientific questions and experiments, they have = never been=20 given the opportunity to explore their own creative and imaginative = ideas about=20 the world around them.=94

Anthony Salem, a graduate fellow from earth and planetary sciences, = feels the=20 mid-school students are benefiting from the experience.

=93I think, for the most part, the students enjoy having us come = in,=94 Salem=20 said. =93We represent the outside world to them, and it=92s a break from = their daily=20 routine. I feel we=92re also making an impact. We=92ve had students ask = us about=20 college and careers, and we=92ve had students ask us great questions = about various=20 areas of science.

=93As for the students, I think what we=92ve had to show them has = made them=20 question some of their preconceptions and has also broadened some of = their=20 horizons.=94

Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu

Posted=20 by scarr at March 15, 2007 12:31 PM