Project Need: Successful completion of FCAT Science will soon be required for graduation from Florida’s high schools. While increased attention to Science is positive for the students in Florida and for the future of the State, the elevated status of Science is challenging many districts. This project seeks to provide resources to support Florida's Science teachers as they work to integrate digital technologies into their Science instruction.
Project Overview: The goal of the Exploring Science Content project is to design, develop, disseminate, and evaluate research-based online science education modules focused on innovative, technology-rich practices to enhance science learning in Union County secondary schools and schools statewide. This project is a collaboration among the Union County School District, the University of Florida, and the Florida Center for Instructional Technology (FCIT). The science resources will be modeled after and will extend FCIT’s successful creation of Exploring Florida: Social Studies Resources for Teachers and Students. This resource repository houses thousands of resources for multimedia projects (i.e. photographs, maps, music, VRs, movies, documents, and more) and dozens of reading passages with FCAT-like questions for teachers to implement in their classrooms.
Specifically, the digital resources that will be developed for Exploring Science Content are:
• Maps. The project will support digitizing, metatagging, and posting Florida maps to support science teaching and learning. Each map will be available as a JPEG or GIF file for viewing and as a PDF for high-quality printing. Maps with sufficient detail will also be available in a "Zoomified" version that allows students to zoom in and out and move around the map to examine selected areas in detail. The maps will include the following categories: USGS topographic, nautical, groundwater, coastal zone management, water management, and Florida Geological Surveys.
• VRs. Developers will create virtual reality tours of environmentally and scientifically significant areas in Florida. Each tour will consist of multiple VR movies that allow students to pan around the environment and zoom in to examine details. Example locations will include springs, rivers, coastal areas, the Everglades, lakes, highlands, and hammocks.
• Photographs. Developers will capture and post with sufficient metadata (including lat/lon) photographs of the Florida environment and science facilities. The photos will include a variety of landforms, ecosystems, and plants and animals.
• Clipart illustrations. Developers will digitize, metatag, and post line drawings to support science instruction. The illustrations will include Florida flora and fauna as well as illustrations of geologic structures, weather phenomena, and scientific instruments.
• Documents and data sets. Developers will post primary source documents and data sets for student use. The documents will include such items as diaries of early Florida naturalists, nineteenth century plans to radically alter the Florida environment, reports on agricultural experiments, and other primary source documents allowing for student practice in critical reading in the content area. The data sets will include such information as temperature variations from year to year or from month to month, tides, agricultural production, rainfall, storm frequency, and mining production.
• Additional digital assets. Upon recommendation of subject matter experts, additional digital assets may be added to the list of deliverables above to support specific areas of the online Science professional development modules and/or to reflect advances in technology during the project period.
|