Dr. Frank Stewart in the School of Biology was recently awarded a grant from the Georgia Improving Teacher Quality (ITQ) Grants Program to renew the Summer Workshop in Marine Science (SWiMS). Coral reef collapse, oil spills, and sea level rise are among the most pressing science topics facing policymakers, researchers, and the general public. Understanding these and other issues affecting our oceans is critical to the preservation of marine resources and to a broad education in science. The goal of SWiMS is to use marine science research at Georgia Tech to enhance standards in middle and high school Life and Earth Science education.
Developed by Dr. Stewart in partnership with Gustavia Evans at the Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC), SWiMS is open to local middle and high school science teachers from high need local education agencies of Fulton County and Clayton County. Through lectures by faculty, discussion and lesson planning sessions, and hands-on lab and field exercises, the 5-day SWiMS course disseminates teaching modules developed around cutting-edge marine science by Georgia researchers. SWiMS modules consist of lesson plans and laboratory exercises that address key marine topics, such as ocean food webs, coral reef decline, and ocean acidification in response to global change. SWiMS 2016 will be held at Georgia Tech from June 27 to July 1. Teachers will leave with enhanced content knowledge as well as lesson plans and schedules for module implementation and evaluation. Each participant will receive 5 professional learning units and a $500.00 stipend. Additional details can be found at https://swimsgatech.wordpress.com/ Details about the ITQ program can be found at https://coe.uga.edu/outreach/programs/teacher-quality
