Alumni Bulletin - Winter 2009 - (Page 19)

SCIENCE • TECHNOLOGY • ENVIRONMENT • POLICY • SOCIETY Alec Bodzin BUILDING ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY Eighth-grade students from Broughal Middle School recently canvassed the school’s South Bethlehem neighborhood, using GPS devices to map out the sewers in order to determine where rainwater flows. In another project, the students analyzed land use in the Lehigh Valley area to determine the best location to build a new Wal-Mart Super Center that would have the least impact on the environment. These interactive activities are part of an innovative middle-school environmental curriculum developed by Alec Bodzin, an associate professor in the College of Education’s Teaching, Learning, and Technology program, with help from graduate students Tamara Peffer, who is working toward her Ph.D. in learning, science, and technology, and Violet Kulo, who is working on her Ph.D. in educational technology. The inquiry-based, environmental-science curriculum is funded through a NASA Explorer School grant and a Toyota US Foundation grant, and incorporates lessons on energy, global climate change, and environmental issues such as land use change. Violet Kulow In addition to the middle-school projects, Bodzin has also been instrumental in developing the LEO EnviroSci Inquiry, a Web site designed specifically for curricular enhancement of existing Environmental Science components of an elementary, middle school, or upper secondary science curriculum. Teachers can access activities and lesson plans related to geology, weather, environmental issues, watershed, and environmental data. For the LEO project, Bodzin works closely with faculty from the Environmental Initiative (EI), especially Dork Sahagian, professor of earth and environmental sciences and director of the EI. Bodzin, whose office is in Iacocca Hall on the Mountaintop Campus, says he looks forward to teaching science education classes in the new STEPS building, which—as an added bonus—is conveniently located next door to Broughal Middle School. “It’s going to make things easier in terms of more faculty collaboration on initiatives,” he says. Peffer and Kulo agree that working together with faculty and students from other disciplines will be a boon for their graduate research. “We get to improve our science content knowledge,” Peffer says. Photo courtesy of google earth Violet Kulo Why it matters Alec Bodzin hopes that his work with middle-school students will one day help wipe out adult environmental illiteracy. “We need to develop an environmentally literate population of students,” Bodzin says. “We know right now that many adults are not environmentally literate. They just don’t understand the environment. It hasn’t been traditionally taught in schools.” By working with middle-school students, Bodzin hopes they will develop an understanding of issues related to the environment, global climate change, and energy by the time they turn 18 and can vote. wINTEr 2009 19

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Lehigh Bulletin - Winter 2009 Contents From the President's Desk Mailbox On Campus Research Arts & Culture Sports Teaming Up to Tackle Global Challenges Positively 4th Street A Sweet Job From the Publisher's Desk Alumni News

Alumni Bulletin - Winter 2009

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