TITLE:   Long Term Ecological Research Network K-12 Education Partnership:
Students and Teachers Experiencing LTER
AUTHORS: P.L.Sprott*, K.S.Baker#, M.E.Krasny~, M.M.Elser+ and R.E.Bohanan**
DATE:    8 August 2001
PLACE:   the Ecological Society of America (ESA)
         Madison, Wisconsin
THEME:   Keeping All the Parts: Preserving, Restoring and Sustaining Complex
            Ecosystems
URL:     http://www.esa.org; http://esa.sdsc.edu/madison

          POSTER - #21-25
          Education

         *University of New Mexico
         #University of California at San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
         ~Cornell University
         +Arizona State University
         **University of Wisconsin, Madison

ABSTRACT:
Recognizing a need for increased understanding of inquiry-based science among
our nation's youth, the National Science Foundation has supplemented the 24
sites in the Long Term Ecological Research Network with funding for
educational programs that engage kindergarten through 12th grade students and
teachers with LTER principal investigators.  Three years into the SLTER
program, a survey of 8 sites demonstrates more than 60 LTER principal
investigators have interacted directly with more than 200 K-12 teachers and
well over 6,000 children.  These interactions have yielded numerious products,
including LTER schoolyard sites, guidance through inquiry-based science
methods for k-12 students and teachers, and new datasets produced by
schoolchildren.  This poster presents a glimpse into those activities,
encouraging dialogue within the scientific community about ideas,
experiences, and future interactions among those committed to including K-12
teachers, students and parents in our future research and education
endeavors.