[Nagtnews] NAGTNews - Vol. 4, No. 2

Fri Apr 22 19:04:32 PDT 2005

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NAGTNews - Vol. 4, No. 2 April 2005
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CONTENTS:
1.) New Paleontology Website
2.) Earth System Processes 2
3.) Quantitative Skills Workshop Application Deadline Extended
4.) Abundance of Education Sessions at Salt Lake City GSA Meeting

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1.) New Paleontology Website

Curious about your local geology and the ancient life preserved in the 
rocks under your feet?
Planning a summer vacation and want to know something about the 
paleontology of your destination?
Interested in finding an image of your favorite fossil?
Announcing The Paleontology Portal – http://www.paleoportal.org/ - a new 
website that can help you find the answers to all of these questions, 
and many more!
The Paleontology Portal serves as an entryway to paleontology in the 
United States. The centerpiece of the site is an interactive geologic 
map and associated geologic column that allow the user to explore the 
paleontology of any state during any time period. The site provides 
information on changes in the flora and fauna, major geologic events, 
paleogeography, and past climate and ecosystems. Being a portal, the 
site links to individual museums, educational institutions, current 
research projects, exhibits and other paleontology resources specific to 
state or geologic time period.

The site also boasts an image gallery searchable by time and taxon, a 
distributed paleontological data search of multiple museum collections, 
a mapping tool that allows users to visualize the distribution of 
specimens returned in the collections search, and information on some of 
the major North American fossil assemblages.
This site was developed by the University of California Museum of 
Paleontology in partnership with the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, 
the Paleontological Society, and the United States Geological Survey in 
Menlo Park, and funded by the National Science Foundation under award no 
0234594.

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2.) Earth System Processes 2

GSA is extending a special invitation to members of its Associated and 
Allied Societies to participate in Earth System Processes 2, a joint 
meeting of the Geological Society of America and the Geological 
Association of Canada. The meeting takes place 8-11 August 2005 at the 
Westin Hotel in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Support for the meeting is 
provided by NASA’s Astrobiology Institute and the Canadian Institute for 
Advanced Research, with participation by the European Geosciences Union.
This meeting follows on the great success of ESP1, co-convened by GSA 
and the Geological Society of London in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 2001. As 
you know, earth system science has become the most widely used model for 
exploring complex interrelationships among solid Earth, the oceans, 
atmosphere, and Earth’s myriad life forms. It’s a powerful framework for 
studying Earth’s geological past, present, and future.
A number of sessions may be of interest to NAGT members. Of special 
interest might be an education workshop that will be held Monday and 
Tuesday evenings during the meeting. The workshop is being organized by 
Kristen St. John at James Madison University and will focus on exciting 
ways to incorporate earth system science into the classroom. A list of 
topics includes:
* How to teach students to recognize a system when they see it
* A model for bringing scientists and K-12 teachers together to learn 
about the process of scientific discovery: the Earth2Class model
* Why graduate students should interact with the public schools: the 
GK-12 TIGERS model
* Using action-based research teams to foster constructivist approaches 
to reform undergraduate college earth system science teaching
* A model for integrating interdisciplinary systems research into 
introductory undergraduate classes
Additional workshop details will be posted on GSA's Web site as they 
become available.
The meeting will consist of plenary keynote addresses, theme and general 
sessions, field trips, and special events. Visit 
http://www.geosociety.org/meetings/esp2/index.htm for additional 
information, as well as to submit abstracts, register, and make housing 
arrangements.
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3.) Quantitative Skills Workshop Application Deadline Extended

The application deadline for the workshop "Developing Quantitative 
Activities for Upper-Division Geoscience Students" has been extended to 
April 28th.
The workshop will take place at Carleton College June 27-29, 2005, 
providing an unusual opportunity for faculty to focus on how we teach 
quantitative skills to undergraduate geoscience majors. The workshop is 
sponsored by the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE). 
This workshop (actually two side-by-side and intersecting workshops) 
will provide an opportunity for faculty teaching upper division courses 
in surface processes and climate and global change to:
1) refine a lab, problem set, or other assignment that teaches 
quantitative aspects of these topics based on review by your peers 
(others at the workshop) and mathematicians,
2) create supporting materials that will help other faculty use your 
activity,
3) put all of these materials onto the web as part of the Teaching 
Quantitative Skills in the Geosciences website 
(http://serc.carleton.edu/quantskills/ ), and
4) design complementary activities suitable for introductory courses 
that initiate development of the skills needed to succeed in the upper 
division courses.
For more extensive information about the workshop, visit: 
http://serc.carleton.edu/quantskills/workshop05/index.html
To apply for the workshop, go to
http://serc.carleton.edu/quantskills/workshop05/apinstructions.html
and fill out the online application form.

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4.) Abundance of Education Sessions at Salt Lake City GSA Meeting

NAGT is sponsoring 13 topical sessions at the annual meeting of the 
Geological Society of America, October 16-19, 2005, in Salt Lake City, 
Utah. Abstract deadline is July 12, 2005. The conference website is 
http://www.geosociety.org/meetings/2005/

NAGT-SPONSORED TOPICAL SESSIONS
89. Efficient and Effective Practices in Using Web Sites and 
Technologies to Support and Manage Information, Student Learning and 
Recruitment, and Public Education
97. Innovation, Evaluation, and Best Practices in Informal Geoscience 
Education
100. Integrating Research into Undergraduate Geoscience Coursework
101. Interdisciplinary Education: Applications of GIS and the Infusion 
of Spatial Concepts Across the Curriculum
103. Is it Science? Strategies for Addressing Creationism in the 
Classroom and the Community
104. It's About Time: Teaching the Temporal Aspects of Geoscience (Posters)
105. Let's Rock Their World: Integrating Planetary Science Data into 
Undergraduate Geoscience Courses
106. Methods of Assessing Teaching and Learning in the Geosciences
108. Museum-College Connections: Rich Opportunities for Earth Science 
Education (Posters)
109. Providing Future Elementary and Middle School Teachers with 
Meaningful Geoscience Content Knowledge
110. REU at 25: Its Impact on Undergraduate Geoscience Education
113. Strategies for Teaching Introductory Geoscience in Large Lecture 
Classes
114. We Can Continue to Do Better: More Alternatives to the Same Old Lab 
Lecture Format in the College Classroom

EDUCATION (BUT NOT NAGT-SPONSORED) PARDEE SESSION
P4. Speaking Out for Evolution: Rationale and Resources for Supporting 
the Teaching of Evolution
EDUCATION (BUT NOT NAGT-SPONSORED) TOPICAL SESSIONS
99. Imparting Hands-on Geological Education: Reaching out to 
Undergraduates and K – 12 Students (Posters)
102. International Undergraduate Field Trips: Logistics, Challenges, and 
Successes
111. Sigma Gamma Epsilon Student Research (Posters)
112. Earthcaching — Educational Earth Science Geocaches that Link Public 
and other Lands with the General Public via a Web-based Adventure Game

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***Thanks to everyone who contributed to this issue of NAGTNews. For 
submissions to NAGTNews, comments, questions, or Email address 
corrections contact the Editor, Keith McKain at <NAGTNews at comcast.net> .

*** Previous editions of NAGTNews can be found at: 
http://serc.carleton.edu/pipermail/nagtnews/
Just pick the month of issue and click on Subject to choose the exact 
issue you want.
Sorry – all issues previous to July 2004 are listed together in the June 
2004 area.

***For membership information or to join NAGT, visit our website at 
<http://www.nagt.org/> or contact our business office at:

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Phone: 707-427-8864
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