UAS Helps Alaska’s Middle, High School Students Gain the EDGE

The Experiential Discoveries in Geoscience Education project is an initiative of UAS faculty to help Alaska’s middle and high school teachers design exciting curriculum that will help students meet the state’s Earth science performance standards.

Juneau, Alaska

Date of Press Release: April 9, 2007

The Experiential Discoveries in Geoscience Education project is an initiative of UAS faculty to help Alaska’s middle and high school teachers design exciting curriculum that will help students meet the state’s Earth science performance standards. The project is funded by the National Science Foundation.

On Friday, March 16th the EDGE cohort of 14 teachers and 18 students will gather in the UAS Egan Classroom Wing for a science symposium that will showcase the student GIS-based projects. The following day, the high school students will participate in the Southeast Alaska Regional Science Fair at UAS Egan Library.

This weekend concludes the year-long series of workshops, courses, and projects. EDGE participants learned research methodology and took fieldtrips to the Mendenhall Glacier and rafting trips down the Mendenhall River to apply what they learned.

The EDGE program was organized by UAS Associate Professor of Geology and Environmental Science Cathy Connor, UAS Research Assistant Professor of Environmental Science Sonia Nagorski, UAS Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy Rosemary Walling, UAS Education Professor Marla Brownlee, and UAF Associate Professor of Geology Anupma Prakash.

Applications for a new cohort of EDGE teachers and students is currently being solicited for the 2007-2008 iteration of this program. Interested teachers can contact cathy.connor@uas.alaska.edu.