Earth System Science Workshop for Teachers (ESST)

Professional Development in Earth Science Teaching For Pre- and In-service Teachers

July 5-13, 2008

The Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA

Workshop Description

This course is designed for current and future teachers, who want to enhance their content knowledge and implement best teaching practices in Earth Sciences. The course will cover hot topics in the areas of planetary, atmospheric, geologic and hydrologic sciences. Linkages and interactions between the subject areas will be emphasized. Topics will align with current PA SOLs. Approaches to teaching these topics in the middle and high school classroom will be discussed, including ways to incorporate various levels of inquiry-based instruction. The residential portion of the course will be preceded by an on-line component devoted to working with natural data sets that are available electronically. The course will be taught by a team of PSU faculty members, working together with science educators, teachers, and graduate students.

Participants will earn Pennsylvania Act 48 credits OR PSU graduate credits towards a degree, while building a portfolio towards Highly Qualified Teacher status.

Generous stipend/tuition subsidy for participation. Single-occupancy dormitory rooms and parking permits on the Penn State campus are available for participants.

Several fun events will take place on campus during the week of the workshop:

The Central PA Festival of the Arts is held on the University Park campus and downtown State College: http://www.arts-festival.com/.

Bring your families and join us for the best volunteer fireworks show in the country, The Central PA Fourth Fest, on July 4^th: http://www.4thfest.org/. We have reserved a block of hotel rooms in State College for participants who will arrive on the 4^th for the fireworks show.

Download the ESST Workshop Application for In-Service Teachers: psu_inserviceapplication.pdf

Download the ESST Workshop Application for Pre-Service Teachers: psu_preservice application.pdf

Print the ESST Workshop Flyer: ESST Flyer PDF.pdf

Learn more about the Workshop Faculty: ESST Faculty.pdf

For educators in the New England vicinity, The University of New Hampshire will also be offering the ESST Workshop in summer 2008. ESST1: July 21-August1; ESST2: July 24-August 1. Visit the University of New Hampshire web-site: http://leitzelcenter.unh.edu/geo-teach/index.html

For more information about the TESSE Program, please contact:

Ms. Jennifer Theiss

College of Earth and Mineral Sciences

220 Walker Building

University Park, PA 16802

Phone: 814-865-0333

For more information about Science Workshops for Educators offered by Penn State, visit the following site: http://teachscience.psu.edu/.