CI-WATER's Teaching Toolbox in Action

Retta Hudlow, a sixth grade science teacher in Pinedale, Wyoming was one of the first teachers to use the CI-WATER Teaching Toolbox in her classroom.

Hydropoly game

The toolbox includes a manual with multiple lesson plans for various age groups and the equipment needed to conduct lessons and experiments in the manual.  There are games, books, models and more to help students learn about everything from water modeling to human use and impact on water.

The toolbox is designed for Utah and Wyoming K-12 teachers, students and community groups. The experiments and lessons provided in the toolbox meet state education standards.

“The Next Generation Science Standards include standards on the water cycle, groundwater resources, human impact, modeling particle motion in different states, along with scientific and engineering processes,” says Retta. “The toolbox addresses many parts of these standards.”

The toolbox gave Retta an opportunity to add to the curriculum she was already teaching.

“I already had a unit on water and weather,” says Retta. “But this added more lessons on the properties of water, which were powerful teaching tools.”

Retta has enjoyed using the toolbox and knows that her students have learned a lot with their time using the toolbox.

“They have learned a great deal about water. Their pre- and post-test scores were impressive,” she says.

For more information about the toolbox, please visit the CI-WATER website or contact Beth Cable at bcable@uwyo.edu or 307-766-3544. 

By Robin Rasmussen
Photos by Kali McCrackin

Wyoming EPSCoR Continues to Expand Research Statewide

Wyoming EPSCoR works to expand research opportunities around Wyoming by building strong working relationships with Wyoming community college faculty and students.

“Wyoming EPSCoR supports community college researchers by increasing research capacity and encouraging innovation by educators and students,” says Liz Nysson, Education, Outreach and Diversity Coordinator for Wyoming EPSCoR.

The three community college programs Wyoming EPSCoR sponsors include the Community College Transition Program, the Community College Research Program, and the Community College STEM Summer Research Projects.

“With support from the National Science Foundation and the new Wyoming Center for Environmental Hydrology and Geophysics, we are able to expand and renew community college support.” says Liz.

The Community College Transition Program (CCTP) is for students majoring in science, technology, engineering and math who are transferring to the University of Wyoming to complete their undergraduate degrees. Awardees receive $1,500 per semester for two years and gain research experience. During the first semester, awardees rotate through several faculty labs and join a laboratory during the following semesters to complete an undergraduate research project with a faculty mentor. The application deadline for CCTP is April 1^st, 2014 for the 2014 fall semester.

Community College Research Program (CCRP) is intended to encourage research initiatives for community college educators by providing multiple years of support. For the next three years, CCRP is in collaboration with the Wyoming Center for Environmental Hydrology and Geophysics (WyCEHG). Community college projects with a strong tie to WyCEHG research and those that would benefit from the use of WyCEHG equipment will be considered. The application deadline for pre-proposals is March 3^rd at 5 p.m.

The Community College STEM Summer Research Projects (CC-STEM) aims to provide support to community college summer research projects with students. Research projects must be within a STEM-related field. CC-STEM recipients receive $7,000 for project and student support. The application deadline for the Community College STEM Summer Research Project is March 21^st at 5 p.m.

If you are interested in applying for any of these programs, please visit our website or contact Rick Matlock (rixdogs@uwyo.edu) or Liz Nysson (lizn@uwyo.edu) for more information. 

By Robin Rasmussen

Wyoming EPSCoR and WyCEHG Hold Water Interest Group Meeting in Laramie, WY

On Monday, October 7th, Wyoming EPSCoR and WyCEHG hosted the Water Interest Group Meeting in Laramie WY.

This meeting was an opportunity for citizens from around the state of Wyoming to learn more about WyCEHG, and to express their needs and desires about water research around the state to WyCEHG members.

Patrick Tyrrell from the Wyoming State Engineers Office
presents to WIG Meeting participants

Participants had the chance to hear from various individuals around the state, including Patrick Tyrrell, director of the Wyoming State Engineers Office, and Harry LaBonde, director of the Wyoming Water Development Office.

Breakout sessions were held to encourage participants to share ideas and provide WyCEHG feedback.

“From our point of view, this was a very successful meeting,” says Dr. Steve Holbrook of WyCEHG. “We are enthusiastic about the opportunities to work with everyone on issues that are important to water in Wyoming.”

            If you were unable to attend this meeting, be sure to watch the website for resources from the meeting to be posted by the end of the month at, www.uwyo.edu/epscor/wycehg/wig/. 

By Robin Rasmussen

Photos by Liz Nysson

UW Student James St. Clair Gets a Chance to Study Abandoned Mines in Wyoming

As an intern at Lowham and Walsh, James St. Clair, a graduate student in the geology and geophysics department at the University of Wyoming, had the chance to visit and conduct research on abandoned land mines throughout the state of Wyoming.

James was responsible for analyzing and monitoring the safety of abandoned mines in Wyoming. This type of research is crucial to the state of Wyoming for several reasons.

“We want to know if these mines could possibly present some hazards in the future,” James says. “Whether those problems are related to groundwater, or future subsidence, or in some cases, they can actually open up at the surface. That’s dangerous, because people can get in there and it could collapse.”

James performed different tests at these sites to determine their safety and what was happening beneath the surface.

“I took electrical resistivity equipment up there and I made images of the underground mines trying to assess the hazards that they might present,” he says.

Because of the large number of abandoned mines in Wyoming, entities in the state have set up ways to study these mines.

“The Abandoned Land Mine Division of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality has inventoried a substantial number of these land mines and prioritized them according to what’s there and how important it is that they get reclaimed,” James says. “My job was to go and visit several of these sites,” he says. “They had already been visited 10 years ago, so we wanted to see how they've changed since then.”

Most of the sites James visited were located in northeastern Wyoming. The location was James’ favorite part of his internship.

“I really liked getting to spend some time in Northeastern Wyoming,” he says. “It’s a really nice area.”

By Robin E. Rasmussen

Expanding Water Resource Knowledge: The CI-WATER Summer Institute for Teachers

Teachers from Wyoming and Utah start a game of Hydropoly

 “Did you just give us the five minute warning?”
The incredulity in Nick Kiriazis’ voice is likely to be repeated by students this year as CI-WATER concepts and toolboxes are brought to Wyoming and Utah schools. As teachers from the two states, including Nick, discovered during the CI-WATER Water Resources Modeling Summer Institute, water science is a blast, especially with the resources CI-WATER has curated. From June 24^th-28^th, eleven teachers from Utah and Wyoming gathered in Salt Lake City, UT to learn about CI-WATER and develop curricula to bring back to their classrooms.
“I learned so many new things about using models,” says Bonnie Bourgeous, a 9^th grade teacher at North Layton Jr. High in Layton UT. “I teach both science and math, and have many students for both subjects. It is great when you can make clear connections between content areas and involve students in real world projects. The use of models in predicting future events was especially informative and useful.”
The week started out with expert talks by CI-WATER researchers and the exploration of the CI-WATER toolboxes. After these informative sessions, teachers generated lists of key concepts, which were displayed in the classroom. These sticky-notes of ideas became the basis for developing new curricula.


A Utah science teacher studies hydrophobic sand

“During the last three days of the workshop the teachers collaborated in small groups to develop ideas for curricula that address important concepts for students from the CI-Water expert talks,” says Molly, the coordinator for the institute. “The groups generated excellent ides for interactive online and multimedia activities and paper-based lessons that explore the limitations and capabilities of water modeling, the complexity of the water cycle, and uses of models in the decision-making process.”
All eleven teachers came from different schools and different teaching environments. Some work in more urban schools while others work in very rural settings, necessitating a flexible set of curricula. The teachers were up for the challenge.
“This was a very mindful and creative group who clearly considered what would engage students and best convey important concepts about models and water decision-making in the inter-mountain west,” says Molly.
This workshop not only provided teachers with a chance for professional development, but also helped to emphasize the importance of engaging today’s students in science. Teachers and CI-WATER researchers agree that the future of water in the west is dependent not only on today’s research, but more so on tomorrow’s scientists.

 

By Kali S. McCrackin

Photos by Kali S. McCrackin