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Introduction
GLACIER (Global Change Initiative.Education and Research) is a Boston University GK12 program funded with $2.9M from the National Science Foundation. Its purpose is to enhance the science curricula in Grades 5-8 classrooms by partnering graduate fellows with classroom teachers. These teacher-fellow teams form close working relationships, share their experiences and expertise with one another, and provide additional resources and enhanced content within the classroom. Boston University has forged partnerships with the school districts of Cambridge and Brookline, and has placed a total of 8 fellows in their grade 5-8 classrooms. In addition, two other fellows are placed in Newton and Somerville schools.
GLACIER's Defining Characteristics:
Boston University's GLACIER is unique because it represents an interdisciplinary effort, combining geography, environment, earth science, engineering, biology, and statistics and focuses on the theme of global change. GLACIER fellows work with their partner teachers to identify topics or units in the curriculum that are related to global change and enable them to bring their research into the classroom. During the academic year, GLACIER fellows attend a weekly seminar where they investigate global change from a multi-disciplinary perspective and brainstorm with one another on how to translate this complex material into curriculum modules for the classroom. Another unique aspect of GLACIER is its emphasis on citizen science. All participating teachers and fellows have signed on to collect data on specific species trees in their local environment. The data they collect will be shared across schools to determine if there are any differences due to local climate. The program also features online tools to assess the program and the progress of fellow capabilities.
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Sponsored by the NSF GK-12 Program
