Ocean Explorers

Ocean Explorers

• was a professional development and materials development project of the Center for Image Processing in Education in partnership with the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, a federal reserve off the coast of Santa Barbara, California,
• was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation's Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) Program,
• was created to help teachers overcome barriers previously identified in the implementation and use of geographic information systems (GIS) in the K-12 setting,
• provided in-depth, hands-on training in GIS and global positioning system (GPS) technologies, image processing (IP), and ocean science,
• followed a single cohort of 60+ teachers from California and Arizona over a three-year period, and
  
• supported teams of teachers as they developed and implemented standards-based projects and activities using GIS, GPS, or IP.

The Ocean Explorers Web page

• disseminates GIS-based activities developed by teams of Ocean Explorers teachers. Descriptions of the activities, including teaching notes, applicable California state standards, and student directions, related data sets and GIS project files are provided. Activities have been edited for readability and accuracy, but remain the work of the authors,
• is a searchable database of GIS activities developed by Ocean Explorers teachers. Activities may be searched by California State standards, key word(s), or software (includes ArcView 3.X, ArcGIS 9.X, My World 4.0),
• highlights research-based GIS and IP projects implemented at schools in California and Arizona. Descriptions of the research project, base data layers, and a GIS project file are provided,
• provides GIS data sets specific to the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and California coastal issues. Data sets were collected from private and governmental agencies and processed for ease-of-use in the classroom,
• provides links to GIS software companies, GIS-based lesson plans, GIS data sites, Information Technology Web sites, and pertinent national and state standards,
• archives digital images taken during the project,
  
• provides a list of project staff, collaborating organizations, and individuals who contributed to Ocean Explorers, and
• provides portable document format (PDF) copies of project publications.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0323127. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.