Middle Schoolers Use Needlework to Make a Point �鶹ӰԺ Climate Change

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 23:59:14 +0000

Middle Schoolers Use Needlework to Make a Point �鶹ӰԺ Climate Change Arielle Wiedenbeck Wed, 12/14/2022 - 16:59

Gretchen Minekime

Climate change is real, and it’s happening fast. A group of 24 eighth graders at Casey Middle School want adults to accept this as fact.

When these students compared daily high temperatures from Mazatlán, in Sinaloa, Mexico and �鶹ӰԺ, for the years 1923 and 2021, they found significantly warmer results in 2021. For example, in 1923 Mazatlán had many winter days with highs only in the 60s. In 2021 only three winter days were as cool as 60 degrees, and all the others were warmer, including a long stretch of days above 90 degrees, temperatures never recorded in 1923. The data for �鶹ӰԺ showed temperature increases and signs of new variability and temperature extremes–both signals for climate change.

“It’s happening fast…one hundred years isn’t that long,” reflected a student. “It surprised me how the different seasons changed. Summer got longer every year.”

His classmate added, “If we don’t fight against it, it’s just gonna get worse.”

To help people outside their class understand, the students worked in teams of eight for seven weeks and created four “Tempestries” using different colors of yarn to represent the maximum daily temperature data.

One student explained why the group created Tempestries, “Data can be hard to understand in graphs and charts. It’s intimidating. Using art makes it more appealing–easier to notice and see too.”

To create the artworks, students took turns using a punch needle threaded with specific yarn colors corresponding to different temperatures. Some even stayed after school to keep the project on track. They chose Mazatlán to compare to �鶹ӰԺ because of their many family connections and 1923 as their reference year because that is when Casey Middle School was built.

Data for both years in �鶹ӰԺ came from the NOAA National Center for Environmental Information Climate Data Online Search Tool. However, climate records for Mexico from before 1940 do not exist in digitized spreadsheet format. Casey students manually entered daily high temperatures into a spreadsheet by referencing a 100-year-old weather log from Mexico kept on file at NOAA’s Central Library.

Alexandra Rose, education and outreach coordinator for the Niwot Ridge Long Term Ecological Research program (LTER) and CU Science Discovery, initiated the project with Casey as part of the broader impacts for the LTER grant. She worked closely with the students and teachers throughout.

“It’s vitally important that the schoolchildren of today become data-literate adults, able to read graphs and infographics to find patterns and to make meaning and predictions about the future,” said Rose. “These students from Casey have big dreams of creating wonderful lives for themselves and their families. I believe that understanding the gravity of climate change and the threats it poses to their dreams is critical for motivating them to take a stand and be leaders in their communities.”

The Tempestries were displayed at CU �鶹ӰԺ’s Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit, and the students attended several summit sessions. CU Science Discovery, the Niwot Ridge Long Term Ecological Research program(Niwot LTER), and Casey Middle School teachers Ian Schwartz, Malinda Hoverstock, Lisa Norton and Kenneth Santiago collaborated, with inspiration from the Tempestry Project, to bring the program to Casey’s AVID program. AVID is a college and career readiness program providing academic, social and emotional support to students with college aspirations. Niwot LTER is funded by the Office for Outreach and Engagement and the National Science Foundation.

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CU Science Discovery Receives Statewide Recognition for Excellence

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 18:48:05 +0000

CU Science Discovery Receives Statewide Recognition for Excellence Arielle Wiedenbeck Tue, 11/15/2022 - 11:48

Gretchen Minekime

CU Science Discovery recently received two statewide awards in recognition of its efforts and achievements in STEM and environmental education.

This month the Forests and Fire Field Course received a 2022 Innovative Environmental Education Program Award from the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education. The course was provided in partnership with Cal-Wood Education Center and financially supported by CU �鶹ӰԺ’s Office for Outreach and Engagement and Nature Kids Lafayette. It also serves as a great example of how one project can actually support a network of work.

The program offered CU scientists opportunities to engage with teens, an audience they don’t usually reach with their science. CU Earth Lab Research Scientist Mike Koontz led a field session for the 2021 course using drones to capture imagery of Cal-Wood’s burned forest. He later incorporated the program into a recently funded NSF grant which will support the course for several more years. This summer, Katherine Lininger, assistant professor of geography, guided participants in collecting data from a fire-impacted stream as part of her NSF Broader Impacts activities, and Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Geography Tom Veblen and Professor Sarah Hart from CSU conducted a session about tree rings and the effect a tree’s age has on the likelihood of being killed in a fire.

“These are excellent examples of how the Office for Outreach and Engagement’s seed funding is often leveraged to acquire resources to sustain programs and involve more faculty members, students and community partners. CU Science Discovery is a campus leader in connecting our faculty’s diverse expertise with opportunities for public impact,” said David Meens, director for the Office for Outreach and Engagement.

This past summer the Office for Outreach and Engagement connected CU Science Discovery and the Eureka! McConnell Science Museum in Grand Junction. The organizations were co-awarded an $800,000 ESSER Expanded Learning Opportunities grant from the Colorado Department of Education, designed to address K-12 students’ social and academic learning loss in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eureka! has been providing STEM enrichment to Western Slope communities for thirty years and is based on the Colorado Mesa University campus, along with a satellite location of CU �鶹ӰԺ’s College of Engineering. The grant will allow CU Science Discovery and Eureka! to collaborate and coordinate best practices in STEM curriculum design, training and instruction to deliver a variety of STEM learning opportunities for students most adversely impacted by the pandemic. The latest advancements in technology, math, engineering and science will be available to participating K-12 students because of this cooperation between two of Colorado’s leading universities.

“The ESSER grant will enable us to provide extensive out-of-school-time STEM programming for hundreds of students, both locally and on the western slope over the next two years,” said Stacey Forsyth, director of CU Science Discovery. “We’re excited to collaborate with our new partners at the EUREKA! Science Museum and to provide CU �鶹ӰԺ students, including those based in Grand Junction, with real-world experience in STEM outreach.”

Tim Ogino, CU Science Discovery’s manager of school and teacher programs, is overseeing the grant’s activities within �鶹ӰԺ Valley School District and Adams 12 Five Star Schools. An after-school math program is already underway at four Family Resource Schools in �鶹ӰԺ. Thirteen CU undergraduates representing a mix of majors and one graduate student are working in teams and leading eight-week programs intended to foster positive associations with math for K-5 students.

“The CU students are role models and mentors for these children and have been extra creative about engaging and teaching them. The elementary students are definitely impressed by the college students. CU �鶹ӰԺ’s value proposition comes down to its people and research. My dream is to have lots and lots of CU students involved with Science Discovery and more faculty thought partners. We only get better because of the people working with us,” said Ogino.

Collaboration with CU faculty, students and an array of community partners enables CU Science Discovery to reach communities that otherwise might not have access to these types of experiences.

“We are actively working to improve our impact with underserved populations,” said Ogino, “and we welcome the participation of other campus partners who are interested in helping us expand these efforts.”For more information about participating in future and current CU Science Discovery programming throughout Colorado, or for assistance meeting NSF broader impacts requirements, visit CU Science Discovery’s website or contact Stacey Forsyth.

CU Science Discovery recently received two statewide awards in recognition of its efforts and achievements in STEM and environmental education.

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Rafael Salgado, executive director of Cal-Wood, and Stacey Forsyth.