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Environmental Detectives
 With
community collaborators from theMontshire
Museum of Science in Norwich
(Vermont) and local middle school teachers, we have worked
to develop an environmental
science curriculum based on the active, inquiry-based learning
scientists employ in their investigations of the natural world.
Dartmouth researchers met with teachers and museum educators
in summer sessions to develop classroom activities. During
the school year, participating teachers tested and refined
the curriculum, adapting it to their own classrooms, and Dartmouth
scientists and Montshire Museum educators visited classrooms,
participated in workshops and gathered with teachers for symposia.
Environmental Detectives culminates each school year with an
inter-school student symposium, where student research teams
from participating schools present their research to Dartmouth
scientists, parents, teachers and school administrators.
 During the first four years of the project, the project team
worked with 21 middle schools to develop curriculum materials
that would work best in the classroom. The program is currently
being implemented in eight middle schools within a one-hour
radius of Hanover, New Hampshire. In addition to helping students
learn successful experimental design, teachers in the program
now lead lessons on serial solutions, dose-response relationships
and other basics of toxicology.
The jointly developed curriculum provides a common language
for scientists, students and teachers that make classroom interactions
more relevant and interactive. Since students in the program
design and carry out their own experiments they enjoy hearing
of the practical issues scientists face when conducting their
research.
The Summer Institutes have been shown to be a valuable professional
development opportunity for teachers, providing them access
to other educators from across the region, science specialists
from the Museum and practicing scientists from Dartmouth College.
Each teacher has spent 8 to 12 weeks implementing the Environmental
Detectives program during the school year. Overall, more than
1000 middle school students from Vermont and New Hampshire
have been involved in environmental health issues and investigations
through this program. An outside program evaluator has been
tracking changes in students’ knowledge and the ability
of teachers to implement the program.
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