EarthEd Institute inspires science teachers across WNY

What if your back-to-school teaching inspiration didn’t come from Pinterest or online teacher forums? What if it came firsthand from scientists and researchers at a top-tier research university?

That’s been the experience this summer for 15 middle and high school teachers from around Western New York who had the unique opportunity to learn from faculty experts at UB’s EarthEd Institute.

The institute, presented by the departments of Earth Sciences and Environment and Sustainability (EVS) in the College of Arts and Sciences, brought the educators, who teach grades 6–12, to UB for the free, professional development opportunity. From July 14–18, attendees collaborated and learned from expert UB faculty and research professionals, as well as other Earth scientists in Western New York.

The participants received 40 hours of New York State Continuing Teacher & Leader Education (CTLE)-accredited professional development.

Nick Henshue, teaching associate professor and director of undergraduate studies in EVS, and Nick DiFrancesco, assistant teaching professor in the Department of Earth Sciences, co-direct the EarthEd Institute, now in its fifth year.

With a mix of ecology, geology and everything in between, the program is designed to create engaging, inquiry-based lessons that inspire students to explore Earth and environmental science. Henshue and DiFrancesco organized a dynamic lineup of activities, field trips and experiences for the educators, including learning from current UB students.

“Bringing graduate and undergraduate students together with secondary education science teachers allowed for an open exchange of academic knowledge and pedagogical best practices that improve student understanding and increase interest in the sciences,” says DiFrancesco. “This institute is as much about our participants learning from us, as it is about them learning from each other. Our research faculty are just one part of that experience. It’s very special to direct a program where we can have all of these elements come together.”

Adds Henshue: “EarthEd is an amazing week of scientists and science teachers coming together to learn new ideas, best practices and, most importantly, share in our mutual excitement for teaching terrific lessons — no matter what level the students.”

Participants spent time throughout the week in classrooms, labs and in Letchworth Teaching Forest on the North Campus. The first lesson in hydrology was led by Chris Lowry, associate professor in the Department of Earth Sciences. The group looked at three test wells in front of Cooke Hall made from affordable PVC pipes and Home Depot buckets. The participants broke up into smaller groups and used measuring tapes to determine which wells had the lowest, intermediate and highest depths. Lowry also taught them about saltwater intrusion and its impact on groundwater.

“This is an amazing activity that can be adapted for any grade,” says Jessica Grottanelli, a teacher from the Belfast School District. “We can talk to our students about real-world applications. If this was their land, where would they put their homestead? Where would they put their well for drinking water?”

Additional lessons included plate tectonics in virtual reality led by Margarete A. Jadamec, associate professor in the Department of Earth Sciences and director of the Computational and Data-Enabled Science and Engineering PhD Program; modeling planetary impacts with watermelons with Gina Pope, assistant teaching professor in the Department of Earth Sciences; remote sensing and geographic information with Jenna Diamico, a master’s student in computational Earth science; and wilderness tours with the institute’s co-directors. EarthEd participants also teamed up with current UB students to brainstorm how to incorporate sustainability and justice into science lessons.

The week blended hands-on, campus activities with visits to sites across Western New York to spark ideas for classroom lessons and learning for the year ahead.

The Buffalo Museum of Science provided the ideal playground for participants to explore and learn from the museum’s staff. Students received a VIP tour of the collections’ archives, where they were shown prehistoric fossils, various precious geology and hundreds of bones, tusks and skeleton mounts — including a Castoroide, a giant beaver that is an extinct genus of enormous, bear-sized beavers that lived in North America during the Pleistocene, and a Mesohippus, an extinct genus of early horse that is thought to have lived in the Early Oligocene. 

While on the tour, participants held and inspected petrified wood — polished slices of a petrified tree from the late Triassic period — viewed unique artifacts like lava on a spoon and explored all four floors of the museum to learn more about the opportunities available to bring their own students there to learn and explore. 

The group took a field trip to Red Jacket Park in Buffalo for a tour led by Robert Coady, community engagement and project manager for Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper. Coady guided participants through the park, teaching them about the park’s inception, the planning that went into the park, as well as its rich ecological diversity. The tour also touched on the history of the Buffalo River and how it had been merely a stream before the Industrial Revolution. Decades of harmful waste entering the waterway made it a New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Area of Concern, but thanks to the Buffalo community and organizations like Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper, it’s now a place that can be explored safely. 

One of the more unique excursions for participants was a trip to the Sewer Authority. Participants learned about the biological process used to clean sewage water and prepare it for release into Lake Erie. A classroom presentation was given by Joseph McDonald, chief wastewater treatment plant operator, and Damon Delmont, assistant chief wastewater treatment plant operator. After the presentation, participants took a tour to learn about various phases of wastewater treatment, taking away valuable lessons to pass along to their students about the critical importance of sewer systems for the protection of public health and the environment.