North Science Teacher Monica Marlowe is Ambassador of Ocean Education

Sachem North science teacher Monica Marlowe attended the National Geographic Education, National Teacher Leadership Academy in Ocean Education this past summer.

At the scenic Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif., Marlowe was prepared as an ambassador of ocean education for New York. Only 60 high school biology teachers from 33 states and Guam were selected to participate in the program, which consisted of a weeklong professional development experience, ongoing classroom support for the future and a leadership workshop planned for next year.

"This was a very rare opportunity to become immersed in the most current marine science research, interact with world-renowned Scripps scientists and collaborate with teachers from around the U.S. and Guam in order to enrich my classroom and share these experiences with the Sachem community," Marlowe said.

The professional development program was based around a curriculum titled "Marine Ecology, Human Impacts, and Conservation," which was developed by National Geographic Education staff and oceanography, geography and biology educators, and was designed to fit into high school life-science curricula.

The weeklong program focused on the concept that all of the world's water (fresh and salt) is part of a global system, so even the most landlocked students should take an interest in and learn about the ocean.

"The current condition of our world's oceans is rapidly declining due to overuse, abuse and climate change," Marlowe said. "This generation of students will be faced with profound environmental problems and must be equipped with the knowledge and know-how to make responsible decisions. By incorporating personal, societal and global issues into my science classroom, issue-based science helps increase student engagement by providing real-life examples in which to learn and apply core science content standards."

NTLA participants will teach this ocean curriculum to their own students during the 2010-11 school year, and provide classroom-tested feedback, student work and additional resources to enhance the curriculum, which will then be published on National Geographic's education Website in 2011. After teachers complete a leadership workshop in summer 2011, they will be ready to train other teachers to bring knowledge of the ocean to their students.