Alexander Agassiz Professor of Biological Oceanography James McCarthy (speaking) and Alex Griswold, executive producer in the CfA’s Science Education Department and a member of the CfA’s Science Media Group, both worked on the project. Staff photo Jon Chase/Harvard News Office |
Harvard brings the Earth to high schoolFree environmental science course for teachers unveiledOctober 4, 2007By Alvin Powell
Steam vents in Yellowstone National Park are part of the area’s unique environment, seen in a case study exploring Yellowstone and the reintroduction of wolves into the park. This case study is part of a new environmental science course for high school science teachers.
Harvard scientists and media specialists unveiled an online environmental science course Monday (Oct. 1) aimed at high school teachers and, through them, high school students — the future inheritors of the Earth’s environmental problems. The course, called “The Habitable Planet: A Systems Approach to Environmental Science,” features a scientific “dream team” of experts from Harvard and elsewhere who describe their fields, relevant problems, and potential solutions in a series of online videos. The videos accompany scientists into the field as they do their work and include specific case studies. They include an online textbook and a series of interactive labs illustrating specific concepts. The package was developed by the Harvard University Center for the Environment (HUCE) and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). It will be available for free on the Web site of Annenberg Media, which funded the endeavor. |
