Discovering Sedimentary Environments Workshop

On April 23, 2005, GK-12 fellow Christian George led workshop on sedimentary environments. This workshop presented a lesson plan for teaching:

• Sedimentary Rocks
• Connecting modern environments to ancient sedimentary environments
• Geology of the Austin area

Intro to GIS Workshop

This workshop introduced GIS to K-12 teachers and focused on how they can most effectively use GIS in their classrooms and school computer labs given limited available resources. The workshop stressed the use of Austin-area data freely available on the internet and covered advantages and disadvantages of utilizing various GIS options such as buying software licenses, using free GIS viewers that are less hardware intensive, and using online GIS programs that require no downloads.

Orientation Workshop

On September 11, GK-12 teachers and fellows participated in a workshop where various fellows presented inquiry-based lessons and had the opportunity to get feedback from teachers. The workshop also featured presentations on techniques and available resources they can be used in the classroom. The purpose of the workshop was to enrich the teachers' knowledge about teaching methods and to allow the fellows the opportunity to enhance their classroom management skills.

Texas Waters Workshop

On November 22, the GK-12 teachers and fellows participated in a content enrichment workshop entitled "Texas Waters," that was a follow up to Dr. Sharp's Outreach lecture on the Edwards Aquifer. The purpose of the workshop was to enrich the teachers' knowledge about aquifers and to allow the teachers the opportunity to enhance their classroom activities.

Edwards Aquifer Field Workshop

The Edwards Aquifer Field Workshop extended the content covered in the Texas Waters Workshop. The goals of the workshop were: to examine the strata and depositional environments of the Cretaceous carbonate rocks of central Texas and to examine the hydrogeologic characteristics of the strata that comprise part of the Edwards Aquifer.

Central Texas Environmental Issues Workshop

The theme concerning hydrogeology was enhanced a few months later with a field workshop where teachers and students traveled to specific locations to observe recharge and discharge features and stratigraphic units associated with the Edwards aquifer.

Classroom Management Workshop

GK-12 teacher Lynn Kirby led a pedagogy workshop for GK-12 participants on classroom management skills.

5E Workshop

Dr. James Barufaldi and Lynn Kirby led a workshop to demonstrate the 5E (engage, explore, explain, elaborate, evaluate) model of lesson development.

Andrews Elementary School Workshop

In January of 2004, GK-12 Program Coordinator Dennis Ruez and Bryan Wilbur led a day-long session on rock and mineral properties and how to include these common items in the curriculum.

Port Aransas Workshop

The interdisciplinary nature of marine science and the ready access to barrier island beaches, rock jetties, salt marsh, submerged aquatic vegetation, and open ocean habitats provide a natural laboratory for this field-based course designed specifically for K-12 science and math teachers.