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A National Science Foundation-funded Mathematics and Science Partnership program, Leadership for Educators: Academy for Driving Economic Revitalization in Science (LEADERS), aimed to develop science teacher leaders who would influence the quality of science teaching in their respective schools. To fulfill a need to evaluate leadership abilities of teachers within LEADERS, a Teacher Leadership Instrument was developed based on our previous work. This paper examines the performance of teachers as outlined in the Teacher Leader Model (TLM) Standards following their enrollment in three teacher leadership courses aligned with these Standards. The study employed a qualitative approach to analyze peer professional development sessions provided by teacher leaders, and to rate leadership behaviours and practices. Results indicate that 31 of the 37 functions were exhibited by the teacher leaders, with most observations occurring at a developing level. Behaviours related to effective presentation and facilitation were observed most frequently, but the teacher leaders also incorporated research-based practices, information about assessments, and links to the community in their sessions. Further, these behaviours linked back to the intended outcomes of the three leadership courses. The results demonstrate one manner in which teacher leaders perform the functions of the TLM Standards in the context of professional development sessions.

Preparing students to become active, participatory citizens is more than promoting personal responsibility. It requires actively engaging with others in order to improve one's community. Using a critical geography approach, this article describes research with students living in urban areas that engaged them in fieldwork and citizen mapping of the neighborhood around their high school. We were interested in how they interacted with this environment and their perceptions of social justice issues in the community. Student groups worked together to identify and investigate topics of their choosing in order to produce and present their findings and recommendations to community stakeholders. We collected data from these students through case studies, sketch maps, and interviews, which revealed an increase in understanding of their neighborhood and an appreciation for the use of spatial thinking and technologies in addressing issues that they care about as citizens.

This paper describes the development and validation of a science teacher leadership instrument modeled on the seven domains of the Teacher Leader Model (TLM) Standards (The Teacher Leadership Exploratory Consortium, 2011). Instrument development was part of National Science Foundation--funded Mathematics and Science Partnership (MSP) program that aimed to develop science teacher leaders through the use of Project-Based Science (PBS) in the context of renewable energy. Ratings of professional development sessions presented by teacher leaders to their peers were analyzed to assess whether the instrument could be used to measure teacher leadership in this context. The resulting TLM Standards Instrument is presented as a valid instrument to observe the development and assessment of teacher leadership.

Children are natural scientists full of curiosity. This curiosity allows them to ask questions about and to investigate their surroundings. Since science is not just a collection of facts to be learned, but rather investigations that need to be made, teachers should encourage that natural curiosity in the classroom. Luckily, the "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS") (NGSS Lead States 2013) allow teachers to give students the freedom to pursue their own investigations. For this reason, the project-based science (PBS) teaching method, which encourages students to make meaning out of science while conducting real-world investigations (Krajcik and Czerniak 2014), is a natural fit for 21st-century science lessons. Project-based science approaches learning the way a scientist engages in investigation of important topics. PBS teachers design their lessons around real-world problems and questions. In a PBS classroom, students design and carry out investigations, analyze and interpret data, construct models and explanations, collaborate with others, use technology, and produce artifacts to show what they have learned. This method of teaching motivates learners to explore important ideas (Krajcik and Czerniak 2014). The unit described in this article was designed for a fifth-grade classroom in a small rural school. To capture her students' curiosity, Mary Obringer planned the unit around the driving question, "What is a foot beneath your feet?" This question encompasses the NGSS standard 5-ESS2 (Earth's Systems) and disciplinary core idea ESS2.A (Earth Materials and Systems). The PBS framework meant that students would extensively use the science and engineering practices associated with that standard (NGSS Lead States 2013). She developed a four-week unit plan that would culminate in a project that asked students to create a designer soil as a summative assessment. They would then formally present their soils to a local greenhouse owner.

The SATELLITES program uses geospatial technologies to study surface temperatures of Earth's materials, such as sand, soil, grass, and water. Data are collected using Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) protocols, which are then used in research projects that are a part of the International Polar Year (IPY). Students collect data, conduct field campaigns, design inquiry-based research projects, and attend and present at a SATELLITES science conference. One student activity, "Heating Things Up," is included in this article to help introduce students to the factors that affect Earth's surface temperature. This article describes the activity, program, and ways to get involved. (Contains 4 figures.)

Long-term collection of soil temperature with depth is important when studying climate change. The international program GLOBE[R] provides an excellent opportunity to collect such data, although currently endorsed temperature collection protocols need to be refined. To enhance data quality, protocol-based methodology and automated data logging, along with other physical data, were used to collect soil temperature to a depth of one meter. Data show that diurnal and shallow variation ceases at around 50 cm depth. Therefore the need to incorporate deeper depths into the current protocols for heat flux calculations is warranted. The manual methodology was also found to give representative data. (Contains 1 table and 6 figures.)

Many recent studies have applied satellite remote sensing data to large-scale hydrologic and biospheric modeling. It is widely accepted that the thermal infrared observations from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) have the potential to estimate land surface conditions, such as surface temperature, near surface air temperature, and near surface water vapor. In this study, algorithms to estimate all three variables are presented and applied to an area covering the state of Oklahoma for a six day period in August, 1994. The results were validated using ground observations from the 111 station Oklahoma Mesonet. Validation of the remote sensing algorithms with Mesonet observations produced comparable results to previous validation studies. In addition, the validation process revealed inadequacies in thermal modeling that had not been detected in previous validation studies leading to the development of a new approach to estimate atmospheric water vapor. Key Words: thermal infrared remote sensing, Oklahoma Mesonet, hydrologic applications.

Many 21st century careers rely on geospatial skills; yet, curricula and professional development lag behind in incorporating these skills. As a result, many teachers have limited experience or preparation for teaching geospatial skills. One strategy for overcoming such problems is the creation of a student/teacher/scientist (STS) partnership within schools. This study investigated the extent to which the use of geospatial technologies (GST) within a STS partnership improved the geospatial skills and atmospheric science concept knowledge of high school and junior high school students who were primarily from high-needs schools. During the course of a 5 d summer institute, scientists who use GST in their research taught teachers how to use the geospatial technologies of remote sensing, geographic information systems, and global positioning systems. This phase was followed by instruction in standards-based activities, taught by a master teacher, which participating teachers could use to integrate GST in their curriculum. During the school year following the summer institute, teachers taught their students the use of the geospatial skills. Students then applied these skills to collect field data, which were shared with scientists. Instruction culminated in the preparation of individual inquiry-based student projects that were presented to scientists, fellow students, and community members at a mini-conference. The research methodology involved testing students before any instruction in GST and then retesting them twice: (1) once during the elaboration phase of instruction, subsequent to formal instruction and field data collection, and (2) again during the evaluation phase of instruction, after student engagement with their individual projects. Substantial gains were found from the pretest to the evaluation phase test in both geospatial skills and atmospheric concept knowledge. No interaction effects of gender and socioeconomic status were found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The accumulation of heavy metals in the biosolid amended soils and the risk of their uptake into different plant parts is a topic of great concern. This study examines the accumulation of several heavy metals and nutrients in soybeans grown on biosolid applied soils and the use of remote sensing to monitor the metal uptake and plant stress. Field and greenhouse studies were conducted with soybeans grown on soils applied with biosolids at varying rates. The plant growth was monitored using Landsat TM imagery and handheld spectroradiometer in field and greenhouse studies, respectively. Soil and plant samples were collected and then analyzed for several elemental concentrations. The chemical concentrations in soils and roots increased significantly with increase in applied biosolid concentrations. Copper (Cu) and Molybdenum (Mo) accumulated significantly in the shoots of the metal-treated plants. Our spectral and Landsat TM image analysis revealed that the Normalized Difference Vegetative Index (NDVI) can be used to distinguish the metal stressed plants. The NDVI showed significant negative correlation with increase in soil Cu concentrations followed by other elements. This study suggests the use of remote sensing to monitor soybean stress patterns and thus indirectly assess soil chemical characteristics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Biosolids land application is an important pathway introducing pharmaceuticals into the environment. In this work, laboratory column and dissipation experiments were performed using soils of varying properties in order to study the fate and transport of pharmaceutical residues introduced by the land application of biosolids. For experimentation, five pharmaceutical compounds (carbamazepine, diphenhydramine, fluoxetine, diltiazem, and clindamycin) and two metabolites (carbamazepine-10,11-epoxide and norfluoxetine) commonly found in biosolids were selected. Leaching experiments indicate that the selected pharmaceuticals have low mobility in tested soils. However, small portions of the applied pharmaceuticals were recovered in the leachates, likely attributed to sorption to dissolved organic matter. Dissipation experiments show that carbamazepine, diphenhydramine, and fluoxetine were persistent in soils, whereas the dissipation of diltiazem and clindamycin was affected by redox conditions and soil properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the study which aims to detect pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in agricultural soils which receive biosolids application. The study uses the pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) method in detecting the presence of PPCPs during biosolids application. Results show that fixed pressure that is being applied during the extraction has been found to have no important effects other than to keep the solvent liquid at high temperatures.

SATELLITES program is designed to introduce in-service teachers and K-12 students to basic geographic concepts, geospatial technology (e.g., remote sensing, GIS, GPS, and digital elevation modeling), related data, and applications in complex concepts in Earth System Science. Teachers, who received extensive SATELLITES training in a one-week summer institute in 2006, interated concepts and technologies in their school curriculum the following fall by engaging students in inquiry-based research projects during an intensive field campaign. 151 K-12 teachers from 110 schools have received SATELLITES training over the last three years and over 10,000 students representing more than 300 schools from every state in the United States and several other countries including Canada, Australia, Great Britain and China have participated in data collection during field campaigns. In 2006, 1200 student observations were recorded and 600 students attended the 2006 annual conference where 60 inquiry-based research project posters were presented. After participation. in SATELLITES, teachers' content knowledge in geotechnologies and related sciences increased significantly. Teacher's reported an increase in perceptions of their ability to do inquiry science and employ inquiry-based instruction. They also reported a significant increase in student engagement when students collected data and worked through the scientific process while participating in SATELLITES inquiry projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]