The National Teacher Enhancement Network (NTEN) Spring 2005 courses for Elementary Level Teachers

(See the NTEN website for more courses at the Middle and High School level)

NTEN Elementary is offering 3 online science courses this spring. Each 1 credit graduate course is 7 weeks long and begins on January 24th. Tuition for each course is $200 and materials are $75. Each course takes approximately 6-8 hours per week. Experience great science with wonderful fellow classmates. Get a friend to sign up with you and get a $25 discount on tuition. All materials are shipped to you during the week of January 17th.

Our spring courses are:

LRES 580 – The Dirt on Soil Science taught by Dr. Dirt himself -- Jim Bauder.
Jim specializes in developing educational resources and materials for county agents and other clientele groups. Jim and Suzanna Rolf bring that expertise to the Dirt on Soil Science course to expose you to a fascinating hands on look at basic soil physical properties and processes. You will learn everything from how soil is formed to classifying soil textures and exploring how the soil and landscapes interact. Study how children's concepts of soil and land resources are developed in the classroom setting.

EDCI 580 – Teaching and Learning About Ecosystems taught by Michael Brody
Michael is a fascinating ecology professor. He has consulted with teachers throughout the Russian Federation on ecology education programs. This course is designed to meet teachers’ current needs for teaching ecosystems in effective and innovative ways. Specific course goals reinforce typical science kit objectives to: facilitate student learning of age-appropriate concepts and skills specific to ecosystems; promote and facilitate age-appropriate scientific attitudes and habits of mind; to introduce students to learning about basic science concepts by observing, measuring, and identifying properties; and to promote learning of and interest in basic science concepts through discovery and exploratory approaches to study and K-8 instruction.

BIOL 580 – Plant Science – It Grows on You (The official title is Plant Science – From Seed to Seed) taught by Sharon Eversman.
Sharon loves to research the effects of air pollutants on plant and lichen cells as well as exploring lichen ecology and electron microscopy. Sharon brings a love of botany to this course. You will learn about plants by growing Wisconsin Fast Plants and exploring the plant life cycle beginning with how a seed absorbs water all the way through flowering and back to seed production, all within the 7 week course. You will also get to experiment with pollination and effects of gravity. Register early since you must plant your seeds on Jan 24 in order to experience the full growth cycle. This is a wonderful class to experience in the spring.

If you have any questions about our spring program, please let me know. Please feel free to pass on this information to anyone you think might be interested.

Lisa Brown
Project Coordinator, Elementary NTEN
128 EPS Building
Burns Telecom Center
Montana State University
1-800-461-9635
(406) 994-3062
lbrown@montana.edu
http://www.scienceteacher.org