Why we care
Providing place-based and culturally-relevant education can contextualize complex challenges like ocean acidification, support marginalized cultures and increase ocean literacy. While 18% of Humboldt County lives below the poverty line, it is also the home to seven federally recognized Tribes and Rancherias and where several ocean monitoring research projects reside. This project leverages the ocean science expertise and traditional knowledge of the region to provide free, robust multimedia ocean acidification education to teachers and students in this region.
What we will do
This project provides teacher development and four multimedia ocean acidification education modules. Importantly, it incorporates local indigenous voices and ways of knowing to increase relevance and provide a holistic perspective on ocean acidification and its impacts in the region.
Broadening Ocean Acidification Teaching and Learning (BOATL) aims to increase ocean science education and will focus on ocean and coastal acidification for this project. The Natural History Museum of Cal Poly Humboldt will partner with local scientists and Native Americans to build a set of engaging multimedia curricular modules for middle and high school teachers to use in their classrooms. These modules will include engaging lessons described by a guest science teacher on video, and students will learn about these scientists and their work. Additionally, the modules will include direct connections to ocean acidification and mitigation efforts as well as indigenous place names and stories of local places.
BOATL will also offer a two-day professional development workshop for local middle and high school teachers to prepare them for teaching about ocean acidification. Teachers will meet and work with the scientists and Native American community members that were part of building the multimedia modules. The workshop will prepare teachers to deliver a robust unit on ocean acidification.
The team anticipates reaching about 1,500 people, mostly middle and high school students with more in subsequent years.
Benefits of our work
BOATL will increase ocean acidification literacy in Title 1 middle for high school teachers and students in Humboldt County, a region with a high percentage of indigenous students and one of the largest populations of Native Americans across the country. Four multimedia learning modules that have a placed-based focus on the northern California coast will incorporate both the best available science and traditional knowledge. A strength of this work is bringing together local scientists with indigenous community members to share their experiences and tell their stories in a manner accessible to students to provide connection, understanding and awareness. Importantly, this work will create content that engages and reflects experiences of local students, particularly Native American students.
Investigators
Julie Van Sickle, Natural History Museum of Cal Poly Humboldt
Jeffrey White, Cal Poly Humboldt
Image: California’s Humboldt coast as seen from a high vantage near sunset. Fog lingers above the King Range National Conservation Area. Credit: Guest photographer Bob Wick for CA Bureau of Land Management (Creative Commons)