SWEEP: Sciencing with Watersheds, Environmental Education and Partnerships. Instructor's Guide to Implementation and Summer Institute Participant Notebook.

Partnership Office, c/o Dr. Deborah Bainer, The Ohio State University at Mansfield, 1680 University Drive, Mansfield, OH 44906.

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332

Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC.
Eisenhower Program for Mathematics and Science Education (ED), Washington, DC.

Practitioners; Students; Teachers

Conservation Education; Elementary Education; Elementary School Science; Elementary School Teachers; Environmental Education; Faculty Development; Hands on Science; Inquiry; Inservice Teacher Education; Institutes (Training Programs); Integrated Curriculum; Partnerships in Education; Science Instruction; Thematic Approach; Water Resources

Sciencing with Watersheds, Environmental Education, and Partnerships (SWEEP) is a professional development program designed to help elementary teachers improve the way they teach science using partnerships among teachers and resource professionals. SWEEP follows a thematic approach using watersheds as the core concept of an integrated elementary curriculum. The program involves a four-day intensive summer institute for teams of one to four teachers representing one school building. During the institute, teachers team with resource professionals or volunteers from agencies and businesses who possess science content expertise and a desire to work collaboratively with teachers to strengthen science instruction. Together teachers and resource professionals engage in activities in content areas such as partnering, instructional methods from exposition to inquiry, watersheds and theme issues, thematic planning, child development, process skills, materials management, questioning strategies, and assessment. Each partnership is maintained throughout the school year. The instructor's implementation guide provides logistical information about operating the SWEEP program, detailed teaching notes, and an in-depth discussion on establishing and supporting effective partnership teams. A matrix outlining basic aspects related to how SWEEP was originally implemented in Ohio in the Cuyahoga River watershed and the lower Scioto River watershed and guidelines to consider when modifying or adapting it to other settings are also included. The notebook is used to provide professional development for those teachers and resource professionals who attend the summer workshop and is designed to be used with the implementation guide for program instructors. The notebook is divided into tabbed sections that correspond to the nine content areas listed in the table of contents of the Instructor's Guide. Each session presents an essential skill to make hands-on, minds-on science work for classroom teachers and resource partners. (PVD)

1999

ED429807