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 "Philippe" | The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation (WWNFF) and the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) are collaborating on a program to provide secondary science teachers with field-oriented learning opportunities and instructional research in Costa Rica. The institute focuses upon global climate change as well as the impact of man on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The Costa Rica Institute occurs at three OTS field stations in lowland forest, dry tropical forest, and mid-elevation rain forest areas, where participants study fragmentation, isolation and restoration of ecosystems in the context of global change. Important concepts that permeate the curriculum at all three sites include correlation versus causation, interdependence, scale, synergistic effects, threshold effects, and the policy implications of a systems view of the natural world. |
| Following the time-tested model of "50 questions," small groups of teachers will design and implement research projects related to the central theme at each site. They will design web pages in order to share their experiences and learning with colleagues back home. As an integral part of each day's activities, participants process what they observe and learn in light of how NSES science standards define the experience, how the day's activities can be translated into local issues, how secondary students can engage in similar research projects, and how through inquiry-based science teaching all students can achieve higher quality learning. |  "Heliconia" |
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Supported by a grant from the