Connecting With the River: Introducing Urban Students from Hartford, CT to Earth Science

For the past 3 summers we have organized and evaluated 4 different, but related programs designed to introduce urban middle and high school students to the Earth Sciences through field and laboratory measurements of rivers. During the first summer (2002) two different programs were organized. Program one was a two-week, non-credit high school enrichment experience with the majority of the students coming from a science and math magnet school. Program two was a six-week program working with students from at risk-high schools. Students in this second program were paid and received one high school science credit. In both programs students measured water quality parameters, analyzed data and presented their results. All students from both programs were invited to participate in monthly field trips during the academic year. The third summer (2003) students who participated in the academic year program were invited to return to the program. They were hired for a two-week period to review what had been learned the previous summer and to teach the material to middle school students enrolled in another program. This provided them with an opportunity to mentor younger students. During the fourth summer (2004) we continued our work with the middle school program that we collaborated with in the previous year. We provided an earth science component to a four-week middle school summer enrichment program that focused on fish habitats. Students were taken in boats to learn about the Connecticut Riverbed. They collected grab samples of the sediment and imaged the bottom with a side-scan sonar and subbottom profiler. Conclusions: 1) Summer enrichment programs can have an impact on student interest in pursing additional learning about and careers in the earth sciences. 2) Most students thought the programs would help them to do better in math and science classes. 3)The most successful of our programs was the longer program, where students participated for two summers with monthly field trips during the academic year and had the opportunity to mentor younger students.