For the ten years COSEE Central Gulf of Mexico (CGOM) was funded, all four primary Gulf states served by the Center (Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida) featured the annual Summer Institute. These Summer Institutes were intense, placed-based, and field-oriented; they included the development of five to seven professional development activities, which the teachers shared with their peers upon returning to their respective schools in the fall. The Institute's focus each summer was based on enhanced oceanography and coastal processes content, strengthening instructional skills, and developing lesson plans/activities that were aligned with the National Science Education Standards (NSES) and the Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts.
During the programs operation, teachers were engaged over a three-week timeframe in the Online Institute component. This component encompassed presentations, reading assignments and videos made by six additional research scientists, social scientists, and/or educators see statistics and reviews from the 2008 online component.) The online component also featured topics such as an overview of the Gulf of Mexico and the importance of stewardship. Teacher-participants also developed an activity on each of these topics.
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COSEE Center
COSEE Central Gulf of Mexico was a unique collaborative hosted by the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) and its J.L. Scott Marine Education Center. The Center sought to increase the innovative and analytic capacity of engagement between research scientists, formal and informal educators, precollege students, and the general public within the inland areas of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
Contact Information
Sharon Walker Institute for Marine Mammal Studies Center for Marine Education and Research
