CLASSROOM OF THE SEA
"Teaching science through marine science for middle and secondary school students"

REFERENCING OF STANDARDS
As a matter of cross-referencing topics in this curriculum with other curricula, as stated above, reference numbers are assigned as per the reference appendix at the end of this document. In general, 1 is assigned the National Science Education Standards, 2 is assigned the Science Curriculum Framework of the State of Connecticut, and 3 is assigned the Benchmarks for Scientific Literacy. All other references will be assigned numbers in accordance with the references appendix.

PROGRAM GOALS
The overarching goal of the Classroom of the Sea is to enhance scientific literacy and provide greater opportunities for deaf students by developing and testing the effectiveness of an authentic learning environment and problem-based learning to teach science to deaf students, and to demonstrate the features of the model to others so that they may adopt them under different authentic learning contexts. We propose to achieve this goal through the development of an integrated program comprised of the following measurable objectives:

Objective One - To develop an integrated science curriculum for deaf students using highly interdisciplinary marine science.
Objective Two - To provide real-world oceanographic research opportunities - hands-on and virtually - to enrich the marine science curriculum.
Objective Three - To develop processes for optimizing the use of technical signs and American Sign Language in science and technology instruction.
Objective Four - To adapt and develop technologies to disseminate the curriculum, language enhancement strategies, and research results to the Deaf community, educators of deaf students, and others.
Objective Five - To provide greater opportunities for deaf students to pursue careers in science and technology.
Objective Six - To demonstrate the comprehensive science education model to other educators and assist them in implementing the successful components in various authentic learning environments.

These objectives are integrated as shown in figure 1.

As a result of science education for grades 7 through 12 in accordance with this curriculum, students will:

understand and apply basic concepts, principles and theories of physics, chemistry and biology (in that order), earth and space science, computer science and mathematics and their interrelationships 2,3 ;

recognize and participate in scientific endeavors centered on related marine science concepts and practicum in a real-world setting;

participate in activities which are problem based and use inquiry skills that will lead to a greater understanding of theory and practical perceptions of the world 1,3;

participate in the identification, use, and potential development of appropriate communications access measures with which to teach and relate scientific and technological concepts, equipment and analysis measures as part of existing means of communication within the Deaf Community; both academic and at large. This includes the appropriate use of "classifiers" in American Sign Language (ASL) and English signing as well as appropriate development of signs for science as appropriate and with consent of the community at large.

identify and solve problems through exploration of the marine environment, including formulation of hypotheses, experimental design, use of technology, testing of hypotheses and analysis of data, and drawing conclusions based on the above tasks;

select and properly use appropriate in-situ and field research technologies, laboratory technology, equipment and materials3;

understand and use existing and emerging technologies which have an effect on society and our quality of life, including personal, academic and work environments3;

analyze the possibilities and limits of science technology in order to make and defend decisions about scientific and societal issues 1,2,3;

understand that the way in which scientific knowledge is formulated is crucial to the validity of that knowledge 1,2,3.

The goals of the COS program are achieved by classroom "teams" and "crews" as a community of learners. The design of the COS curriculum seeks to create this community of learners by creating a "classroom team"; comprised of the classroom teacher, students, teaching specialists, and mentor scientists. The lessons are actually team taught under the control of the classroom teacher who causes the students to use knowledge learned in past grades to discover and understand new concepts in science. Multiple classroom teams will be encouraged to work as a "crew" to discuss elements presented in the curriculum or in the lab modules/field experiences described below via "web boards" and "virtual lessons and problem-labs".

In the COS, information and data will be presented and stored on the web boards for use in the labs and classroom instruction. Team ideas, student views and questions, data manipulations, scientific papers, and discussions will be presented on the web board. The teams and crews in the school can then share this information. The web board also allows the teacher-scientist-education group a private section for the discussion and evaluation of teaching methods, communications access issues, and classroom situations. This forms a critical alliance of self-helping colleagues. It also provides a method for professional development between the teachers and scientists and a forum for answering technical questions and developing new ideas. This is especially important given the fast pace advancement of technology, new scientific discoveries, and changing political climate with respect to science and the environment. The use of this methodology is critical to the COS curriculum as a curriculum maintenance tool and as a thread to tie the community of learners together. The application of critical thinking, problem based lab modules in which the classroom team works as a research team (or with other teams as a research crew) allows a free flow of ideas and information to take place and be refined as scientific concepts are introduced.

Figure 1. The Classroom of the Sea Model

Another key learning mechanism used in the COS program is that of apprenticeships. COS apprenticeships not only give the students a chance to "job shadow" practicing scientists but encourage students to ask questions of the scientists. The scientists-mentors act as coaches and supporters. The dialogue between the teams, crews and scientists also allow the students to see that collaborative efforts permit better solutions to be made and are the basis for conducting research in the field. The students learn that in situ science missions at sea require many experts and technicians to realize success. Finally, the student-mentor apprenticeship brings the students out at sea and to the point of "discovery", allowing them to experience the "a-hah!" aspect of scientific discovery. This model is taken from the Aquanaut Program (Babb, Scheifele and Tedeschi, 1998) and is depicted in figure 2. In COS, classroom teams and crews are asked to collaborate in solving a series of increasingly complex problems. This problem based learning mechanism prepares the students to actually work in parallel with scientists on actual at-sea research projects when they reach the 12th grade (as Advanced Marine Science (AMS) students).

Figure 2. The Aquanaut Program Model

The problem based learning (PBL) method is collaborative, case-based, and student-centered. Teams of students collaborate, and with a PBL coach/mentor, work through a problem. This problem, or case, is ill structured, requiring the students to problem solve from a minimum of presented information (Koschmann et al., 1994). Ill-structured problems require the students to identify the problem and its related components, as well as design and implement a solution to address the problem. Most ill structured problems are interdisciplinary in nature, like many found in the "real world" thereby facilitating transfer to the "real world."

TEACHING ORDER OF THE BASIC SCIENCES
Although the Classroom of the Sea (COS) curriculum is integrated across science subjects to the extent that each of the basic sciences are embroiled in the functioning of the marine environment, it is clear that each core science subject must be the focal point in any given school year. This is a matter of practicality in teaching. For the most part, the order of teaching science has historically been as follows: biology, chemistry, and physics.

The historical order of teaching science makes little sense given the practical function of the universe and the logical progression of thought which is fundamental to science. The order of teaching the basic tenets of science in the COS program is: physics, chemistry and biology. The rationale for such an order is that the study of physics describes the mechanisms by which the universe operates. It also defines the most basic units of matter and the most basic interactions between the material building blocks of matter. Having once defined these basic building blocks and discovered their interactions at a most basic level, basic concepts as to their use and performance in both the large and small scales can be discovered.

This provides a logical and "normal" segue from physics to chemistry whereupon increasingly more complex interactions between materials can be studied. Understanding chemical principles becomes more intuitive if the student understands the nature of matter and the physical constraints on interactions between both particles and objects. Finally, having an understanding of physical and chemical principles the student will be able to understand how organisms function from both the physical and biochemical aspects. This encompasses gross biology and anatomy as well s microbiology. The form and function of organisms, which are constrained by the laws of physics and enabled by chemical interactions, will be more easily understood.

Thus, the order of teaching the basic tenets of science will be as stated within the COS curriculum throughout all grades from 7 through 12. Grade 12 students (known as Advanced Marine Science or AMS) will make use of this teaching order to advance towards field research as the primary mechanism for scientific discovery. They will make use of basic statistics and understanding advanced technologies in the development and testing of hypotheses in defense of scientific discovery. Again, the COS teaching order of the sciences provides the students and teachers with a natural progression towards science literacy.