FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 28, 2011

CONTACT: Amy Hartley, GI information officer, at 907-474-5823 or via e-mail at amy [dot] hartley [at] gi [dot] alaska [dot] edu

Fairbanks, Alaska— A free science education resource for Alaskan educators created by Alaskan scientists is now available online. Developed by the Geophysical Institute under contract to the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development, the Alaska K-12 Science Curricular Initiative (AKSCI) is designed to help teachers bring cutting-edge Alaskan research to K-12 classrooms.

AKSCI features more than 300 physical, earth, and life science lessons based on research being conducted throughout the state. Lessons were created to address every one of the State’s science Grade-Level Expectations, and infuse Alaska Native cultural knowledge and traditional wisdom.

AKSCI offers a three-year curriculum map school districts across the state can adopt to provide cohesive K-12 science instruction. The spiraling curriculum enables students to revisit content areas and to build upon knowledge they have previously gained, handling more complex and sophisticated concepts each time.

Of the new initiative, ADEED Commissioner Michael Hanley wrote, “From beginning to end, the developers labor with passion to deliver a science curricular context that calls students to first-hand examination of the land in which they dwell…The developers sustain unrelenting integrity of process to align this initiative with scientific truth as understood in our era, while inviting students to their own, reasoned conclusions.”

Geophysical Institute Education Director Kathy Berry Bertram, who oversaw the project, explained that AKSCI advocates student inquiry and experimentation. “AKSCI was created for Alaskan students by Alaskan scientists, Alaskan teachers, and Alaskan Elders. It is designed to foster student enthusiasm for studying the science they see occurring around them.”

The AKSCI database is set up as a searchable website (http://www.aksci.org/) so teachers can use the entire curriculum, or just the lessons that meet their individual classroom needs. 

In addition to lessons, the AKSCI website offers a variety of multimedia materials to support classroom work, and online access to 29 University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists willing to mentor teachers.

AKSCI is founded on five educational programs previously created by the Geophysical Institute as well as Alaska Sea Grant’s Alaska Seas & Rivers curriculum and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Alaska Wildlife Curriculum.

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: 

Kathy Berry Bertram, Geophysical Institute education director, at 907-474-7798 or via e-mail at kbertram [at] gi [dot] alaska [dot] edu

Glenda Findlay, AKSCI program manager, at 907-474-2722 or via e-mail at glenda [dot] findlay [at] gi [dot] alaska [dot] edu.

Marmian Grimes, UAF public information officer, at 907-474-7902 or via e-mail at marmian [dot] grimes [at] alaska [dot] edu. 

ON THE WEB: http://www.aksci.org