1. Using DLESE: Finding Resources to Enhance Teaching
Holly Devaul
Shelley Olds 17 March 2004

2. Overview
What challenges do educators face when searching for resources?
What is the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE)?
How can I use DLESE to find resources that help my teaching and
support FOSS kit instruction
offer ideas for a field investigation project
Hands-on exploration of DLESE
Report out/reflection

3. Challenges in finding resources
How can I find good “stuff”?
Can it be integrated quickly?
Is it versatile?
Will it motivate students?
Is it aligned with skills I’m expected to teach?
Is it reliable?
Impact the authority of the teacher in the classroom

4. Why use a digital library?
Provides efficient discovery of quality materials
Provides safe environment and “boundaries” on the web
Acknowledges the current reliance on the Internet for information
“About 75 percent of students said they used the Internet first, then went to a professor or librarian for assistance, and consulted print sources last.”

5. Digital Library for Earth System Education
Resources that support Earth System Education:
Emphasizes interdisciplinary approach to science
Includes processes, states, cycles, and interactions among the atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere and space from a global to local perspective, across time scales
Highlights materials that bring the Earth system into the classroom or learning situation, and that demonstrate the application of science to solving real world problems

6. What does DLESE offer? Learning resources about the Earth System
Lesson plans, computer and lab activities, data, instructor guides, visualizations, virtual field trips…
Themed collections about a specific topic
Reviewed collections
– Select Browse Resources and Collections to see the full breadth of DLESE resources
Resources contributed and described by educators and scientists

7. DLESE also offers
Services to help users effectively create and use materials
Search by educational standards
Read and contribute teaching tips and reviews
Community connections
Attend workshops, summer institutes, and events
Learn about funding sources
Participate in discussion groups on a wide range of topics
Receive DLESE monthly electronic newsletter
Interfaces and tools to allow exploration of Earth data sets (coming soon!)
– Select Browse Resources and Collections to see the full breadth of DLESE resources

8. Making use of resource types
Level of learning or understanding*
You want students to be able to:
Relevant resource types (there may be others)
Sample problems and resources
Analysis (distinguish, classify, or relate assumptions, hypotheses, evidence) 
Analyze a problem
Case study
Activities (classroom, computer, lab, field)
Datasets
Lesson plan
Project
Tools (calculators)
Problem: How is water quality determined?
Resource type: Case study
Resource: Exploring the Environment: Water Quality
Synthesis (originate, integrate, and combine ideas)
Prepare for a discussion, role play, or debate on an issue, etc.
Dataset
Presentation/demo
Services
Tutorial
Text
Visual (illustrations, etc.)
Problem: Develop and defend a possible solution to global warming. Resource type: Classroom activity, computer activity
Resource: Global Warming Project,
Help guide and streamline search process:
Diversity of Life: diversity, then “diversity of life” then Middle (6-8) + Computer activity
Earth History: “plate tectonics” +
Planetary Science: Grades: Resource type: Visualization
Weather and Water: cloud + Grades: Field activity
Mixtures and Solutions:
* Bloom

9. Discussion questions
What are some concepts that have been difficult to teach?
Are there areas that the FOSS kits don’t cover? Concepts that could use enhancement?
How might technology assist with these situations?
Enhance the teaching of a topic
Show different activities/ examples, so what kind of resources could enhance the teaching
Add the table into the presentation

10. Explore DLESE Pick a topic/concept: Goals:
To enhance a module or to help build a field investigation
Begin searching for resources
Write down URLs of interesting resources
Goals:
Find resources that will be useful to you
Report back to group on what you find or don’t find!

11. Tools on your desktop Worksheet Web browser opened to www.dlese.org
Topic
Grade level
URLs, etc.
Notes
Web browser opened to

12. Post-exploration discussion
What topics did you explore? For what grade level?
What kinds of searches did you do?
Did you find what you were looking for?
Why or why not; suggestions for broadening a search