1998 Year of the Ocean Marine Education U.S.A.: An Overview 



K-12 educators to reach out and develop partnerships (both formal and informal) to, over 

 the long term, mutually develop new ways to infuse the ocean sciences into K-12 

 education at all levels and throughout the curriculum." 



The CORE report recommended urgent action in these priority areas: 



1 . Develop a formal umbrella partnership directed at ocean sciences and K-12 education 

 reform with professional societies and associations which share similar goals and 

 concerns. These include, but are not limited to: the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science (including Project 2061), the National Science Teachers 

 Association, the National Marine Educators Association, the Association of Science- 

 Technology Centers, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, The American 

 Geophysical Union, and The Oceanography Society. The basic purposes of these 

 partnerships should be to: 



a. facilitate implementation of the recommendations in this report; 



b. ensure the highest standards of quality are met throughout this process; 



c. foster the development of standards for ocean science literacy; 



d. enhance visibility of ocean sciences in educational reform; 



e. explore new linkages between ocean sciences and education communities. 



2. Develop, publish and disseminate "Standards for Oceans/Ocean Science Literacy." In 

 other words, what are the basic knowledge components (by discipline, such as physics 

 and by topic, such as ocean currents) that should be understood by students at 

 different grade levels (K-4, 5-8, 9-12) and which can be explored and tested through 

 grade appropriate inquiry-base study? At the adult level, what should a science 

 literate person know about the oceans and their influence on global environment and 

 impact (both now and likely in the future) on the global economy? 



3. Issue a policy statement strongly endorsing the need for pre-college outreach on the 

 part of ocean science researchers. Federal agencies concerned with the support of 

 ocean sciences should advocate pre-college outreach by ocean science researchers and 

 include outreach as an evaluation criterion in the review of research proposals by 

 these agencies. Strong endorsement by funding agencies of the need and value of pre- 

 college outreach is particularly necessary in order to change the reward system 

 (tenure) for younger faculty at academic institutions. 



4. Prepare a thorough inventory of existing K-12 ocean sciences programs and curricula. 

 Initial focus should be placed on gathering information on pre-college outreach 

 programs conducted by universities. The inventory should then be expanded to 

 include other sites and locations through the assistance of the education societies 

 including the AAAS, the National Marine Educators Association and the National 

 Science Teachers Association. This inventory should be made available in readily 



K-16 



