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Program Description

Partners Investigating our Environment (PIE) is an NSF funded GK-12 cooperative project between the Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) and the Ball State University Field Station and Environmental Education Center.  The project targets students in grades 3-8, with a concentration on middle school.  The PIE project is a model for the IPS University Partners in Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics initiative that will partner with universities focused on creating a systemic K-university advancement of science education.  The primary focus of the project is be to develop learning teams comprised of middle school students, teachers, graduate student fellows and Ball State University faculty.  This partnership work's together on inquiry-based environmental studies at the local, regional and global levels.  The common experience for all participants will be The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program.  

    GLOBE inquiries integrate science, math and technology into a unique educational format.  To complement the GLOBE Project's focus on engaging students in scientific inquiry, PIE will also include the development of additional activities that focus on science's application to community and global problems that pique students' interest.  Based on these common experiences the learning teams will sponsor a system wide student inquiry project.  This project will investigate an environmental issue of local significance.  IPS schools will collect environmental data using established scientific protocols.  The technology of the GLOBE web site will be used to communicate with students from other regions and countries. PIE will be integrated with the Indianapolis Public Schools science curriculum framework to support National and Indiana State Science Standards.  The core experiences emphasized by the project will include:  

(1) content in life, physical and earth/space science 

(2) the inquiry process 

(3) data gathering and analysis 

(4) graphing and interpretation of scientific data.