Data-Driven Art Science Community Activities for Youth

Teachers will participate in a community of learners. They will develop art-science activities using a university scientist’s dataset tailored for classroom use with the support of their scientist partner. Next, they will develop art-science activities with place-based data that students and teachers will either collect themselves or access from a local partner (e.g., USGS or the Forest Service). Subsequently, in partnership with a local museum or library, classroom art-science activities, and possibly teacher and student work, will be shared with the public in the museum or library space.  

Note: All cohort meetings will occur online via Zoom (see TIMELINE for more details). 

Throughout the program, teachers and students will grapple with real data and address what the NSTA and other national organizations share is the need for students to develop data literacy across the curriculum (NSTA et al., 2024). The National Science Teacher Association position statement shares: “Data can be numbers, counts, and measurements but also images, video, sounds, or words. Students need to grapple with the fast-changing nature of data, yet a gap exists between the concepts taught in math and the data skills needed by other disciplines. All learners need opportunities to develop data literacy, knowledge, and skills.”   

Data-Driven Art Science Community Activities for Youth is a team and cohort-based program. We are looking for teachers excited to collaborate and forge new relationships with their colleagues, university scientists, communities, museums and libraries.  

The Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship and CU Science Discovery are  strongly committed to equity, diversity and inclusion.

What makes me eligible to apply? 

We are accepting applications through Oct. 6, 2024 from eligible teachers who must apply in teams from the same school: 

• Art, science and/or math and engineering teachers (apply in a team of one art and one STEM teacher) 
• Colorado public school teachers in grades 5-12 (accepting up to six teacher teams). We hope to recruit teams from across rural and urban areas. 

What experience should I have?  

• We aim to have a mix of teachers with more and less experience in the program’s focal areas and from a mix of rural and urban areas in Colorado. However, it is important that teachers have a strong interest in the program’s approach: Integrating data, art and science to grapple with research datasets and place-based environmental issues. 
• We are looking for teachers who enjoy collaborating and co-designing 

Scientists from CU Boulder and/or the McMurdo Long Term Ecological Research network will support teacher teams in developing data-drive art and science activities for youth through the use of one of their lab’s datasets. Scientists will consult with the teacher teams on the science, e.g. how to understand, contextualize, analyze, visualize and share the data with students. 

The time commitment for scientists is approximately ten hours, primarily in spring semester 2025.  Participation details: 

• Attend two virtual whole cohort meetings (with an orientation on Nov. 14, 2024) 
• Attend 2-3 individual meetings with their teacher partners 
• Provide feedback or answer questions to teacher teams as needed via email.  

All meetings are virtual unless teams decide otherwise. Please review the program roles and timeline sections below for more detailed information.

In brief, museums or libraries local to the educators will support teacher teams starting in late spring and summer 2025. During this time, teacher teams will develop place-based, data-driven art and science activities for their classrooms and for implementation at the museum or library.  

The time commitment for museums or libraries is approximately ten hours, primarily in late spring and summer 2025. Participation details:  

• Attend the Nov. 14, 2024 orientation (optional attendance at other meetings) 
• Consult on the development of the local place-based, data-driven art and science activity to be implemented as a hands-on activity at the museum or library. Meet with teachers 1-2 times during the summer.  
• Create a timeline with teachers for implementation of the activity at the museum or library. 

All meetings are virtual unless teams decide otherwise. Please review the program roles and timeline sections below for more detailed information.

Program Leads 

Alex Rose from CU Science Discovery and Lisa Schwartz from the Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship are the Data-Driven Art Science Community Activities for Youth program leads. Alex and Lisa will be available throughout the program to support teachers and scientist fellows and plan to work closely with all fellows and their community partners. Please contact Alex and Lisa with questions. 

Dr. Alexandra (Alex) Rose is an education and outreach professional with appointments through CU Science Discovery (University of Colorado Boulder’s Division of Continuing Education), the Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) and the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department. Her work is focused on communicating the research resulting from two long-term National Science Foundation grants focused on the impacts of humans and climate change on the ecology of the Colorado alpine (Niwot Ridge LTER) and the Dry Valleys region of Antarctica (McMurdo-Dry Valleys LTER). With this work, Rose teaches a science communication and outreach course for graduate students (EBIO6100) and leads field trips for elementary through high school students focused on snow science, forest ecology and climate change (e.g. Snow School, Casey to Cal-Wood, the Mountain Research Experience, Forests and Fires Summer Research Experience and Crest View BioBlitz). She is also passionate about "data literacy" and using data-driven art projects to engage reluctant science learners in data analysis.  

Dr. Lisa Schwartz is a community program manager at the University of Colorado Boulder Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship. She has a doctorate in education from the University of Arizona and was a postdoctoral researcher and research director in the CU Boulder School of Education on a MacArthur Digital Media and Learning project before joining the office in 2016. Schwartz has more than 20 years of experience as a community-engaged scholar, educational researcher, social scientist and K-12 and university educator. She leads the Colorado Art Science Environment (CASE) Fellows program. CASE fellows are eight teams of artists, from across Colorado, and CU Boulder Scientists who collaborated to create an exhibition, for the Colorado State Capitol and now on tour throughout Colorado, that tells the story of how Coloradans are experiencing interrelated challenges of fire, drought, and water and air quality in their communities. Through her work on STEAM and multimodal literacy education efforts in Arizona and Colorado, Schwartz has worked with universities, nonprofits, K-12 schools and non-dominant communities to explore connections between people and place and biological and cultural diversity. Since 2018 she has also developed and led the Engaged Arts and Humanities Scholars program, now a collaboration with the CU Boulder Center for Humanities and the Arts.  

Affiliates

Katya Schloesser is an Education and Outreach Associate at the Center for Education, Engagement and Evaluation (CIRES). She is currently leading the Hazard Education Awareness & Resilience Task Force (HEART Force) project. Before joining CIRES Education and Outreach, Katya was most recently a middle school earth science teacher at Gunnison Middle School. Before becoming a classroom teacher, Katya worked for the CU Boulder Office for Outreach and Engagement where she managed the Learn More About Climate program. Additionally, she managed education and outreach for a multidisciplinary research project on hydraulic fracturing, the AirWaterGas Sustainability Research Network. She earned her MA in Geography at CU Boulder studying alpine hydrology, and her BS in Environmental Science and BA in Latin American Studies at the University of New Mexico. She’s a passionate educator who seeks to support K-12 educators to teach research-based, hands-on, engaging climate science curriculum.

Darya Warner teaches photography and art+science collaborative practices at the United States Airforce Academy, Colorado. Warner works at the intersection of art and science by bridging the creative process and growth/connections with human and non-human actors through the prism of Climate Change. Their research explores the Biophilia Hypothesis, also known as “the love of all living things,” as a crucial factor in reconnecting humans and nature via interactive installations, visual displays, photography, sound, time-based media, and bioart in the new form of hybrid matter based on care. They address issues of environmental impact among artists and connect creative processes to earth-conscious practices, and implement sustainable art practices methodology as a part of the educational curriculum. They graduated from the School of Visual Arts (BFA) and got their MFA from University at Buffalo. They have exhibited nationally and internationally and received multiple grants to support their projects.

Scientist/Science Fellow Partners 

We are currently recruiting scientist fellows (individual scientists or science labs) from CU Boulder and the McMurdo-Dry Valleys (Antarctica) Long Term Ecological Research team who will partner with teacher teams.To make the best matches, we will not finalize scientist partners until we receive teacher applications. As in prior collaborations, we anticipate involvement from scientists from a variety of disciplines at CU Boulder who are affiliated with the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences.  

Museum and Library Partners 

Currently, our museum partners are the CU Natural History Museum and the Museum of Boulder. We are in conversation with museums and libraries in other parts of Colorado, and we will update the partner list accordingly. Additional museum or library partners will be local to where participating teachers live.  

Teams will be composed of the following:   

• From the same school (teachers in grades 5 - 12 are eligible): 
  • 1 art teacher  
  • 1 science/math/engineering teacher  
• 1 university scientist/science lab  
• 1 local museum or library partner  

Benefits for teachers: 

• Each teacher participant will earn a $2,000 stipend  
• Funds for materials and travel as needed 
• Two or more Continuing Education Units
• Develop hands-on, art and science-focused ways to grapple with real data and address the need for students to develop data literacy across the curriculum (NSTA et al., 2024) 
• Form relationships with scientists, fellow teachers and museum or library partners  
• Gain confidence in engaging with key environmental and social issues affecting and connecting communities in the West (e.g., fire and air quality, drought and water quality in urban and rural locations) and changing global climate 
• Recognition of teachers as experts and contributors to community-wide learning and resilience 

Benefits for scientist fellows, museums and libraries: 

• Stipends for scientist/science labs ($1,000) and budgets for museums and libraries (up to $1,000) 
• Relationship development and expanded networks  
• A vehicle for broader impacts for scientific research 
• Pathway for museums and libraries to partner with communities and researchers  
• Help address need for STEAM learning and data literacy across the curriculum  

Overview of roles: 

• Teachers: Develop art-science-data activities and artifacts, pilot with classrooms and at museum or library location 
• Scientist/Science Lab: Provide datasets, serve as consultants on the collection, creation, analysis and representation of the data and science addressed  
• Museum/Library: Consult on creation of activities for museum or library location  
• CU Boulder Program Leads: Facilitate cohort meetings, connections with team members, review activities/artifacts and provide infrastructure for sharing activities online 
• All: Attend meetings which are virtual and held via zoom 

Teacher roles in detail: 

Phase 1: Nov. 2024–May 2025 
Approximately 20 hours of work (approximately 13 hours of meetings and workshops, 7 hours preparation and implementation) 

• Attend orientation and other meetings 
• Develop art-science-data activity for your classroom(s) utilizing a dataset from your partner scientist/lab and create a prototype art-science-data artifact derived from the activity. We will provide a template and a workshop to orient teams. Art and/or science materials should be simple and low-cost.
• Pilot art-science-data activity in April or May 2025 

Phase 2: Summer–Fall 2025 
Approximately 20 hours of preparation work and meetings. Implementation work is not included as it will depend on each teacher team.  

• Develop plans for a place-based art-science-data activity representative of a local issue and using a local dataset. Data will be collected by your students/and or utilize datasets from local sources.  
• Create a prototype art-science-data artifact derived from the activity 
• Create a timeline for implementation in your classrooms and at a local museum or library (in partnership with local museum or library partner)  
• Get feedback and support from your scientist fellow, museum or library partners and CU Boulder leads 
• Attend meetings 

Scientist/Science Lab roles in detail:  

Phase 1: Nov. 2024–May 2025 
Approximately 10 hours across Phases 1 and 2 

• Attend orientation and one additional cohort meeting 
• Connect two times with teachers (teachers will schedule meetings) in Dec. or Jan. 2024 and Feb. 2024
• Provide a dataset for teachers to work with for data-driven art-science activity development 
• Utilize your expertise and perspective as a scientist to consult with teachers about the development of the data-driven art and science activity. Be a thought partner when needed.  
• Support teachers in understanding the dataset and the relevant science. Be available for questions via email or other modes of communication.   

Phase 2: Summer–Fall 2025 

• Consult on the collection, creation, analysis and representation of place-based local data 
• Meet with teacher teams 1–2 times. Be available via email for feedback or advice. 

Museum/Library role in detail:  

Approximately 10 hours across Phases 1 and 2 

Phase 1: Dec. 2024–May 2025 

• Attend orientation, optional attendance at other meetings (see TIMELINE for details)   

Phase 2: Summer–Fall 2025 

• Consult on the development of the local place-based, data-driven art and science activity to be implemented as hands-on art activity at the museum or library. Meet with teachers 1-2 times during the summer.  
• Create timeline with teachers for implementation of activity at museum or library

 2024 Fellowship Application Process: 

• Aug. 5   Teacher application period opens  
• Oct. 6    Teacher application due  
• Oct. 21  Notification of acceptance into program 
• Oct. 25  Deadline to communicate acceptance of fellowship 

Program Phase 1: Nov. 2024–May 2025 

• Nov. 14, 2024, 4–6 p.m. Fellows Cohort Orientation  
  • Who attends: CU program leads, teachers, scientist/lab and museum/libary 
  • Purpose: Overview of program and participants 
  • Template introduced for art-science-data activity
     
• Nov. 2024–Jan. 23, 2025 Teachers and Scientist/Science Lab Partners Meeting 
  • Teachers will schedule a 1:1 meeting, about one hour long, with their scientist/lab partner. It should take place before the January cohort meeting. A template will be provided to guide conversation.  
  • Who attends: Teachers and scientist/lab  
  • Purpose: Get to know each other and discuss interests, data and ideas for activities. Home in on possible datasets to use for art-science-data activity development. 
     
• Jan. 23, 2025, 4–6 p.m. Fellows Cohort Workshop: Telling a story with data/visualizing data 
  • Who attends: Teachers, CU program leads, optional attendance: scientist/lab 
  • Purpose: Get examples of how to do data visualization.
  • Review template and timeline for data-driven art and science activity development and implementation. Add initial ideas into template before Jan. 30 meeting. 
     
• Jan. 30, 2025, 4–5:30 p.m. Teachers and program leads to go over spring schedule plans and share content added to art-science-data activity
   
• Feb. 2025 Individual Team Meeting and Activity Development
  • Who attends: Teachers and scientist/science lab partners
  • Purpose: Teachers schedule with each other and scientists in order to synchronously and asynchronously fill out art-science-data activity template.
     
• Feb. 20, 2025, 4–6 p.m. Activity template due to program leads
   
• March–April 2025 Teachers implement activity in their classrooms 
   
• April 10, 2025, 4–5:30 p.m. Phase 1 Feedback and Phase 2 Ideation
  • Who attends: Teachers 
  • Purpose: Share feedback on phase 1. Review template and timeline for phase 2 art-science-data activity development and implementation. 
     
• May 15, 2025, 4–6 p.m. Phase 2 Orientation/Workshop  
  • Who attends/purpose: Teachers and museum/library partners 
  • Template and plan for activities will be provided

Program Phase 2: Summer 2025–Fall 2025 

Summer 2025: Teacher teams will develop plans for a place-based art-science-data activity representative of a local issue and using a local dataset, and they will create a prototype art-science-data artifact derived from the activity. Science and museum or library partners will support activity development. They will advise on data collection and analysis plans, as well as pedagogical approaches and activities. 

• June–Aug. 2025
  • Teacher teams meet on your own to develop and plan activities. Approximately eight hours over 2-3 meetings. 
  • Teacher teams connect with scientist partner and get feedback on data collection (or dataset) and analysis. Approximately two hours over 1-2 meetings. 
  • Teachers connect with your museum/library partner to plan for hands-on museum or library exhibition. Approximately 2-3 hours over 1-2 meetings.  

Fall 2025—Spring 2026: Activities developed over the summer will be utilized within the teachers’ classrooms, and activities will be featured at a local museum or library. Science fellows and museum or library partners will contiune to support activity development where needed.

• Sept. 2025, 1.5 hours Teacher Meeting  
  • Who attends: CU program leads and teachers 
  • Purpose: Share your timeline and plan with each other  
     
• Nov. 2025, 1–1.5 hours Teacher Meeting 
  • Who attends: CU program leads and teachers  
  • Purpose: Planning for future and sharing outcomes 

We are currently accepting applications for pairs of Colorado teachers (an art teacher paired with either a science, engineering or math teacher) from the same school to join the inaugural Data-Driven Art Science Community Activities for Youth program. Eligible teacher pairs are middle, high school or upper elementary teachers from the same school.  

The application is in a Google form and contains the below sections. We suggest you write up your answers before you submit. Note that each teacher in a team must apply separately.

 Application   

Section 1: General Information

• Name and contact info 
• Name of school 
• School website 
• Select the discipline that best represents your main teaching subject area: Art, Math, Science, Engineering 
• Grades you teach: Upper Elementary, Middle, High School 
• Any additional specifics about the disciplines that you teach 
• # range of how many individual learners you reach each year with your educational practice 

Section 2: Your Teacher Partner and School Supervisor Information  

• Teacher Partner Information: Name and contact information for each 
• Name of school supervisor and contact information 
• Check the boxes for both teacher partner and supervisor in order to confirm that they have authorized application submission and potential Fellows cohort participation.  

Section 3: Your Experience and Interests 

• Please introduce yourself to us both personally and professionally. (1000 character limit) 
• What type of science/scientist from CU Boulder or the McMurdo Arctic Team are you and your teacher team partner most interested in connecting with during the Data-Driven Art Science Community Activities for Youth program? Select from the list. No more than three options, please. 
• Describe what you hope you and your students will gain from your participation as a Data-Driven Art Science Community Activities for Youth? (1000 character limit) 
• What is an environmental issue(s) that you are particularly interested in for your community? What is your background knowledge of this issue? (1000 character limit)
• Optional Describe any specific examples or ideas for the following in your work: a) art-science collaborations, b) community partnerships, and/or c) use of data-sets for classroom learning. Feel free to provide relevant links. NOTE: If you don't have links to share within this text, you can upload samples of exemplary curriculum, activities and /or student work in the next question (1500 character limit).
• Optional:  Upload samples of exemplary curriculum, activities and/or student work that you discussed in the question above.  

Section 4: Program Logistics 

•   Indicate your availability for the program’s meeting dates