MSU Burns Center offers online courses for science teachers – "Landforms for Elementary Teachers,","The Dirt on Soil Science," "Water Quality in the Classroom – A Characterization of the Science and Issues,", "General Relativity"

The Burns Technology Center at Montana State University will offer four online courses during the spring semester in cooperation with the National Teachers Enhancement Network at MSU.

The courses include: "Landforms for Elementary Teachers," grades K-8; "The Dirt on Soil Science," for grades K-6; "Water Quality in the Classroom – A Characterization of the Science and Issues," for grades 9-12; and "General Relativity" for grades 9-12.

"Landforms for Elementary Teachers," which runs from Feb. 13 through April 2, investigates landscapes and how they came to look as they do. The course requires a time commitment of six to eight hours per week and is available for one graduate credit.

"The Dirt on Soil Science" will be taught from Feb. 13-April 2 for one graduate semester credit. It also requires a time commitment of six to eight hours per week

"Water Quality in the Classroom – A Characterization of the Science and Issues" will run from Feb. 6 through May 5 and will focus on water quality concepts and how to teach them in the classroom. The class includes weekly experimentation, independent research, written homework and online discussion, The class requires a time commitment of nine to 12 hours per week while earning three graduate credits.

"General Relativity" is a physics course that will discuss such concepts as space-time curvature and the Schwarzschild metric for a non-rotating black hole. The class, which runs from Jan. 23 through May 5, can be taken for three credit hours and requires a time commitment of nine to 12 hours per week.

For more information on these courses, as well as eight other online science courses in biology, education, entomology, earth science, land resources, environmental science, microbiology and physics, go to http://www.scienceteacher.org/courses.htm or call (800) 282-6062.

Contact: Kelly Boyce (406) 994-6812

http://www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwview.php?article=2952