NSC takes active role bringing science to middle schools

By Dave Clark

Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2008 | midnight

Nevada State College is part of a new statewide, $20 million effort to study the local effects of climate change, which some experts predict will be harsh in the already arid desert.

Researchers from the Desert Research Institute, UNLV and UNR will spend the next five years analyzing and modeling the effects of climate change on water resources, landscapes and ecosystems.

Meanwhile, Nevada State College associate professor of anthropology and archaeology Paul Buck will lead an effort to bring the science to middle schools.

"Most middle school and high school students don't understand all our water comes from the Colorado River and Rocky Mountain snowpack," Buck said.

Other students, he said, are unaware of the Sierra Nevada's relationship to the Truckee River, which runs through Reno.

"It could have a dramatic effect for students to see those connections," Buck said. "It's going to affect us all, especially if you think of our water supply."

Enlightening students will be about six teachers, who will begin a two-week training period this summer with coursework and field trips as well as visits to scientists at UNLV and UNR. Buck said the teachers will likely be culled from three lower-income schools in both Las Vegas and Reno.

"Those tend to be places where teachers have the least training," Buck said. "We want to bring them up to par with other schools."

In addition, teachers with degrees in science are rare. The state, he said, only requires an elementary education degree for middle school teachers.

"We're trying to help teachers with what they are already supposed to be teaching, focusing on the energy and the environment," Buck said.

The education training is just a small portion of the overall project, which is funded by the National Science Foundation.

"It's mostly to build Nevada's ability to be competitive in climate change research," Buck said. "One of the big goals of the project is to try to monitor at the local and regional level. I don't know if anyone can yet predict very accurately what might happen in a particular state or city."

The high growth areas within the state are already straining scarce water resources. Long-term drops in precipitation would be felt intensely, Buck said.

"It takes a long time for the place to re-vegetate," he said. "If you only get four inches a year, and that goes down to three, it makes a big difference to plants and animals."

Dave Clark can be reached at 990-2677 or [email protected].