At the high school level, the materials and activities will be guided by the National Science Education Standards. The strength of GlobalHeartbeat will be its emphasis on inquiry-based learning through authentic learning tasks. It offers an opportunity for cross-discipline study in the sciences, health, technology and social studies. Issues such as connections of human and ocean health, biodiversity, water toxins, and coastal ecosystems can be addressed at both local and global levels. Scientist and student partnerships encourage students to experience real scientific inquiry in their learning.
Web communication encourages development of technology, publishing and journalism skills.
In the first year, planning, training, curriculum development and course delivery at the university level will occur. In this year the Web site and database will be set up and an online forum will be available for scientist and student interactions. A meeting of Year 1 partner organizations will be held at the beginning of the program to discuss the goals, activities and schedule for the program. This meeting will take place in CA and will be attended by Dr. Depledge, The College of Exploration team and the Sea Grant team. The scientific equipment will be put in place at the Wrigley facility and a curriculum guide for the university students will be created for use in the pilot course.