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  Kimberly MIller holding GPS receivers.
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by Jim Farwell, Editor
 jim@open.k12.or.us
Kimberly Miller's fifth grade students are excited about science. In fact, if Kimberly's past students are any indication, by the end of this school year most will want to be scientists when they grow up. They'll have also learned to appreciate math, because it's helped them find practical solutions to science problems. Kimberly elicits enthusiasm for science and mathematics from her students by immersing them in a hands-on Service-Learning science project that benefits the students, the Lincoln City community, and an international database accessed by scientists working to protect our planet.
Throughout the year, Kimberly's students at Taft Elementary School set up and run monitoring stations on nearby Schooner Creek -- the sole source of Lincoln City's water. Using GPS (Global Positioning System) instruments to precisely locate their research site, the students plug their data into a GLOBE (Global Learning and Observing to Benefit the Environment) database. GLOBE is an international program funded by the White House and administered locally at the Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC), which uses student-generated data to help monitor and protect the planet.
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 A student at work in Schooner Creek.
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As Kimberly's students monitor a wide variety of water quality factors on the creek, they learn to appreciate the delicate balance necessary to ensure a community's water supply. The hands-on science project also gives students a chance to make a real difference locally and worldwide, teaching them about science and the benefits of mathematics applications. As a result, new life and career choices open up for them.
In Spring 2000, Kimberly was named Lincoln County Soil and Water District Teacher of the Year. Yet surprisingly, in 1998 when she attended her first GLOBE workshop in Corvallis, Kimberly had little science background. During the last couple of years she has taught herself a great deal and worked closely with knowledgeable professionals such as Amy Bohnenstiehl of the Midcoast Watershed Council and Vicki Osis, Sea Grant administrator at HMSC. Kimberly has also received enthusiastic support from past and present Taft Elementary principals David Phelps and Suzanne Kutsch, while local citizens and businesses have generously contributed time, materials, and expertise.
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