Five faculty and staff members from Green Middle School recently advanced their knowledge of Ohio’s energy resources in preparation for the new school year. They accomplished this during a two-day Science Teacher Workshop held at Marietta College which was attended by teachers throughout Ohio. The workshop, which included classroom, hands-on activities and a field trip, was sponsored by the Ohio Oil & Gas Energy Education Program (OOGEEP).
The Green Middle School attendees at the workshop were: Jeff Miller, principal; Donna Plunkett, curriculum director; Paula Jameson, technology resource teacher; and Mike and Ann Murphy, seventh grade science teachers. (The latter are husband and wife.) They and the other Ohio teachers studied an energy education curriculum based on six units: formation; migration; exploration; drilling and production; refining; and products. Each unit also featured an industry speaker, science experiment labs and a wide variety of internet applications and tools.
The workshop’s goal was to advocate energy education by connecting science education and Ohio’s oil and gas industry. There was no cost for the teachers to attend, and they earned Continuing Education Units (CEU) and an optional graduate credit for their participation.
On the second day, the teachers moved out of the classroom for a field trip to learn the various phases of exploring, drilling and producing Ohio crude oil and natural gas. They had a rare opportunity to tour an actual drilling rig (Warren Drilling), and were able to go on location to visit two actively producing crude oil and natural gas wells (Alliance Petroleum Corporation). The group also visited a natural gas compressor station (Dominion East Ohio) and a crude oil hauler (Ohio Oil Gathering Corporation).
Miller said he found the workshop to be very informative and exciting, and it gave him a lot of information to share with prospective students Ohio’s oil and gas industry.
He also noted, “I found the tour of Marietta College to be rewarding, and it tied in the partnerships with OOGEEP and public and private schools. I never actually stopped and gave much thought to how oil reaches the end product. The science and educated forms of discovery were extremely insightful and thought provoking.”
Jameson stated that she attended the workshop “to learn more about the oil and gas industry and integrate it into content standards,” also said the format was very good and that she “loved the way information was presented.”
Murphy commented that she “loved the speakers and hands-on demonstrations,” and also complimented the workshop’s “great practical ideas” she could take back and use in her classroom.
Plunkett added, “The Green Local Schools involvement with the OOGEEP initiative is an excellent opportunity for our middle school science teachers. The workshop format was excellent in that it combined direct instruction, teaching each other to demonstrate what we learned from it, and real world experiences. Our partnership with OOGEEP and Dominion East Ohio will benefit our students.”
OOGEEP Executive Director Rhonda Reda said, “The goal of these workshops is to help Ohio teachers, students and schools meet their state and national science standards.” OOGEEP is a non-profit statewide education and public outreach program voluntarily funded by Ohio’s crude oil and natural gas industry.
For more information about OOGEEP’s educational and other public outreach programs, contact Rhonda Reda, Executive Director, at 740-587-0410.
