Faculty at West Virginia University's Eberly College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Human Resources and Education developed a year-long course to help middle and high school science teachers lead their students in project-based studies of local watersheds.

Teachers equipped with the academic and applied tools required to plan, design, implement and evaluate project-based environmental studies have increased student interest and enthusiasm for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Students have improved their spatial analysis skills and developed a greater understanding of environmental interactions.

The West Virginia Watershed program, "Development of kNowledgeable Teachers: Geospatial Understanding in Earth System Science" (DON'T GUESS), leverages the NSF-sponsored GLOBE Watershed Dynamics Program, a hands-on science and education program for primary and secondary teachers and students.

The West Virginia program emphasizes watershed management issues relevant to the state. Teachers complete a three-credit summer institute that focuses on physical processes and interactions between water, soil, rocks and the atmosphere that occur within watersheds. The teachers also receive training on geospatial technologies such as remote sensing, global positioning systems and global information systems to explore, map and analyze interactions between terrestrial and fresh water systems. In the fall they take a three-credit practicum on teaching project-based courses.