Digital Water Education Library (DWEL)

The Center for Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education (CSMATE) at Colorado State University in partnership with the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), and the Center for Lifelong Learning and Design at the University of Colorado at Boulder developed an exemplary collection of digital K-12 materials and resources built around the theme of "Water in the Earth System". Our purpose in creating this collection was to enhance the ability of K-12 teachers, students, and parents to easily find, access, and use high-quality, standards-based water resources in their classrooms, at home, and in informal learning environments.

The primary goals of the DWEL project were to:
--Create a collection of approximately 500 "exemplary" K-12 water resources (scientific, economic, and policy) that can be used to investigate and learn about important water concepts, processes, and issues
--Develop and test a model for the adaptation, enhancement, inclusion, and support of existing curriculum resources in the Digital Library for Earth Science Education (DLESE).
--Conduct research on collaborative collection processes critical to building high-quality, user-friendly K-12 collections.

To achieve these goals, exemplary water resources, and the associated tools and services needed to easily use these resources were identified, reviewed, and cataloged by a variety of scientists and educators. K-12 teachers led this development effort. In creating the DWEL K-12 Collection, we worked closely with a number of organizations including: federal and state government agencies, professional scientific and education societies, academic institutions and centers, and other National SMETE Digital Library projects such as the one at Cornell.

This project was funded by the National Science Foundation's National Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education Digital Library (NSDL) program.

Browse the DWEL digital collection.


Copyright © 2003 Center for Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education, Colorado State University. All rights reserved.

Last modified 9/30/2003