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ASL Clear Modules: Sign Language Vocabulary for Coastal Science Topics

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To foster greater engagement in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics learning among deaf and hard of hearing K-12 students and increase the number of deaf people entering science professions, the Center for Research and Training at the Learning Center for the Deaf, Inc, Boston University, and three National Estuarine Research Reserves in New England collaborated to develop new American Sign Language (ASL) resources for watershed and estuarine concepts

About this resource

These five video modules, available through the ASL Clear website, teach important concepts and 50 new scientific vocabulary in American Sign Language. Video modules on Watersheds, Water Quality, Water Quality Monitoring, Estuary Values, and Sea Level Rise can be found under the website's Earth Science and Ecology categories.

Video module topics and key concepts were identified by National Estuarine Research Reserve educators. The ASL Clear team developed the presentations, coined new ASL vocabulary, composed definitions and instructions for signing the new words, and filmed and edited all video materials. The new American Sign Language terms follow linguistic principles in which the signs communicate information about the concepts they represent.

The vocabulary and concepts in these modules are also available as video clips with English captions on the Wells Reserve's YouTube channel.