ED31A-0728 0800h
EarthSLOT (an Earth Science, Logistics, and Outreach Terrainbase): Or, How You Can Create 3D, Interactive Visualizations of the Earth with Little or No Funds.
In spring of 2004 we received a Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER) from the NSF's Office of Polar Program's Arctic Logistics and Research Support program to create an internet-based, interactive, 3D terrain and data visualization system of the Arctic. A preliminary version of this application, called EarthSLOT, can now be found on-line at www.earthslot.org. EarthSLOT allows users to visualize the earth, whether as a spinning globe from space or from the sea-floor looking up at a mid-ocean ridge or anywhere in between. Flight controls range from completely interactive to following pre-planned routes, and the visualizations can be done real-time over the internet or saved as screen shots or MPG movies. The purpose of this project is to put easy-to-use 3D terrain and visualization tools into the hands of many users at little or no cost to them, by taking care of the complicated and expensive work ourselves. Therefore EarthSLOT may be an ideal tool for scientists with low outreach budgets to share their research with other scientists or the public. Those on a very low budget can use EarthSLOT for free, as can any ordinary user, without modifying it or adding their own data. Example uses would be analyzing the terrain surrounding a field site, adding a 3D visualization of a study area to a presentation, or exploring the vector data added by others to their study areas. Those with about \$1200 to spend on the necessary commercial software can add their own content to the existing application. For example, an ecologist can add or create shapefiles that outlines their study plots and then link those outlines to web pages containing data or further information. Or a glaciologist can superimpose the locations of mass balance stakes and weather stations on the surface of a glacier, then create an mpg movie that starts in space and zooms down to the stake level to visualize how weather systems on a planetary scale relate to the local measurements. Or scientists/educators can teleconference and use the software's collaborative tools such that one user can control the displays of the others', guiding them to points of interest in 3D over the internet. EarthSLOT is a new and evolving project and we are seeking input from potential user communities on ways to improve it as well as ways to diversify and strengthen its funding base. Combinations of any resolution digital elevation models or imagery can be used in EarthSLOT, and we plan to use global Landsat mosaics as the minimum level of imagery. One way to improve this is through contributions of higher resolution data from users. Our current funding is arctic-based, but the application itself is global in nature. We are therefore seeking new funding sources to help support developments in other regions of the globe and ensure that EarthSLOT can remain on-line as a low-cost resource for as many users as possible.
http://www.earthslot.org
ED31A-0729 0800h
Earth Science Resource Teachers: A Mentor Program for NASA's Explorer Schools
Each year, the NASA Explorer Schools (NES) program establishes a three-year partnership between NASA and 50 school teams, consisting of teachers and education administrators from diverse communities across the country. While partnered with NASA, NES teams acquire and use new teaching resources and technology tools for grades 4 - 9 using NASA's unique content, experts and other resources. Schools in the program are eligible to receive funding (pending budget approval) over the three-year period to purchase technology tools that support science and mathematics instruction. Explorer School teams attend a one-week summer institute at one of NASA's field centers each summer. The weeklong institutes are designed to introduce the teachers and administrators to the wealth of NASA information and resources available and to provide them with content background on NASA's exploration programs. During the 2004 summer institutes at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) the National Earth Science Teachers Association (NESTA) entered into a pilot program with NES to test the feasibility of master teachers serving as mentors for the NES teams. Five master teachers were selected as Earth Science Resource Teachers (ESRT) from an application pool and attended the NES workshop at GSFC. During the workshop they participated in the program along side the NES teams which provided the opportunity for them to meet the teams and develop a rapport. Over the next year the ESRT will be in communication with the NES teams to offer suggestions on classroom management, content issues, classroom resources, and will be able to assist them in meeting the goals of NES. This paper will discuss the planning, selection, participation, outcomes, costs, and suggestions for future ESRT mentorship programs.
http://exploreerschools.nasa.gov
ED31A-0730 0800h
Unionville, Pennsylvania School's Stream Restoration Project
For the past three years, students and Earth Club members of C.F. Patton Middle School and Unionville High School have been involved in a stream restoration and monitoring project along a tributary to the East Branch of the Red Clay Creek in Pennsylvania. The Red Clay is within the larger Christina River Basin watershed which drains to Delaware Bay. Total funding of \$962.00 was awarded by the Unionville-Chadds Ford Education Foundation to purchase both stream monitoring equipment and native plant species for stream restoration. Nine science teachers in the school district received certification in stream monitoring by the Pennsylvania State Parks Division. Certification enables the science faculty and their students to enter monitoring data in a statewide stream database. The stream data includes: temperature, levels of dissolved oxygen and nutrients, pH, alkalinity, conductivity, and a complete biosurvey of invertebrates. In addition to ongoing monitoring, the Earth Club sponsored a name-the-stream contest. Quartz Creek was chosen for this previously unnamed tributary. Its' name was approved by the East Marlborough Township Supervisor in May, 2004 and was then submitted to the USGS' Board on Geographic Names. The Earth Club has also sponsored a stream restoration contest. Students in the middle school were encouraged to design a habitat along the stream banks that would keep sediment in-place, while encouraging wildlife. The stream was originally crowded with invasive multi-flora rose but this was removed with the help of parents and students over a two year period. The winning student poster was outstanding and native species were purchased and planted following the poster's design. The planting took place in May, 2004 with over 40 persons involved including 25 middle school and 8 high school students, teachers from the schools, administrators and employees of the Brandywine Conservancy, and Red Clay Valley and Brandywine Valley Associations, and graduate students from the University of Delaware.
ED31A-0731 0800h
Production of a Science Education Video for Middle School Students
"Out to Sea: Life as a Crew Member Aboard a Geological Research Ship" is the title of a video created to introduce middle school students to the interesting and varied life on a research ship. The video was filmed on the JOIDES Resolution in January 2003 and edited in Los Alamos, New Mexico, at the local public access television station. This video was created on a budget of less than $4000. The producer, a science teacher and former Marine Technician with the Ocean Drilling Program, created this video in an effort to reach students in their middle school years and show them the exciting world of geological research. The video introduces students to the JOIDES Resolution and interviews several shipboard members from the chief steward to sea-going scientists. The intent is to inform students about the range of opportunities for work in science, many of which do not require advanced degrees in scientific disciplines. This differs from traditional "big science" videos, by showing them that it is possible to be involved in science without having a PhD. This presentation will include the motivation for creating the video, the process of video production, problems and solutions encountered along the way, as well as teacher and student feedback.
http://outtosea.tauxe.net
ED31A-0732 0800h
The Radio JOVE Project - An Inexpensive Introduction to Radio Astronomy
The Radio JOVE project began over six years ago as an education-centered program to inspire secondary school students' interest in space science through hands-on radio astronomy. The project was begun on small grants from the Goddard Space Flight Center Director's Discretionary Fund, the Initiative to Develop Education through Astronomy and Space Science (IDEAS) program, and the American Astronomical Society. Students build a radio receiver and antenna kit capable of receiving Jovian, solar, and galactic emissions at a frequency of 20.1 MHz. More than 600 of these kits have been distributed to students and interested observers (ages 10 through adult) in over 30 countries. For those who are not comfortable building their own kit, the Radio JOVE project has made it possible to monitor real-time data and streaming audio online from professional radio telescopes in Florida (http://jupiter.kochi-ct.jp) and Hawaii http://jupiter.wcc.hawaii.edu/newradiojove/main.html). Freely downloadable software called Radio-Skypipe (http://radiosky.com) emulates a chart recorder to monitor ones own radio telescope or the telescopes of other observers worldwide who send out their data over the Internet. Inexpensive spectrographs have been developed for the professional telescopes in Hawaii and Florida and freely downloadable spectrograph display software is available to receive this research-quality data. We believe the amateur network data to be of value to the research community and would like to have students more directly connected to ongoing research projects to enhance their interest in participating. Results of the project and plans for the future will be highlighted.
http://radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov
ED31A-0733 0800h
The Solar System Radio Explorer Kiosk - Leveraging Other E/PO Programs for Greater Impact
The Solar System Radio Explorer Kiosk (SSREK) - a newly won small E/PO follow-on to a NASA/OSS research grant - is designed to leverage existing NASA E/PO projects and other education programs to enable a large return from a small investment. The SSREK project will create an interactive museum kiosk to engage and teach visitors about Jupiter and the Sun by learning what their low frequency radio bursts may be telling us about these worlds. This project will work with the network of radio observers and the archive of data obtained through the NASA-sponsored Radio Jove project. The SSREK project is partnering with the Maryland Science Center (MSC) as a test site for the SSREK. The MSC will enable us to ensure that this project meets the requirements of their museum environment. We are also partnering with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) to help us enable museum visitors with visual impairments to share in the excitement of science and help these visitors recognize how other senses besides sight can be used to do science. Both the MSC and NFB will assist us in formative and summative evaluation of the project. All of the software and designs for the wheelchair-accessible arcade-style cabinet will be made available on the associated web site hosted at NASA/GSFC - further extending the reach of the project.
http://radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov/
ED31A-0734 0800h
``Out To Sea: Life as a Crew Member Aboard a Geologic Research Ship'' - Production of a Video and Teachers Guide.
In May 2002, Joint Oceanographic Institutions (JOI) received a proposal entitled "Motivating Middle School Students with the JOIDES Resolution", from a middle school teacher in New Mexico named Katie Tauxe. Katie was a former Marine Technician who has worked aboard the R/V JOIDES Resolution in the early years of the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP). She proposed to engage the interest of middle school students using the ODP drillship as the centerpiece of a presentation focused on the lives of the people who work aboard the ship and the excitement of science communicated through an active shipboard experience. The proposal asked for travel funds to and from the ship, the loan of video camera equipment from JOI, and a small amount of funding to cover expendable supplies, video editing, and production at the local Public Broadcasting Station in Los Alamos, NM. Katie sailed on the transit of the JOIDES Resolution through the Panama Canal, following the completion of ODP Leg 206 in late 2002. This presentation will focus on the outcome of this video production effort, which is a 19 minute-long video entitled "Out to Sea: Life as a Crew Member Aboard a Geologic Research Ship", and a teacher's guide that can be found online.
http://www.outtosea.tauxe.net
ED31A-0735 0800h
Making an outreach movie -The Puerto Rico Trench: Exploring the deepest place in the Atlantic Ocean
A new movie will be screened that describes the exploration of the Puerto Rico trench with a multibeam echosounder and its significance to scientific research and tsunami hazard assessment. The movie audience is the general public including high school students. It aims to stimulate interest in Oceanography and to demonstrate scientific processes as they are applied in Geological Oceanography. The extensive use of 3-D visualization fly-bys over the dramatic ocean floor of the Puerto Rico trench should be particularly appealing to a generation growing up on video games and 3-D visualizations. The film is the product of close cooperation between a film maker and a scientist through all stages of its production and post production. This level of close cooperation is necessary because scientists' and film makers' approaches to presentation of information can differ greatly. In making an educational or outreach movie, the scientist must be responsible for the contents of the message, but the film maker has to design an effective delivery method. The creation of this movie was the result of following stages: (1) live action filming during a short research cruise; (2) generating 3-D fly-by using Fledermausr software; (3) rendering the fly-by sequences to a high-definition film; (4) collecting still photos and other supporting material; (5) generating graphs illustrating crucial scientific information and concepts; (6) preparing the script for voiceover narration; (7) working with a professional actor in order to ensure accurate delivery of the information. The biggest challenge in making the movie was the editing stage when the different elements of the movie were put together, incorporating music and voiceover into an aesthetically pleasing, interesting, and above all, scientifically accurate and coherent movie. Post-editing steps included replication of the master copy, package design, and distribution. The movie was completed in several weeks on a modest budget, thanks to modern desktop digital video, editing, voice recording, mixing, and replication technologies. Free copies of the film can be obtained by contacting the second author.
ED31A-0736 0800h
The Geoscape Poster: Maximum Impact in Geoscience Education With Minimal Funding
A geologist/educator and a research curator of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science and a geologist/middle school teacher from the Albuquerque Public Schools have created an educational poster that uses the landscape around Albuquerque in order to teach fundamental geoscience concepts. "Albuquerque's Geoscape" is based on the innovative "Geoscape Vancouver" produced by the Geological Survey of Canada. The Albuquerque poster required four years of development including the creation of unique graphics and text, evaluations, and reviews by geologists and classroom educators. The poster content is aligned with state and national science standards at the middle school level and can be modified by teachers from K-12. All information that a teacher might need in order to teach a thematic unit on major geological topics is included in the poster, and linked to the local landscape. An accompanying web site for teachers includes additional materials. The initial funding for the project was an Intel Innovations in Teaching Grant, in the amount of 3K, awarded to Newsom. Museum in-house resources in science, education and graphics were utilized in the poster design and development. Funding for printing required small contributions from many local and regional organizations supporting science education. These contributors included Sandia National Lab, Rocky Mountain Section AAPG Foundation, New Mexico Academy of Science, ExxonMobile Volunteer Involvement Grant, Federal Bureau of Land Management, Albuquerque Rotary Club and Albuquerque Geological Society. Printing at-cost through a local company produced a poster on high quality paper at low cost. An initial printing of 5000 copies has enabled the Museum to offer the poster free of charge to all greater Albuquerque area K-12 teachers. In addition, the poster is on sale to the general public at the museum store. The response by classroom educators, local geologists, and the general public has been enthusiastic. The Rocky Mountain Section AAPG Foundation Board recently voted to use the poster as a model and encourage creation of other similar posters.
ED31A-0737 0800h
Populating a Control Point Database: A cooperative effort between the USGS, Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center and the Grand Canyon Youth Organization
The Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center measures the effects of Glen Canyon Dam operations on the resources along the Colorado River from Glen Canyon Dam to Lake Mead in support of the Grand Canyon Adaptive Management Program. Control points are integral for geo-referencing the myriad of data collected in the Grand Canyon including aerial photography, topographic and bathymetric data used for classification and change-detection analysis of physical, biologic and cultural resources. The survey department has compiled a list of 870 control points installed by various organizations needing to establish a consistent reference for data collected at field sites along the 240 mile stretch of Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. This list is the foundation for the Control Point Database established primarily for researchers, to locate control points and independently geo-reference collected field data. The database has the potential to be a valuable mapping tool for assisting researchers to easily locate a control point and reduce the occurrance of unknowingly installing new control points within close proximity of an existing control point. The database is missing photographs and accurate site description information. Current site descriptions do not accurately define the location of the point but refer to the project that used the point, or some other interesting fact associated with the point. The Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center (GCMRC) resolved this problem by turning the data collection effort into an educational exercise for the participants of the Grand Canyon Youth organization. Grand Canyon Youth is a non-profit organization providing experiential education for middle and high school aged youth. GCMRC and the Grand Canyon Youth formed a partnership where GCMRC provided the logistical support, equipment, and training to conduct the field work, and the Grand Canyon Youth provided the time and personnel to complete the field work. Two data collection efforts were conducted during the 2004 summer allowing 40 youth the opportunity to contribute valuable information to the Control Point Database. This information included: verification of point existence, photographs, accurate site descriptions concisely describing the location of the point, how to reach the point, the specific point location and detailed bearings to visible and obvious land marks. The youth learned to locate themselves and find the points using 1:1000 airphotos, write detailed site descriptions, take bearings with a compass, measure vertical and horizontal distances, and use a digital camera. The youth found information for 252 control points (29% of the total points).
ED31A-0738 0800h
A Study of Informal Geobiology Learning Opportunities at US Fossil Parks
CNN, in June 2003, reported news of an innovative, informal geoscience educational experience: The Fossil Park at Sylvania, Ohio. Sylvania's was one of three unique US fossil parks identified in the article that move beyond exhibiting fossils in native strata and museums, to allowing visitors to collect and keep the fossils they find. Penn-Dixie Paleontological Park (Hamburg, NY) and Rockford Fossil and Prairie Park (Rockford, IA) also allow visitors to collect fossils at their sites. While all three parks are Devonian in age, site characteristics, presentation, and public access to the fossils varies in each park. At each of these innovative outdoor science centers, the researchers availed themselves of the full visitor experience, collected fossils, and observed other visitors. Their systematic evaluation of each fossil park resulted in the determination and synthesis of the most effective educational elements into an optimal model of fossil park design. Very marked differences existed among the three fossil parks, including authenticity of experience; publicity and ease of access; fossil collection methods; site organization, facilities, personnel, and geological mentors; and interpretation and identification of fossils procured. Analysis of the data led to a much-needed model that can be used to develop effective fossil parks that optimize visitor experiences. The study also yielded a geoscience learning inventory that is potentially helpful to geoscience educators who wish to utilize such fossil parks. This inventory was applied to a newer, fourth US fossil park to demonstrate its application.
http://www.EarthScholars.com
ED31A-0739 0800h
Rotating Fluids : Hands-on Demonstrations for Graduate and General Education Courses
Rotating tables are useful to demonstrate a variety of geophysical flow phenomena about ocean-atmosphere flows. We discuss a small budget (less than \$4k) effort at UMass Dartmouth that posed the construction and demonstration of a rotating table designed by two students involved in a senior design project in Mechanical Engineering. With suggestions from Jack Whitehead and Keith Bradley at WHOI, Peter Cornillon at URI and Bud Brown at MIT, the students took the table from concept to a working version. The table (60cm in diameter) features a color video camera in the rotating frame of reference and has a dedicated computer to record experiments. It is being used for laboratory demonstrations in general education courses as well as for hands-on projects in a graduate course in Physics and Oceanography.