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http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov

Interactive Web-based magazine about Earth system science & the use of satellite remote sensors to study Earth

• 26,000 unique visits per day worldwide

• 40,000 subscribers• Global composites are the 2nd

most popular element!

Has elements both for formal and informal education

Development of RSS feeds and database redesign to allow content syndication

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Educators & communicators can easily leverage EO’s content for inclusion in their own efforts

Content Syndication

Tokyo Science Museum “GeoCosmos” (~20-foot spherical TV)

National Museum of Natural History Forces of Change

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2004 Survey Results: Teachers Teacher Feedback (511 respondents, +287)

• 50% (+13%) were undergraduate or higher, 30% (+3%) were 9 - 12 grades, 13% (-8%) were 6 - 8 grades, 6% (-9%) were K-5

• 67% (+4%) of respondents teach Earth science or related course(s)• Most of our respondents encourage

students to visit the EO — 35% (-17%) said “Often,” and 41% (+12%) said “Sometimes”; 11% said “Never”

• Most of our respondents incorporate materials from the EO into their class- room lessons

– 29% (-15%) said “Often,” & 43% (+5%) said “Sometimes”; 12% (-2%) said “Never”

Incorporate EO materials in classroom

Sometimes

Fairly often

Very often Never

Once or twice

12%

16%

43%

21%

9%

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Student Feedback (239 respondents, +59)• 87% (+6%) were undergraduate or higher, 8% were grades 9 - 12 (-5%),

and 3% (-2%) were grades 6 - 8• Interestingly, 74% (+6%) said their teachers “Never” encouraged them to

visit the EO — indicating students are finding it on their own• 66% (-3%) of respondents have used the

EO as a reference tool when doing schoolwork assignments, while 34% (+3%) have “Never”

Use the EO for schoolwork assignments?

2004 Survey Results: Students

Never

Yes

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Student Feedback (239 respondents, +59)• The EO helped 55% of student respondents to consider taking science

courses in the future

• The EO helped 36% of respondents to consider becoming scientists

2004 Survey Results: Students

Considering future science coursework?

No influence

Agree

Strongly agree

36%

42%

19%

Disagree

Considering becoming a scientist?

No influence

55%

Agree

27%

Strongly agree

9%6%Disagree

Strongly disagree

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Team Strengths

Bruce Caron – The New Media Studio, Education Technologies developer• Building educational software, creating visualizations

LuAnn Dahlman – TERC, EET guru• Teacher professional development, K-12 teaching, EET

David Herring – NASA, Earth Observatory manager• Science writing, dataset knowledge

Ray Tschillard – Greely Schools, BSCS• Teacher professional development, pedagogy

Ali Whitmer – UCSB, Curriculum Developer• Building lesson plans, pedagogy, scientist

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Merging Technology & Pedagogy

Earth Observatory is a powerful tool for teachers that can enhance learning

Even the best tools can be underutilized Interest in promoting an inquiry approach

• Connect inquiry and technology through real data use in the classroom

• Use technology to explore large, intangible concepts

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The 5 E’sBiological Sciences Curriculum Study

(BSCS) Engage – students in the topic

Explore – the topic with others

Explain – the topic, guide to understanding

Elaborate – to help students extend their understanding

Evaluate – student learning & understanding

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Modeling the 5E’s First page is a

case study about the Carbon Cycle that engages the teacher

We will model the 5E approach while teaching about the tool

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Engage: Carbon Case Study

Between one and two billion metric tons of carbon per year are “missing” from the global carbon budget. In other words, scientists cannot account for 15 to 30 percent of the carbon that humans annually release into the atmosphere…

…we can generate animations that help us visualize the pathways that it follows.

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Explore and Explain

Teachers are guided through an example data set comparison (structured inquiry)• Vegetation Index (greenness) versus Rainfall

• Vegetation Index versus Surface Temperature

• Primary Productivity versus Surface Temperature

• Fires versus Rainfall and/or Vegetation Index anomaly

• Fires versus Fine Aerosol Particles

• Still to come: Fires versus Carbon Monoxide

Teachers are then encouraged to examine additional datasets that may be relevant to the case study (problem solving challenge)

The associated instructions provide explanations about the datasets and how to build animations

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Elaborate Teachers are pointed to additional stories, datasets and tools for

further investigation (these are mostly terrestrial in focus)• The Mystery of the Missing Carbon -

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/BOREASCarbon/

• Evolving in the Presence of Fire - http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/BOREASFire/

• Rain Helps Carbon Sink - http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/CarbonHydrology/

• Watching Plants Dance to the Rhythms of the Ocean - http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/SSTNDVI/

• Escape from the Amazon - http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/LBA_Escape/

• Global Garden Gets Greener - http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/GlobalGarden/

• From Forest to Field: How Fire is Transforming the Amazon - http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/AmazonFire/

• Stealing Rain from the Rainforest - http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/AmazonDrought/

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Conclusions Each tool has many more educational uses than can be

explored in a single EET chapter• Focus on one or a few aspects

Each team member brings individual strengths to the effort• Embrace diversity• Avoid “too many cooks”

Integrate pedagogy and technology• Model the approach in your EET chapter

Next Steps:• Develop an evaluation and assessment strategy• Present lesson to teachers for incorporation into their classrooms• Collect data on lesson’s effectiveness