earth system science education alliance (essea) institute for global environmental strategies (iges)...
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EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE EDUCATION ALLIANCE (ESSEA)
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)Arlington, VA
Robert J. Myers
NSF GEO-Teach Program
• Improve the quality of geoscience instruction - primarily middle and high school
• Provide teachers with easy access to high-quality curricular materials and current science
• Implement pre-service teacher training and in-service professional development programs designed to enhance students' understanding of and appreciation for the importance of the geosciences
ESSEA Associates
• Organizations involved in geoscience teacher education and/or professional development
• Mutual benefit from their association with ESSEA
• Provide evaluation data on use of ESSEA courses
Associate Benefits
• Access to the ESSEA courses/updates• Training in running the courses• Participation at annual meetings • Access to ESSEA network
New Module Examples
• Three Gorges Dam in China (TAMU)• International Amphibian Crisis
(UNO with Henry Doorly Zoo)• Carbon Sequestration: Iron Seeding• Ocean Conveyor Belt• Dust Bowls• Globe-related modules: El Nino, Permafrost• Black Carbon or Soot• Alternative Fuels (ethanol from corn)• Yucatan Impact
Yucatan Impact
Scenario: Dinosaurs walked the Earth for nearly 180 million years, then a cataclysmic occurrence changed everything in one of Earth’s largest mass extinctions. The asteroid impact at the end of the Cretaceous Period is hypothesized to have caused the demise of dinosaurs. Scientists believe that an asteroid about 6 miles (10 km) wide hurtled to Earth 65.5 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous Period, plunging into what is now Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula to carve out the Chicxulub (pronounced CHIK-shu-loob) crater measuring about 110 miles (180 km) across. The scenario played out along these lines: the asteroid or comet, struck the shallow sea in a blinding fireball! A vast cone of red-hot rock and steam blasted upward above the atmosphere only to fall back and flare again upon re-entry. Vast forest fires ignited all over the world by the intense heat! Mile-high waves from the impact site roared across the shorelines of North and South America, sweeping everything away! Huge clouds of dust quickly spread from the impact site to cover the whole Earth!
Astronomy Links
• JPL Solar System Dynamics http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov
• Sloan Digital Sky Survey http://www.sdss.org/
• NASA Near Earth Object Program http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov
• Astronomical Research Institute http://ari.home.mchsi.com/index.htm
JPL Small-Body Database Browser
Graduate Students: Understanding
0 2 4 6 8 10
ESS concepts
Collaborative learning
Learning communities
Online learning environments
How to teach ESS
ESS data sources
Rubrics
Before After
