The Need for Environmental Science in Elementary School

• “80% of K-5th grade multiple-subject teachers…reported spending 60 minutes or less per week on science, with 16% of teachers spending no time at all on science.” (Lawrence Berkeley, 2007) • Teachers indicated they feel “least prepared to teach science as compared to the other core subjects.” (Lawrence Berkeley, 2007) • Environmental education is a tool to make “science more relevant and appealing to young prospective scientists.” (Coyle, 2005) • While society has become slightly less “environmentally literate” 96% of parents supported elementary school environmental education. (Coyle, 2005)

The Power Plant Mapping Student Project: Bringing Citizen Science to Elementary

Students

Kelsey Tayne (kelsey.tayne@noaa.gov)1 and Tom Oda (tom.oda@noaa.gov)2 1STEM Teacher and Researcher (STAR) Fellow, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA 94132

2NOAA ESRL, Global Monitoring Division, Boulder, CO 80303

This  material  is  based  upon  work  supported  by  the  Chevron  Corpora7on,  Howard  Hughes  Medical  Ins7tute,  the  Na7onal  Marine  Sanctuary  Founda7on,  Na7onal  Science  Founda7on,  and  S.D.  Bechtel,  Jr.  Founda7on.  Any  opinions,  findings,  and  conclusions  or  recommenda7ons  expressed  in  this  material  are  those  of  the  authors  and  do  not  necessarily  reflect  the  views  of  the  funders.  The  STAR  program  is  administered  by  the  Cal  Poly  Center  for  Excellence  in  STEM  Educa7on  (CESAME)  on  behalf  of  the  California  State  University.  

The Need for Improved Emissions Inventory

• Emission inventory (EI) is a conventional tool to monitor changes in anthropogenic emissions and can visually show geographical patterns of emission changes. • These patterns are often determined using location data collected by regional governments, industries, and researchers. • The EI community is aware of significant errors in the geographical locations of point sources, including power plants. • In the CARMA database, only 10% of power plants contain precise coordinates. • In order to improve EI, tens of thousands of power plants locations must be corrected when necessary.

Figures A and B show U.S. power plants with mismatched coordinates. Figure A is a power plant that has been incorrectly located in a field in Indiana. When zoomed out, the power plant can be found in the vicinity. Figure B shows a (non-CO2 emitting) power

plant in California. The supposed location is near a tattoo parlor, however with local knowledge, or through searching the local area, it can be found further south along the coastline. (All plant images from VENTUS: http://ventus.project.asu.edu/)

Figure A Figure B

Figure C

Figure C shows a designated search radius to facilitate locating a specific

power plant.

How the Power Plant Mapping Student Project Works • Students, 4th grade and up, help improve a global CO2 emitting power plant database. • Students learn how to use Google Earth to search for power plants around the globe and find precise coordinates of the location. • Students study environmental science, geography, and various computer programs (Excel and Google Earth). • The project can be incorporated into fourth, fifth and sixth grade curriculum with an integrative approach (combining NGSS with Common Core reading, writing, and math). • Power Plant Mapping Student Project has a master map of power plants, which are either verified or unverified and accessible to view on Google Earth. • Classes first verify plants in their local area, then select unverified power plants based on regions of interest. • If students cannot find the power plant in the designated zone, they have the option to search “backup coordinates” which are affiliated with the same power plant name or number on a different database (e.g. GEO, CARMA etc.) • Students “red flag” power plants they cannot find, which alerts the database of false coordinates. • Students utilize a search radius, hints, and a power plant photo gallery.

References Center for Global Development. (2014). Carbon Monitoring for Action [Data Files]. Retrieved from http://carma.org/plant Global Energy Observatory. (2014). Power Plant Database [Data Files]. Retrieved from http://globalenergyobservatory.org/ Kevin Coyle. (2005). National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF). Environmental Literacy In America. Retrieved from http://www.neefusa.org/pdf/ELR2005.pdf Kevin Gurney. (2014). Arizona State University. Ventus: Global Citizens Powering Solutions in Climate Change. Retrieved from http://ventus.project.asu.edu/ Kevin Ummel. (2012). CARMA Revisited: An Updated Database of Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Power Plants Worldwide. CGD Working Paper 304. Washington, D.C.: Center for Global Development. Retrieved from http://www.cgdev.org/content/publications/detail/1426429 Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley. (2007). The Status of Science Education in Bay Area Elementary Schools. Retrieved from http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/rea/bayareastudy/pdf/final_to_print_research_brief.pdf NASA/JPL-Caltech. (2014). NASA's OCO-2 Brings Sharp Focus on Global Carbon. Retrieved from http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?CFID=948d09fd-9230-4194-bee9-a630b826476f&CFTOKEN=0&release=2014-100 Tom Oda. (2012). http://odiac.org/ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2014). Emissions & Generation Resources Integrated Database (eGRID) [Data Files]. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/egrid/

Source:  NOAA,  2014  All  Satellite  Images:  Ventus  

Figure  2:  Point  sources  are  a  significant  source  of  CO2  emissions    

Source:  Oda,  2010  

Figure  1:  Levels  of  CO2  in  the  atmosphere  conEnue  to  rise  

Figure  1  

Figure  2  

Figure  3  

Figure  3:  ODIAC  Version  2-­‐  global  sources  of  CO2.  As  locaEons  of  CO2  sources  become  more  accurate,  the  global  model  improves.