Using Remote Sensing Technology as a Tool for Educational Outreach and for Studying Global Climate Changes
Abstract
Geographic and scientific educations of primary and secondary school children have become topics of concern in Ohio and in the United States. One step towards improving a student's education is to render continuous, outstanding opportunities for teachers to become more knowledgeable by utilizing current technologies. The University of Toledo hosted a one-week, NASA and OhioView sponsored workshop entitled, Observing Earth's Systems from Space, for teachers from grades 5-12 during July 2000 and July 2001. Forty-nine teachers from Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania with Earth Science, Social Studies, and Physics backgrounds attended. Each participant acquired new ideas, plenty of educational materials, and posters of satellite imagery to be used as aids in teaching remote sensing. The teachers received training on weather observing techniques, Global Warming issues, and basic remote sensing knowledge and analytical skills through: 1) presentations given by research scientists and community professionals, 2) integration of the learned material into practical, hands-on lesson plans, and 3) participation in a learning adventure, where their students collected real-time cloud and snow data at their respective schools while university research scientists gathered corresponding satellite imagery. A web-page was developed to continuously and globally share the data and results: www.utoledogis.org. The students entered their data on the web which eventually was sent to the research scientists. The data collected from the students have successfully assisted in the delineation of clouds and snow in satellite imagery and in the validation of cloud/snow remote sensing algorithms. The raw data and the corresponding satellite images are displayed on the web-page with the delineation of clouds and snow depicted. The participation in an actual, long-term research project has added another worthwhile dimension to the learning process for both the teachers and their students.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2001
- Bibcode:
- 2001AGUFMED51A0221B
- Keywords:
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- 0315 Biosphere/atmosphere interactions;
- 1610 Atmosphere (0315;
- 0325);
- 1640 Remote sensing;
- 6605 Education