Welcome to This Educational Site for
High School and College Instructors and Students

Release date: May 2003

This site is organized in a modular style based on Earth science topics studied by scientists using environmental data collected by satellites. Four modules have been developed. The Stratospheric Ozone and Global Land Vegetation modules are ready for use and have been reviewed by the NASA Earth Science Enterprise Education Product Review Committee. The Oceanography and Polar Sea Ice Processes modules are currently under review.    PROJECT DESIGN      Target Audience      Class Subjects      Modular Design           Class Resources           Computer Lab Resources           Instructor Resources CD-ROMs COPYRIGHT INFORMATION AND HOW TO CITE CREDITS FUNDING

Class Resources     Computer Lab Resources     Class Resources     Computer Lab Resources     Class Resources     Computer Lab Resources     Class Resources     Computer Lab Resources

 

PROJECT DESIGN: STUDYING EARTH'S ENVIRONMENT FROM SPACE (SEES)

Satellite images of Earth's atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere have proved to be valuable tools for studying the complexity of Earth's environmental systems. Earth observing satellites are routinely used to monitor rapidly changing weather, El Nino-Southern Oscillation phenomena in the Pacific Ocean, ocean currents, land and oceanic vegetation, polar sea ice distribution, and stratospheric ozone depletion. Rarely, however, do students have the opportunity to access and manipulate such data for scientific inquiry into Earth Science. Teaching faculty may find incorporating satellite data into their science curriculum difficult because of the technical complexity of the data, the computer hardware and software required to process the data, the diverse ocean and atmosphere processes illustrated by the satellite data, and little available time during the academic year to develop a new curriculum.

The goal of this NASA Earth Science Enterprise-funded project is to increase the use of satellite data in science classrooms by developing classroom materials linked to guided inquiry computer exercises. SEES consists of four modules on the following topics: 1) Stratospheric Ozone, 2) Global Land Vegetation, 3) Oceanography, and 4) Polar Sea Ice Processes. Each module contains background material for introduction and discussion in the classroom and computer lab resources. The classroom resources are presented as electronic textbooks (modules 1 & 2) or lectures (modules 3 & 4) viewable by a Web browser. The computer lab materials contain public domain software for data display and analysis (Macintosh & PC), tutorials, satellite data, and computer exercises for students. An Instructor's Guide accompanies each module's exercises. The Macintosh software, SEE Image, is a version of NIH-Image that was modified by NASA GSFC especially for SEES. SEE Image will also work on Windows machines with a Mac emulator. The PC Windows software is a version of NASA Image 2000, a newly developed image processing system based on Sun's Java Advanced Imaging (JAI).

After a student has learned about the scientific topic, satellites, data, and how to analyze and manipulate the data, the student may continue on their own scientific discovery by accessing archived and current data from various NASA Earth Science data centers.

TARGET AUDIENCE

• high school teachers and students
• preservice high school teachers
• community college instructors and students
• undergraduate instructors and students

CLASS SUBJECTS

• Earth systems science
• Earth science
• remote sensing
• biology
• space science
• geography
• oceanography
• chemistry
• physics
• geomorphology
• atmospheric science
• environmental science

MODULAR DESIGN

The modular structure was designed so that additional modules containing other science topics and data may be added in the future. Within each module are resource materials designed to be used in a lecture classroom, and resource materials for use in the computer lab. The classroom resources are readable by a Web browser that can be used on a Macintosh, a PC, or a UNIX workstation. The computer lab exercises may be completed on either a Mac or a PC. Each section can stand alone (you don't have to use the lecture materials to complete the computer lab exercises, and the classroom resource materials don't require that you complete the computer lab exercises).

Class Resources

For the Stratospheric Ozone and Global Land Vegetation modules the classroom resources are extensive and presented in the format of an electronic textbook. These electronic textbooks are organized like a printed textbook. They also contain digital files for the graphics that you may either view directly on screen or obtain high-resolution versions for sending to a printer to make color view graphs for overhead projectors. For the Oceanography and Polar Sea Ice Processes modules the classroom resources are introductory lectures that provide sufficient scientific background for understanding and completing the guided inquiry exercises in the Computer Lab component. A glossary for each module is also provided.

Computer Lab Resources

For PC users who wish to employ NASA Image 2000, the computer lab exercises for all four modules (Stratospheric Ozone, Global Land Vegetation, Oceanography, and Polar Sea Ice Processes) have been updated based on the latest version of the software. A User's Guide for NASA Image 2000 is also available. For Macintosh users, the Stratospheric Ozone and Global Land Vegetation modules' computer resources contain a tutorial for the SEE Image software, guided inquiry exercises, satellite data, SEE Image freeware image analysis software, and information on the satellite and sensor. The Oceanography and Polar Sea Ice Processes tutorial materials are built into each exercise for both PC and Macintosh users.

Instructor Resources

Instructor resources in the electronic textbooks include for each chapter

• objectives
• review questions with answers
• references and suggested reading
• other Web sites

Instructor resources provided with the computer lab exercises include an Instructor's Guide that contains the following information for each exercise.

• learning objectives
• National Science Education Content Standards
• science process skills
• image processing skills
• mathematical tools
• resource materials
• answers

CD-ROMs

Studying Earth's Environment From Space is also available on a two-volume CD set for Macintosh users and those PC users who choose to run a Mac Emulator. Volume 1, contains Modules 1 and 2, Stratospheric Ozone and Global Land Vegetation. Volume 2 contains Modules 3 and 4, Oceanography and Polar Sea Ice Processes. The CD package includes SEE Image software and is available from NASA CORE (Central Operation of Resources for Educators) for a shipping and handling charge.

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION AND HOW TO CITE

There are no copyright restrictions on any of the materials that appear in the modules. If you use any of these materials in publications, please acknowledge NASA as follows:

NASA. Studying Earth's Environment From Space. June 2000. (the date you accessed these materials) http://www.ccpo.odu.edu/SEES/index.html.

CREDITS

Investigators of the Stratospheric Ozone and Global Land Vegetation Modules

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Earth Sciences Directorate
Scientific and Educational Endeavors (SEE)

Blanche W. Meeson, Ph.D. -- Principal Investigator, NASA GSFC
Carla Evans -- Coinvestigator and Manager, Raytheon ITSS
Robin Bell, Ph.D. -- Prototype Project developed at the Goddard DAAC, NASA GSFC

Investigators of the Oceanography and Polar Sea Ice Processes Modules

Elizabeth A. Smith -- Principal Investigator, Old Dominion University, Department of Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Center for Coastal Physical Oceanography
Michael Alfultis, Ph.D. -- Coinvestigator, Commander, U. S. Coast Guard Academy

Curriculum Developer

Barbara Gage, Ph.D. -- Education Interagency Personnel Agreement Loan (IPA) from Prince George's Community College
Steven Kibler -- Center for Coastal Physical Oceanography, Old Dominion University

Production Staff

Ned Horning -- Remote Sensing Specialist and SEE Image Developer, Horning, Inc.
Diana Sunday -- Editor and Publication Designer, Sundancer Communications
Dave Landis -- CD-ROM Architect, Raytheon ITSS
Bob Moyer -- Graphics, SSAI

Summer Interns

1995: Fredda Smith -- Maryland Collaborative for Teacher Preparation
1995: Linda Webb -- NASA Maryland Space Grant Teacher Program
1996: Sean McLaughlin -- NASA Maryland Space Grant Teacher Program
1996: Linda Webb -- NASA GSFC Prince Georges County Teacher Program
1996: Cynthia Hall-Atkinson -- NASA Space Academy
1997: Corinne Egner -- NASA GSFC Student Internship Program
1998: Corinne Egner -- NASA Remote Sensing for the Oceans
1998: Corinne Egner -- NASA GSFC Education Office Teacher Program
2000: Annie Slye -- University of Maryland, College Park

High School Teachers -- Testing and Evaluation

College Classes in Which Students Tested and Evaluated the Computer Lab Exercises

Frank Lindsay
Univ. of Maryland Geography Dept.
"Introduction to Remote Sensing" Spring 1998
"Introduction to Remote Sensing" Summer 1998

Ruth Defries, Ph.D.
Univ. of Maryland Geography Dept.
"Causes and Implications of Global Change" Spring 1998
Course: geog/meteo/geol/pbio123

Dr. Jeff Shimeta
Franklin and Marshall College
"Biological Oceanography" Fall 1999

Michael Alfultis, Ph.D.
United States Coast Guard Academy
"Remote Sensing" Spring 1998, Spring 1999, Spring 2000

Drs. Stephen Croft and Bruce Howard
Center for Educational Technologies
Wheeling Jesuit University
"Earth Systems Sciences," Spring 2000

FUNDING

Stratospheric Ozone and Global Land Vegetation Modules

NASA GSFC Director's Discretionary Fund - 1996
NASA GSFC Director's Discretionary Fund - 1997
NASA Earth Science Enterprise Grant - 1996
NASA Earth Science Enterprise Grant - 1997
NASA Earth Science Enterprise Grant - 1998
NASA GSFC Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC)
NASA GSFC Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Branch

Oceanography and Polar Sea Ice Processes Modules

NASA Earth Science Enterprise Grant - 1997
NASA Earth Science Enterprise Grant - 1998
Old Dominion University, Department of Ocean, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
United States Coast Guard Academy

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updated Earth Day 2003