The School of Education's Educational Center for Earth Observation Systems is part of the PA Space Grant Consortium and is improving education through satellite technology. Our goal is to continue to expand the knowledge base of educators and make them more aware of the capabilities of satellites and the opportunities available for classroom teachers. NASA and NOAA have recognized West Chester University as the national leader in the integration of satellite technology and education and continue to support our national conference so that educators can share what they are doing and learn from others. Other supporters include the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, DuPont and Lockheed Martin Astro Space.
The center offers services to educators by providing materials offering technical and advisory support, training students and teachers, networking students and teachers, and disseminating information about satellite technology and remote/sensing space opportunities through the following projects:
These projects will provide:
INFORMATION
TRAINING
CURRICULUM
DISSEMINATION
Satellites and Education Conferences
The Satellites and Education Conference is, in my opinion, the most beneficial of the projects and has been attended over the years by representatives of every program in the country that utilizes environmental satellite data. This conference, held every March at West Chester University, was initially a pre-launch conference with sponsorship from NOAA and various exhibitors. It brought together the innovative and unique educators who were beginning to access environmental satellites and bring direct readout images into their classrooms. There were no textbooks in 1988 that could answer their questions and the participants were eager to learn what others were doing. The success of that conference was the motivation to continue and the tenth anniversary will be held in 1997. Among the invited speakers are Vice President Al Gore and Microsoft CEO Bill Gates. We will also take part in an interactive satellite broadcast from the Peruvian Rain Forest. (See the brochure for other presenters and highlights.) Some of the features for which our conference has become known include hands-on workshops by educators and quality door prizes.
GLOBE Program Workshops
The GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) Program was initiated by Al Gore (see brochure). Five GLOBE Lead Teacher Training Workshops have been held at West Chester since March, 1995. West Chester was selected as one of 17 Space Grant Consortium Institution test sites and has trained over 100 teachers. The next ones for 1996 are scheduled for August and October. Newsletters with articles and photos submitted by GLOBE Lead Teachers enable them to see the progress that has been made since the workshops (see sample newsletter). These newsletters also give the teachers an opportunity to showcase what their students have been doing and enables recipients to show their administration what they could be doing with proper support.
Satellite Educators Association
The Satellite Educators Association, incorporated five years ago, was the result of requests from conference attendees who wanted an avenue to keep in touch and provide encouragement to others. The quarterly newsletter INFOSEA always includes a Teacher Trajectory that is a classroom lesson plan or activity and Teachers at Apogee that spotlights what members are doing.
Last year Lessons from the Sky was the Association's first major publication. This includes an introductory section on background information about satellites, list of educators using satellite technology in their classrooms, activities/lesson plans written by teachers, reference section, including books, periodicals, software, CD-ROMs, videos, acronyms, and a listing of vendors with affordable equipment.
Junior Space Adventure
This program for middle school students was launched last summer with funding from the Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium and DuPont. It was patterned after the American Space School and offers a space mission concept. Favorite activities include model rocket building, weightlessness, image interpretation, and launch weather forecasting through our t-ris (Telonics remote imaging system) Lab. The Center has been a beta test site for Telonics for the past several years. Since the Center is also a beta test site for Power Track's seismic sensor, students will have an opportunity to see the value of this instrument. The theme for this summer's program is "Return to the Moon" and will feature moon rocks. A visit from an astronaut is planned.
Senior Space Odyssey
This non-resident senior high school program will celebrate its fifth anniversary this summer. Previously it had been the American Space School. Since we are competing with many programs for high school students, the name was changed to make it less formal and more attractive to area high school students. Again, team work, cooperative learning and hands-on activities are the focus of the program. Computers play a key in most activities. They are used to analyze, interpret, and enhance satellite and other scanned images, enter and retrieve data, provide reports through word processing, etc. Varied field trips and career sessions provide experiences with people in space-related fields. Scholarships are provided by the Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium for female students, in particular minorities.
Conclusion
Since its inception in 1992, the Center provides innovative programs and offers support for educators at all grade levels. Surveys enable us to keep in touch with the needs of educators and we try to address them in our various projects. We continue to receive positive feedback from teachers and students for whom the projects are coordinated. This encourages us to obtain funding and other support to continue.
An invitation is extended to all of you to join us at the 10th Anniversary of our Satellites and Education Conference and see for yourself what the Center has to offer to educators.