| The use of remotely sensed data in the Exploring the Environment® online curriculum series. Cassie Doty, Center for Educational Technologies, cassiejo@cet.edu
Exploring the Environment introduces students to the general concept of remote sensing. Several forms of remote sensing—SONAR, satellite imagery, aerial photography, and even radio tracking of wild animals—are described in various modules and activities. The curriculum treats remotely sensed data as an essential resource. Students download, view, and often manipulate satellite images, land-use maps, and other forms of remotely sensed data to complete an investigation. For example, an important component of the program’s Florida panther module is the need to review panther range maps, land-use maps, hydrologic maps, and satellite images of southern Florida. Students must determine whether restoring the natural flow and level of water through the Everglades could further endanger the Florida panther. The Florida panther module and other Exploring the Environment modules and activities introduce remotely sensed data to students in an interesting, useful manner. Exploring the Environment was developed at the NASA Classroom of the Future™ at Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, WV. This curriculum series is supported by NASA's information infrastructure technology and applications program, which facilitates public use of Earth and space science remote-sensing databases via the Internet. The problems in the series’ modules and activities ask students to address human activities and their impacts upon the environment. The modules and activities address such environmental issues as water quality, deforestation, biodiversity, ozone depletion, and global climate change. The result is science-literate and reflective students who are knowledgeable of Earth's processes and their responsibilities for stewardship. |
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