NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has developed an exciting, interactive education program for use in the classroom. The program's primary component, a CD-ROM entitled "Seeing the Earth in a New Way: The SIR-C Missions of Endeavour" is available free to educators.
Using captivating examples like the mountain gorilla habitats of Rwanda; a radar-generated fly-by of the Galapagos Islands; the discovery of the Lost City of Ubar in the Arabian desert; plus many images acquired by the space shuttle, the CD provides students and teachers with a new tool for viewing and studying the Earth.
This multi-platform compatible CD-ROM, produced by JPL's Spaceborne Imaging Radar (SIR) Program, is designed for students and teachers at middle schools, high schools, and colleges. Student activities are appropriate for a cross-curricular middle or high school program, or for use in specific areas such as geology, geography, ecology, archaeology, or oceanography.
Teachers can use the CD in many ways, from teaching activities as simple as viewing pictures using the included image processing programs, or as complicated as performing science experiments with data taken from Earth orbit. Students can learn about NASA's Mission to Planet Earth and Imaging Radar through the structured lesson plans, or create their own experiments, and analyze radar image data from the SIR-C missions.
The CD contains radar images of sites around the world, as seen before and during the SIR-C missions (which flew onboard the Space Shuttle in 1994). It also contains photographs from the Space Shuttle, QuickTime movies from the missions, and photographs from the ground.
Since the CD-ROM includes the Netscape Web browser it's like having part of the World Wide Web on a disk. When used on a computer with Internet access, it provides links to a companion CD Home Page, as well as to other NASA educational resources. You can preview the materials on the CD-ROM by visiting the Education component of the SIR-C Home Page.
Workshops to introduce educators to the CD-ROM and the principles of imaging radar can be held throughout the country at any location having access to a computer laboratory.
Workshop attendees receive the self-contained CD-ROM which includes lesson plans and images taken of sites around the world.
If you are interested in organizing a workshop at a site near you, or would like additional information, please contact:
Annie Richardson