Workshop Program

This workshop has already taken place. Workshop presentations, session notes and workshop outcomes are linked from this program.

Jump down to Sunday evening : Monday morning, 8 AM : Monday morning, 10 AM : Monday afternoon : Tuesday
field trip

Sunday February 10

Optional Field Trip - Geology of Western Massachusetts and the Dynamic Digital Map of New England

This trip will highlight some great geology (snow-cover permitting), including the evolution of the northern Appalachians as exposed in the Berkshires (Grenville basement, deformation and metamorphism associated with the Ordovician Taconic and Devonian Acadian Orogenies, Cambrian Stockbridge Marble, glacial potholes, etc.). This will be a great opportunity to see how to integrate a local field trip with a dynamic digital map.

Please see http://ddm.geo.umass.edu for more info about how to make DDMs and view the wide variety of DDMs that Chris Condit has created.

5:00 PM Workshop Begins


5:00-6:00 Welcome, opening reception and showcase of some new technology and tools.

Chris Condit, University of Massachusetts - Amherst: dynamic digital maps
Rob DeConto, University of Massachusetts - Amherst: animated globe
Ned Gardner, American Museum of Natural History: HDTV geovisualizations
Ron Schott, Fort Hays State University: Gigapan robotic unit


6:00-7:30 Dinner

7:30-8:15 Opening Presentation using Geowall - Deep, Round and Flat: Reaching your Inner Geek through Visualization (PowerPoint 5.1MB Feb18 08)
by Paul Morin, Antarctic Geospatial Information Center; National Center for Earth Surface Dynamics; and the Science Museum of Minnesota 
and Steve Reynolds, Arizona State University

8:15-9:00 Opening Discussion Taking our students to new heights and bridging between our classrooms and the cutting edge of science data, visualizations and models.

  • How do visualizations/models/on-line data enhance learning in your own experience?
  • Whether you are new using these types of geoscience tools, or if you're an experienced user, what are your biggest hurdles to teaching with these technologies?
  • Is there one question about learning with visualization/models/on-line data that you would like to see researched further?
  • Reflecting on your discussion -- what is really important for your table to take away from this workshop?

Monday February 11

8:00-8:30 Opening remarks, introductions, workshop goals,

8:30-10:00 Teaching with New Tools
This time block is divided into three sets of concurrent presentations. You may go to any presentation in each session. Some of these presentations will be repeated in the next block of talks.

8:30- 8:55 - Session 1

Google Earth: A Public Meeting Place for Diverse Earth System Data (PowerPoint 11.4MB Feb11 08)
Glenn Richard, Stony Brook University

View a Google Earth map overlay for the U Mass Amherst campus Glenn created from the pdf map that is posted on the U Mass web site. By adjusting the transparency or by turning the visibility of the overlay off and on, one can use the map to identify buildings and other campus landmarks on the Google Earth imagery.

Teaching GIS: Tips and Tricks for Using GIS in the Classroom (PowerPoint 6.4MB Feb11 08)
Michelle Kinzel, Oregon State University

New tools for introducing Geoscience students to physically-based numerical and analytical models (PowerPoint 485kB Mar4 08)
David Boutt, University of Massachusetts

Inquiry: A Tool for Professional Development in the Earth System Science Education Alliance (ESSEA) (PowerPoint 2.7MB Feb11 08)
Robert Myers, IGES

Science Bulletins' use of geovisualizations to teach meteorology, climatology, and biodiversity conservation at informal science centers (Quicktime Video 8.1MB Feb18 08)
Ned Gardiner, American Museum of Natural History

9:00 - 9:25 - Session 2

Putting Your World on the GeoWall: Building Content with Free and Common Software (PowerPoint 529kB Feb12 08)
Chuck Anderson, Penn State University

An Approach to Using Real-Time NASA Data Sets in Teaching Earth and Space Science
Tim Slater, University of Wyoming

Using GPS Data to Learn about Tectonic Plate Movement, Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Other Applications (Acrobat (PDF) 3.9MB Feb12 08)
Shelly Olds, UNAVCO

Watershed Visualizations - trials and tribulations creating a DVD for middle/high school students and classrooms (PowerPoint 4.6MB Feb11 08)
Jim Washburne, University of Arizona - SAHRA

Teaching Paleoclimate and Future Climate to Undergraduates Through EdGCM (PowerPoint 1.1MB Feb18 08)
Linda Sohl, Columbia University

9:30 - 9:55 - Session 3

Teaching Mineralogy with Interactive Visuals, a Customized Database, and a Printable Lab Manual
Darby Dyer, Mount Holyoke College

Creating 3D Geological Maps using Google SketchUp (PowerPoint 1.1MB Feb11 08)
James Toro, West Virginia University

Google Earth Lessons using Marine Data: A Demonstration Project (PowerPoint 4.3MB Feb11 08)
Amy Cline, University of New Hampshire

How to improve students' spatial visualization abilities in 10 minutes a day (PowerPoint 22.3MB Feb12 08)
Sarah Titus, Carleton College

Building real data into educational multimedia desktop software: Hands on with the NO2 data viewer (Acrobat (PDF) 10.9MB Feb11 08)
Bruce Caron, New Media Research Institute

10:00-10:30 Break

10:30-12:00 Teaching with New Tools
This time block is divided into three sets of concurrent presentations. You may go to any presentation in each session. Some of these presentations are repeated from the earlier block of talks.

10:30- 10:55 - Session 4

Google Earth: A Public Meeting Place for Diverse Earth System Data (PowerPoint 11.4MB Feb11 08)
Glenn Richard, Stony Brook University

View a Google Earth map overlay for the U Mass Amherst campus Glenn created from the pdf map that is posted on the U Mass web site. By adjusting the transparency or by turning the visibility of the overlay off and on, one can use the map to identify buildings and other campus landmarks on the Google Earth imagery.

Creating 3D Geological Maps using Google SketchUp (PowerPoint 1.1MB Feb11 08)
James Toro, West Virginia University

Teaching GIS: Tips and Tricks for Using GIS in the Classroom (PowerPoint 6.4MB Feb11 08)
Michelle Kinzel, Oregon State University

What the NASA Earth Observing System Higher Education Alliance Can Do For You (PowerPoint 465kB Feb18 08)
Mark Abolins, Middle Tennessee State University

Teaching Paleoclimate and Future Climate to Undergraduates Through EdGCM (PowerPoint 1.1MB Feb18 08)
Linda Sohl, Columbia University

11:00 - 11:25 - Session 5

Putting Your World on the GeoWall: Building Content with Free and Common Software (PowerPoint 529kB Feb12 08)
Chuck Anderson, Penn State University

Using GPS Data to Learn about Tectonic Plate Movement, Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Other Applications (Acrobat (PDF) 3.9MB Feb12 08)
Shelly Olds, UNAVCO

Integrating visual and verbal knowledge using a shared visualization database and collaborative movie production website (Acrobat (PDF) 62kB Feb11 08)
Lensyl Urbano, University of Memphis

How to improve students' spatial visualization abilities in 10 minutes a day (PowerPoint 22.3MB Feb12 08)
Sarah Titus, Carleton College

3D Earthquake and Fault Distribution in Southern California (PowerPoint 1.3MB Feb11 08)

Michele Cooke, University of Massachusetts

11:30 - 11:55 - Session 6

Online Data Access with My World GIS: Accessing online geospatial datasets over the Internet (PowerPoint 612kB Feb18 08)
David Smith, The GLOBE Program

An Approach to Using Real-Time NASA Data Sets in Teaching Earth and Space Science
Tim Slater, University of Wyoming

Google Earth Lessons using Marine Data: A Demonstration Project (PowerPoint 4.3MB Feb11 08)
Amy Cline, University of New Hampshire

Learning Objects: A Means of Facilitating the Deployment of Visualization Tools
James Myers, University of Wyoming

New tools for introducing Geoscience students to physically-based numerical and analytical models (PowerPoint 485kB Mar4 08)
David Boutt, University of Massachusetts

12:00-1:00 Lunch, 10th Floor Campus Center.

1:00-2:30 Working with cutting edge data, visualizations and models
During this time block, you may attend one of five presentations of new geoscience data ready for use in the classroom. The first 30 minutes of the session will be a presentation. The remaining hour will be used to brainstorm for ideas about ways in which this data could be used in class. We encourage you to use this worksheet (Microsoft Word 45kB Feb7 08) to record your ideas as you brainstorm. At the completion of your brainstorming, please upload your idea for an activity that could be created.

Visualizing Polar Change: Data and Tools to Understand an Arctic Climate in Transformation (PowerPoint 6.2MB Feb25 08)
by Walt Meier, National Snow and Ice Data Center

The Arctic is undergoing a rapid change, which will have dramatic implications for the Arctic climate and beyond. NSIDC has numerous datasets and visualization tools that can be used to track and understand this change and its implications. This presentation will focus on Arctic sea ice, the most dramatic climate change indicator.

Related activity: Sea Ice Extension for the Earth as a System

Introducing GeoMapApp: A new virtual globe designed especially for earth and environmental science education
by Andrew Goodwillie, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University

We have just added a spinning 3-D globe visualization capability to our GeoMapApp java application. The application is now integrated using Web Mapping and Web Feature Services with hundreds of large datasets and grids that reveal knowledge about the surface of our planet both on land and beneath the oceans. The talk will briefly demonstrate interactive tools for exploring seafloor bathymetry, sub-bottom reflection profiles, rupturing of seafloor at spreading centers by earthquakes, the properties and kinematics at plate boundary and volcanism at convergent margins.

Using NASA's New Giovanni Web Portal to Access and Visualize Satellite-Based Earth Science Data in the Classroom (PowerPoint 2.4MB Feb11 08)
Steven Lloyd - NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center

Giovanni is a web-based application developed by the NASA Goddard Earth Science Data and Information Services Center. Giovanni provides a simple way to visualize, analyze and access vast amounts of satellite-based Earth science data. Giovanni's features and practical examples of its use will be demonstrated, with an emphasis on how satellite remote sensing can help us understand recent events in the atmosphere and biosphere.

Using 3D and 4D Exploration and Visualization of Geoscience Data with the GEON Integrated Data Viewer
Stuart Wier, UNAVCO

This talk will demonstrate the use of a powerful tool for exploration and display of data in solid earth and atmospheric sciences. The GEON Integrated Data Viewer (IDV) accepts most any earth-located data, including 2D, 3D, and 4D grids and model output, point observations, and tracks and soundings. UNAVCO has enhanced the IDV to display, for example, earthquakes hypocenters, focal mechanism "beachballs," GPS velocity vectors, plate boundary strain rates, three-dimensional seismic tomography, and mantle geodynamic model results. An overview of the IDV's capabilities will be presented. Approaches to using it in education at all levels will be outlined, and particular educational uses will be discussed.

I've got the data, what now? Data from the U.S. Geological Survey and Applications for the Classroom
Matthew Arsenault, Woods Hole Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey

This short presentation will showcase the variety of earth science data freely available from the U.S. Geological Survey, how to get them, and resources for looking at and presenting this information to students. Emphasis will be placed on not reinventing the wheel, but rather finding the "right wheel for your classroom" and then making it work for your needs. Examples will be shown that emphasize the fundamentals geologic mapping within the modern context of GIS and 3D visualization. Participants will walk away with materials (both data and programs) to get them started on designing their own modules.

2:30-3:00 Break

3:00-4:30 What Problems are We Trying to Solve Through the Use of Data, Simulations, and Visualizations in Geoscience Education, and How Research on Learning Can Help (PowerPoint 25.6MB Feb12 08) 
by Kim Kastens, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
followed by group discussion

4:30-5:00 Developing your action plan (Microsoft Word 35kB Feb6 08); set plans for tomorrow 

5:30-7:00 Drinks and dinner, 

7:00-9:00 Poster session and demonstration fair, 
Presenters with last names that begin with A-M will present their work from 7:00 - 8:00.
Presenters with last names that begin with N-Z will present their work from 8:00 - 9:00.

Tuesday February 12

8:30-10:00 Working with cutting edge data, visualizations and models
During this time block, you may attend one of five presentations of new geoscience data ready for use in the classroom. The first 30 minutes of the session will be a presentation. The remaining hour will be used to brainstorm for ideas about ways in which this data could be used in class. We encourage you to use this worksheet (Microsoft Word 45kB Feb7 08) to record your ideas as you brainstorm. At the completion of your brainstorming, please upload your idea for an activity that could be created.

Visualizing Polar Change: Data and Tools to Understand an Arctic Climate in Transformation (PowerPoint 6.2MB Feb25 08)
by Walt Meier, National Snow and Ice Data Center

The Arctic is undergoing a rapid change, which will have dramatic implications for the Arctic climate and beyond. NSIDC has numerous datasets and visualization tools that can be used to track and understand this change and its implications. This presentation will focus on Arctic sea ice, the most dramatic climate change indicator.

Introducing GeoMapApp: A new virtual globe designed especially for earth and environmental science education
by Andrew Goodwillie, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University

We have just added a spinning 3-D globe visualization capability to our GeoMapApp java application. The application is now integrated using Web Mapping and Web Feature Services with hundreds of large datasets and grids that reveal knowledge about the surface of our planet both on land and beneath the oceans. The talk will briefly demonstrate interactive tools for exploring seafloor bathymetry, sub-bottom reflection profiles, rupturing of seafloor at spreading centers by earthquakes, the properties and kinematics at plate boundary and volcanism at convergent margins.

Using NASA's New Giovanni Web Portal to Access and Visualize Satellite-Based Earth Science Data in the Classroom (PowerPoint 2.4MB Feb11 08)
Steven Lloyd - NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center

Giovanni is a web-based application developed by the NASA Goddard Earth Science Data and Information Services Center. Giovanni provides a simple way to visualize, analyze and access vast amounts of satellite-based Earth science data. Giovanni's features and practical examples of its use will be demonstrated, with an emphasis on how satellite remote sensing can help us understand recent events in the atmosphere and biosphere.

Using 3D and 4D Exploration and Visualization of Geoscience Data with theGEON Integrated Data Viewer
Stuart Wier, UNAVCO

This talk will demonstrate the use of a powerful tool for exploration and display of data in solid earth and atmospheric sciences. The GEON Integrated Data Viewer (IDV) accepts most any earth-located data, including 2D, 3D, and 4D grids and model output, point observations, and tracks and soundings. UNAVCO has enhanced the IDV to display, for example, earthquakes hypocenters, focal mechanism "beachballs," GPS velocity vectors, plate boundary strain rates, three-dimensional seismic tomography, and mantle geodynamic model results. An overview of the IDV's capabilities will be presented. Approaches to using it in education at all levels will be outlined, and particular educational uses will be discussed.

I've got the data, what now? Data from the U.S. Geological Survey and Applications for the Classroom
Matthew Arsenault, Woods Hole Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey

This short presentation will showcase the variety of earth science data freely available from the U.S. Geological Survey, how to get them, and resources for looking at and presenting this information to students. Emphasis will be placed on not reinventing the wheel, but rather finding the "right wheel for your classroom" and then making it work for your needs. Examples will be shown that emphasize the fundamentals geologic mapping within the modern context of GIS and 3D visualization. Participants will walk away with materials (both data and programs) to get them started on designing their own modules.

10:00-10:30 Break

10:30-11:00 Planning the afternoon, formation of small working groups, planning tutorial sessions

11:00-1:30 Working groups meet over lunch

  • Cognition Research & Geoscience Teaching/Choice Array/Scaffolding Spatial Reasoning: Kim, Dan M., Dan Z., Shelley, Becky, Helen, Amy, Sarah, Ed, Frank, Lensyl, Warren, Steve R., and Rob G.
  • Google Earth & sea ice changes: Gary and Walt
  • Visualizing 3D Structures: Charlie, Jaime, Chuck, Dan M., Jose, Pat, and Elli
  • Public data/Fledermaus exercises: Erin and Matt
  • Indian Ocean Tsunami: Gareth, Bob DeG., Ron, Glenn, Mark A., and Andrew
  • EdGCM: Tamara and Linda
  • Digital Ocean: Bruce and Mark L.
  • Watersheds: Jim W. and David


1:30-3:00 Work time: draft individual action plans (Microsoft Word 35kB Feb6 08) and reconvene working group; upload action plans and present group reports

Photo of participants making snow angels
3:00-4:00 Tutorials: small group practice time with a model, tool or visualization that you would like to learn how to use. See the list of tutorials.

4:00 Work time ends. Individual action plans uploaded, working group summaries uploaded, tutorial discussion summary completed.

4:00-5:30 Workshop Summary
What have we learned as a group? Create bulleted lists with input from each working group and the whole group of participants. 

6:00 Dinner in town in Amherst