Tool Time Descriptions
The following hands-on-computers sessions will be offered at the workshop. We invite all participants to bring their own laptops or plan to work together with another person.
Please download and install recommended software prior to the workshop for sessions of interest. This will help us avoid bandwidth bottle-neck issues, and allow you to participate fully in the sessions.
Thursday ToolTime - Session I (Armstrong Hall, 1-2:30 pm)
EdGCM: Global Climate Modeling in the Classroom - Keck Lab
Mark Chandler, Columbia University NASA/GISS
This session will provide users with a hands-on overview of the Educational Global Climate Modeling (EdGCM) software. EdGCM allows teachers and students to run one of NASA's research-quality global climate models on Macs and PCs. A graphical user interface makes it easy to run real climate model simulations, access any of the hundreds of climate variables a GCM generates, and to analyze global climate change scenarios using scientific visualization. EdGCM helps teachers provide instruction on global climate change and it helps familiarize students with the tools and models that scientists rely on worldwide to assess future climate change. Prior to the workshop attendees should download the demo software:
Download the EdGCM Modeling Software for Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Mac OSX (10.5 or earlier).
PSICAT - Room 326
Josh Reed, Antarctic Geologic Drilling (ANDRILL)
PSICAT, the Paleontological Stratigraphic Interval Construction and Analysis Tool, is a cross platform graphical editing tool for creating, viewing, and editing core description diagrams. It provides a drawing environment similar to popular graphics applications like Adobe Illustrator but is customized for core description. PSICAT works by capturing data, e.g. depth, grain size, and lithology, as the user draws and then generates the visual representation from the data.
In this tool time session, participants will be introduced to PSICAT and will use it to construct core description diagrams for some example core images. Participants will explore some of the advanced features of PSICAT including outputting their diagrams at various scales and resolutions, integrating external datasets, and extracting the PSICAT data as Excel spreadsheets for further analysis.
Click herefor information and links to download the PSICAT software program.
Accessing Geoscience Data with GeoMapApp and Virtual Ocean - Room 353A
Vicki Ferrini, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University
GeoMapApp and Virtual Ocean are freely available data exploration, visualization, and interaction tools that provide access to hundreds of diverse geoscience datasets. These tools are continually expanded as part of the Marine Geoscience Data System (MGDS) at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University. This tool time session will include demonstrations and hands-on exercises that explore the functionality and teaching applications of GeoMapApp and Virtual Ocean.
Clickhere to download the free GeoMapApp software program.
Clickhere to download the free Virtual Ocean software program.
Friday ToolTime - Session II (Armstrong Hall, 1-2:30 pm)
Google Earth in the GeoScience Classroom - Room 353A
Steve Kluge, Resources for GeoScience Education
Since its release in June of 2005, Google Earth has found its way into the classrooms of innovative K-16 educators across a wide range of disciplines. Its simple interface and short, gentle learning curve - combined with the fact that it's free and already installed on 350 million machines - make it a logical choice for instructors and students wishing to display and interact with geospatial information in an interesting and engaging way. Google Earth's built-in kml editor makes creating customized content a relatively simple and quick task, and there are many web-based utilities that will help you create your own maps and placemarks.
In this 1.5 hour interactive workshop, you'll be introduced to what Google Earth is and what it can do. You'll be guided to some resources to help you get the most out of the program, you'll see some of the external applications that create kml content to display in Google Earth, you'll have an opportunity to "test drive" some intro geology labs that utilize Google Earth Imagery, and you'll be guided through the creation of your own simple kml file.
Bring your wireless-ready laptop with the latest version of Google Earth. If you have images you'd like to place in Google Earth, consider uploading them to a hosting service like Flickr or Panoramio ahead of time.
Clickhere (more info) to download the free Google Earth software program.
My World GIS: Data Exploration - Room 326
Michael Urban, University of Maine at Machias
Explore the Rocky Mountains of Colorado with My World GIS. The session will include demonstrations and hands-on activities related to several basic features of this powerful classroom tool. Activities will model a guided-inquiry approach, and will provide you with opportunities to investigate data related to climate classes, elevation, temperature, and more. Participants will learn how to import data from external sources and be provided with information about where to find existing My World GIS activities and resources.
My World provides a user-friendly way for students and teachers to explore data. Learn how to bring your students' world to life with My World GIS.
IDV - Keck Lab
Jeff Weber, Unidata Program Center, UCAR
The Integrated Data Viewer (IDV) is a free 3D application, and it is complimented by the RAMADDA content management system. Both of these applications are developed and available from the Unidata Program Center. The IDV can view multiple disparate datasets at the same time, so, for example, one could look at satellite image data and RADAR image data in the same view, and add a number of surface observations as well. The IDV comes complete with hooks for real time data access and obviates the need for decoding or user based format conversion. This allows for ease of use in an educational setting. We will explore some Arctic data with the IDV and show how one can publish back to the RAMADDA for others to enjoy and use to get different perspectives. This is also a great way to collaborate and share data, products, and curriculum.
Clickhere (more info) for information and links to download the Integrated Data Viewer (IDV) software program.
Clickhere for information and links to download the RAMADDA software program.