Science Nugget - By Lois McLean (Storyline); Carla McAuliffe, Erin Bardar (Technical Education Research Centers (TERC)) - NSF # EAR 1252031 | 2013-2016
EarthScope Chronicles PIs Lois McLean and Rick Tess man have completed a series of 25 short videos introducing middle and high school students to scientists involved in the NSF’s EarthScope program. Videos are now available as a YouTube play list. EarthScope Chronicles is a collaborative effort between TERC and McLean Media to develop multimedia-rich teaching modules for Grades 7–12 that highlight the work and personal stories of EarthScope scientists. Many of the featured researchers are female scientists and students, such as Jenny Nakai, whose work includes building an earthquake catalog for the Rio Grande Region. The production employed a documentary style that allowed scientists to tell their own stories in their own voices. Participation also provided an opportunity for students to explain their own work in terms understandable to children and the general public and to express their enthusiasm for studying Earth sciences. For example, in one video, Nakai expresses her interest in engineering and science as a means to solve problems and stresses the importance of education in the Navajo culture. She explains how resource extraction such as coal mining has had a negative environmental impact on the Navajo land and how, in the past, few tribal members have had the knowledge and training to deal with these problems or to educate the public about ways to solve them. Today, she is committed to sharing with others what she has learned through her studies and to helping scientists communicate their findings to the broader community.
Photos: [Top] Jenny Nakai with seismometer. [Bottom] PI Rick Tessman shoots video of students Joey Lane and Erica Larsen taking gravimeter readings along a transect in Idaho as part of the Idaho-Oregon (IDOR) project.
