PolarEduSpace project

PolarEduSpace project
The researcher and satellite bringing polar science into the classroom
Birgit Strømsholm, NAROM (The Norwegian Centre of Space-related Education)
Chris Stewart, ESA (The European Space Agency)
BIOGRAPHY
The website has a lot of curriculum based teaching
resources available for science and geography classes in
European upper primary and secondary schools. The
resources are presented into different main themes with
case studies including background information and
exercises. The following gives an overview of some of the
resources and satellite images.
Birgit Strømsholm is an advisor in space related
education at the Norwegian Centre for Space-related
Education (NAROM), responsible for the development and
maintenance of the website sarepta.org, run teacher training
courses and take parts in different space education projects
in Norway and Europe.
Chris Stewart is a scientific consultant at RSAC (Remote
Studies of the Sun, solar physics, has long traditions in
Sensing Applications Consultants, UK). Currently Chris is Norway. We are also a small contributor to the SOHO
working as a RSAC contractor in Italy at the European (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) project and
Space Agency´s ESRIN facility.
participate with experiments on board. In the theme “The
Sun” in SAREPTA we present a look at what the Sun is,
how it affects the Earth, and how we conduct research on
INTRODUCTION
this exciting star. SAREPTA offers opportunities of
NAROM (Norwegian Centre for Space-related studying Sun storms when they occur, and of exploring
Education), offers educational programmes for teachers and how Sun storms affect the Earth. The mystery and activity
students at many different levels to promote appreciation of the Northern lights are parts of these. The satellites
for the benefits of space activities, to facilitate recruitment transmit thousands of images of the Sun every day.
in the space industry, and to stimulate an interest in science SAREPTA offers facts, animations and exercises.
in general. NAROM is located at Andøya Rocket Range
(ARR), and uses the unique technical facilities at ARR to
provide an exciting educational experience.
In addition NAROM concentrates on being an important
contributor in the provision of space-related resources for
the classroom. The website SAREPTA, www.sarepta.org,
was established to exploit the exciting, visible aspects of
space activities to stimulate interest in science and technology and thereby ensure recruitment to space-related
disciplines. Through the website sarepta.org, NAROM also
aims to show young people how space activities can be
used as a tool in the development of society and to
appreciate and understand the benefits, challenges and
importance of space for everybody.
POLAREDUSPACE AND SPACE RESOURCES
The space resources that SAREPTA offers include recent
satellite images, space applications and techniques put
together in a pedagogical context. There is both an English
and Norwegian version. There are e.g. resources for project
tasks on weather and climate, ice in the Arctic, ocean
currents seen from satellites, Earth Observation and GIS,
exciting Sun activities, satellite navigation and
communication, rockets, space station and the space
shuttle. The satellite images in the SAREPTA Image Bank
are freely available for educational purposes, but users
need to register. In March 2008, there were more than
6.200 registrations.
Northern Lights. Drawing by the Norwegian explorer,
scientist and statesman Fridtjof Nansen (1911).
In the theme “The Earth seen from satellites” we stress
that information from Earth observation satellites are an
important source of information for many research tasks
and practical applications both at local, regional and global
level. The satellites help us to increase our understanding
of our planet, and contribute to providing better PolarEduSpace may be a useful supplement to scientific
foundations for decisions.
results.
Also for the classroom the results from Earth observation
satellites, such as Envisat, are invaluable in the monitoring
of global warming, pollution and other environmental
aspects. Examples of topics in the theme “The Earth seen
from satellites” are “Weather situations” using up-to-date
weather satellite images, “The ocean in motion”, Sea ice in
the Arctic, “Algae in the ocean”, “The Ozone layer” and
“Oil spill and ship traffic”.
Svalbard area. MERIS image 29 August 2006 (ESA).
The SAREPTA resources in most part reflect space-related
topics important in Norway and at the same time relevant
to the Curriculum. The varied content is developed in cooperation with Norwegian space specialists and teachers at
various levels. Co-operation with the teachers is very
important to ensure that the resources are based on
pedagogical concepts and didactical methods that are well
proven. At the same time, ICT resources should stimulate
the development of new concepts and methods for learning.
PolarEduSpace is a project that seeks to encourage the
youth, students and teachers to join in and share in the
global enthusiasm of IPY events. The overall aim is to
inspire and stimulate an increased interest and
understanding in polar research among young people aged
13-18.
Remote sensing, new satellite imagery and thematic data
are used to provide an overview of science around specific
themes (e.g. sea ice, weather situations, ocean currents,
Sun-Earth interaction) related to relevant accepted IPY
projects. On-line classroom resources and activities related
to the IPY have been prepared in the space educational
website sarepta.org.
PolarEduSpace provides opportunities for classroom
teachers and students at teacher training colleges to attend
training courses where they are provided with content
knowledge and ideas for activities related to current
curricula, and focusing on polar science. These courses are
provided both on-line and at places such as ARR and
Longyearbyen.
During the developing phase of a resource, e.g. new topic
with case studies, there is a process with the teachers both
to take part in discussions to define the need for new space
resources for the classroom and to extensively evaluate the
new content. The teachers give feedback related to the
Curriculum and the pedagogical approach. As soon as the
new resource is available on the web, the teachers initiate
testing in real classrooms. Based on feedback from the
teachers, there is a critical period of reviewing and
updating. When the Norwegian version of the new resource
is improved, we start the translating and publishing into
English.
Svalbard view from flight 18 February 2008.
With support from the Research Council of Norway,
NAROM is running an educational IPY (International
Polar Year) project as part of its activities in 2007-2008.
This PolarEduSpace ptoject is based on accepted
Norwegian IPY research projects that use satellite data in
their research, and projects for which satellite data from
During the IPY period a number of exercises/ activities
using the current satellite images (radar and optical data)
together with thematic data and other results from research
IPY projects, will be developed and available for the
schools.
In the PolarEduSpace project NAROM invites Norwegian
secondary school students to attend different competitions
related to polar science using satellite imagery. The prize
for the winners are visits to the field working together with
the IPY researcher.
registration by an educational institution. Most of the
material in Eduspace is suited to secondary school students,
but some material is intended for more advanced students,
including first year undergraduates.
Northern light, Andøya Rocketrange.
There will also be a possibility for school classes to visit
Engabreen, an outlet glacier with a subglacial laboratory at
the Svartisen ice cap, Northern Norway. The young
Landsat TM image of the Bissago Islands, from the
students will be introduced to the influence of melt water
Eduspace Image Gallery.
supply on ice velocities and calving glacier dynamics.
The present format of Eduspace follows a modular
structure. There is an introduction to Earth Observation
principles, with sections on the history of Earth
Observation, satellite orbits and the science of “remote
sensing”. There is an image processing module which is
where the software LEOWorks can be downloaded,
together with a comprehensive tutorial on how to use the
many functions.
LEOWorks is a major component of this educational
resource, making possible the actual processing of satellite
imagery on school computers. Previously only very
expensive software packages have been available for such
processing, denying most educational institutions visibility
into the domain of Earth Observation techniques. In the
Image Processing module there are also links to free GIS
software.
Longyearbyen area. SPOT image 24th August 1995.
The educational IPY project will also use, as a classroom
resource, material from the ESA Earth Observation
educational website Eduspace. In particular the new
Glacier Module of this website, which is partly funded by
SAREPTA.
Eduspace is a free resource developed by the European
Space Agency (ESA). It was begun in 1998, at that time
under the umbrella of Eurisy. The purpose of the website is
to introduce Earth Observation techniques and applications
to (primarily) secondary school students. Eduspace
includes two catalogues containing EO imagery and a
sophisticated image processing software package called
LEOWorks. While the website, including all the resources,
is free, access to the image databases and software requires
Images, histogram and LUT open in the LEOWorks
software.
Other modules include many examples of Earth
Observation applications, applied to different themes or
geographical areas. Examples of some present modules
include: “Europe from Space”, “Africa from Space”,
“Disaster Monitoring”, “Global Change”.
included in the near future. Some of this new material
includes a vastly expanded section on Earth Observation
related to the Himalayan region, this will include 10 new
case studies where Earth Observation has had an impact on
the region.
Another major new module currently under development,
jointly funded by ESA and SAREPTA, is the Glacier
module. This module consists of three parts: (1) an
introduction to glaciers featuring the glaciological
background relevant to glacier remote sensing (e.g. glacier
structure and dynamics, glacier response to climate change,
glacier hazards); (2) techniques and applications of glacier
remote sensing (e.g. multispectral classification, radar
interferometry, optical stereo, altimetry), and (3) advanced
methods of glacier remote sensing (e.g. polarimetry,
change detection). Parts (1) and (2) are meant for the
secondary and high school level, part (3) as an introduction
for university undergraduates.
Other new material that will greatly enhance the content of
the website includes material describing how Earth
Observation was used in conjunction with the Galathea 3
scientific ship expedition. Also, the development of new
Currently a new version of Eduspace is under material demonstrating the application of Earth
development. This will present the current modules in a Observation to the conservation of World Heritage sites has
different way and will provide much more flexibility to been proposed, in partnership with UNESCO.
allow new content to be easily included in the website.
The new structure will follow the same layout as the main
ESA website www.esa.int and will present the various
application areas as different themes which can be
searched also by geographical area. As well as the
sections focusing on applications there will also be a
dedicated section on the principles and techniques of
Earth Observation. Links on columns on either side of the
main window will provide easy navigation of the site.
Interactive exercise detecting an oil slick on radar
imagery
Map with vectors open in LEOWorks showing glaciated
areas in the Himalayas
Diagram showing the instruments on board ESA’s Earth
Observation satellite, Envisat.
Eduspace is currently available in eight different
languages: English, French, German, Danish, Dutch,
Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. Other language versions
are planned, such as Greek – which will be available
shortly.
Any interested person is invited to go to ESA’s Eduspace
Navigability and ease of use of Eduspace will be critical in website: www.eduspace.esa.int, or NAROM’s website
view of all the planned material that is foreseen to be SAREPTA: www.sarepta.org, and simply browse.