High School and Community College Educators are invited to attend a special Earth Science workshop as part of our TeacherTECH Science Series. This workshop is presented in collaboration with the National Science Foundation's Geosciences Network (GEON) Project.

Wednesday - Friday, August 5-7, 2009
9:00am - 4:00pm
San Diego Supercomputer Center
University of California, San Diego


Workshop Description:

Are you an earth science instructor interested in using real world scientific data to better communicate concepts to your students? This workshop is designed to introduce educators to the use of cutting-edge earth science data, web-based data access and processing tools, and data visualization to enhance their teaching of fundamental earth science concepts.

The GEON Open Topography Portal Website (http://www.opentopography.org) provides access to high-resolution topographic data from LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) that cover a variety of geologic features and landscapes. The Portal provides access to a suite of LiDAR data products and visualizations typically reserved for high-level research and presents an excellent opportunity to bring these exciting data into the classroom. These real world, cutting-edge, digital topographic data could be used in the classroom to allow students to explore geologic processes, landforms, and natural hazards. As a project of the National Science Foundation, the Open Topography Portal harnesses sophisticated computing to manage and provide access to these exciting and challenging data.

This will be a small, focused, hands-on workshop where participants will have one-on-one access to expert geoscientists as well as experts in learning technology. During the course of the 3-day workshop, participants will be introduced to LiDAR topography and the Open Topography Portal. You will then develop and demonstrate lesson plans and activities around Open Topography and high-resolution LiDAR topography. Educators will be encouraged to brainstorm and develop ways that the Portal and data could be easily integrated into their standards-based curriculum using simple and freely available software such as Google Earth. Following the workshop, participants will be asked to use Open Topography and the data it hosts in courses you teach at your home institutions and, we hope, share lessons learned as well as curriculum and teaching tools developed with the larger Open Topography and earth science education communities.


Workshop Outline:

Day 1: Introduce participants to LiDAR topographic data and the OpenTopography Portal.

Day 2: Educators will brainstorm and develop ways that the Portal and data could be easily integrated into their standard curriculum using simple and freely available software such as Google Earth. Participants will design a lesson plan or activity that will be demonstrated to the group on Day 3.

Day 3: Educators will lead one another in an activity of their design.


Professional development credit will be offered through UCSD Extension. This is a three-quarter-unit course.

Stipends of $200.00 will be offered for full participation in this workshop.

Please join us for an exciting and informative session of hands-on learning presented by Chris Crosby, University of California, San Diego.

Registration is free. Space is limited. Please contact Ange Mason at 858-534-5064 or amason@ucsd.edu to reserve your space.

For additional information on other TeacherTECH program, including our summer workshops, please visit http://education.sdsc.edu/teachertech