Category: Earth Science Education
Christine Fernandes began as a horticulture major at Pennsylvania State University, but transferred to agricultural education so she could become a teacher. She absolutely loves her career choice. She learned about the Concord Consortium through a listserv from her alma mater. We’re collaborating with Penn State on our GEODE project to develop new geodynamic plate tectonic modeling software for middle school students. The software is designed to allow students to observe and describe the formation of surface geologic features in terms of plate interactions. Christine explains, “It really clicked for the students, seeing what was happening below the ground in relation to the size and magnitude of the earthquakes along the western coast of South America.”
Julia LaCava was a summer intern at the Concord Consortium. A junior at Ithaca College, she majors in communications. We are excited to announce the public release of our new model-based curriculum that teaches plate tectonics like never before! “What will Earth look like in 500 million years?” was developed by our Geological Models for […]
While a sophomore at Ithaca College, Julia LaCava wrote a novel in a month. Though she had written full-length scripts for homework, this was not a typical class assignment. She had had a story in her head for over a year, complete with a storyboard of all the characters’ emotions and playlists of songs that […]
Julia LaCava is a summer intern at the Concord Consortium. A junior at Ithaca College, she majors in communications. A massive 7.1 magnitude earthquake occurred July 5 in southern California near Ridgecrest, the strongest to hit the area in 20 years. The quake followed the Independence Day 6.4 magnitude earthquake the previous day north of […]
Julia LaCava is a summer intern at the Concord Consortium. A junior at Ithaca College, she majors in communications. Teaching about climate change in the age of the Internet is harder than you might think. “Many online climate change lessons are actually junk” was the bold title of a recent article published by AP News, […]
We are excited to introduce the *beta version* of Tectonic Explorer, our newest Earth system model, developed by our GEODE project. Tectonic Explorer features a complex system of interacting tectonic plates around an entire planet — in this case a simplified, Earth-like planet. For the first time in K-12 education, students will be able to […]
Kilauea, Hawai’i’s youngest and most active volcano, has been continuously erupting since 1983. But it made news again recently with large earthquakes and lava fountains erupting in residential areas. Have you ever wondered what’s going on with Kilauea? Can scientists predict when and where a volcano will next erupt? You can use Seismic Explorer to […]
We’re thrilled to announce that the popular High-Adventure Science (HAS) climate module is now available in Spanish. Many thanks (muchas gracias) to Penny Rowe (University of Santiago of Chile) and Cristián Rizzi (Universidad de San Andrés, Argentina) for taking this on! The Spanish-language version directly parallels the existing English-language version. The HAS climate module poses […]
When you live in New England in the winter, you pay attention to the forecast. Large snowstorms can make travel near impossible. Heavy snow and blowing winds can cause coastal flooding, power outages, and roof collapses. The National Weather Service (NWS) exists to “provide weather, water, and climate data, forecasts and warnings for the protection […]
Following the recommendation to incorporate the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) science and engineering practices in their classrooms, schools across the country are looking for ways to integrate scientific argumentation into their curriculum. Since 2012 the High-Adventure Science project in collaboration with National Geographic Education has offered free online modules for Earth and space science […]