Fig. 1: Thermal images in the GalleryGallery is a tool within the SmartIR app for users to manage their own thermal images, temperature graphs, and other data within the app. Unlike the default gallery in the operating system, SmartIR Gallery shows onl…
An article in the October 2018 issue of Science and Children looks at groundwater and the natural processes of infiltration as a vital means for cleaning our water. Co-authored by Jonathon Kilpatrick (Greenwood Elementary School in Pennsylvania), Nanette Marcum-Dietrich and John Wallace (both of Millersville University of Pennsylvania), and Concord Consortium Senior Scientist Carolyn Staudt, […]
Figure 1. Software architect Scott Cytacki with his three kids in their solar-powered ELF. You may not know Scott Cytacki by name but if you’ve used STEM Resource Finder curriculum materials or an InquirySpace investigation or a Model My Watershed activity, or any number of our educational resources, you can appreciate Scott’s deep commitment to […]
Most teachers have a first-year-teaching story. Few have one like Matthew d’Alessio’s. His first teaching experience was at California’s notorious San Quentin State Prison, the largest prison in the country, where he taught math and geology in the Prison University Project, the only college program inside a California prison. “The students were among the most […]
The Infrared Street View is an award-winning project recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy and subsequently funded by the National Science Foundation. The idea is to create a thermal equivalent of Google’s Street View that would serve as the star…
Imagine being guided by a buzz on your smart watch, suggesting you try a different path in the museum you’re visiting. Or your mobile device that knows your favorite types of activities nudging you to move outside your comfort zone and explore new genres of art or recommending the next curiosity to examine. The Conference […]
Location-based augmented reality (AR) games such as Pokemon Go have become popular in recent years. What can we learn from them in order to make SmartIR into a fun science app? In the past week, I have been experimenting with AR in SmartIR using the lo…
As our senior software engineer Kirk Swenson said in a recent @Concord article, the Concord Consortium is all about impact: getting more students in more places doing STEM inquiry. Since only about 5% of the Earth’s population speaks English as a first language, it makes sense to reach beyond English to make our free resources […]
How do students learn to think like scientists so they can uncover the natural world’s secrets? Scientific experimentation allows students to discover some of nature’s secrets. However, it is not simply about collecting data through the use of various apparatus, whether it’s a conventional microscope or advanced computer technologies. Scientific experimentation requires students to engage […]
Fig. 1A goal of the SmartIR app is to provide basic instructional support directly in the app so that students, citizen scientists, professionals, and other users can learn what they can do with the incredible power of thermal vision beyond its convent…