Home > About EO Day > Overview
Earth Observations Day is an education and awareness effort of the AmericaView Consortium. Working closely with the U.S. Geological Survey, AmericaView is comprised of 36 state-led academic consortia (the “StateViews”) whose educational vision and goals focus on engaging students and teachers at all levels in Earth observations using remote sensing. EO Day resources--including imagery focused on surface land use/land cover, freshwater and marine ecosystems, and the atmosphere--will provide teachers with the data and geospatial interpretive tools needed for inquiry-based, Earth systems focused learning in the disciplines of Earth Science, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Mathematics, and Geography. National Science Education Standards in all fields of science stress the importance of inquiry involving observations, data gathering, and analysis. Remote sensing of the Earth allows observations from the global to the regional and local scales, and requires ground observations to validate remotely sensed observations and support data analysis and interpretation. National Geography Education Standards are closey aligned with remote sensing observations and the processes of acquiring, analyzing, and reporting information at all scales covering the Earth’s four systems (lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere). They also emphasize both the study of how human actions impact Earth systems and how physical systems and human systems interact both directly and indirectly. Remote sensing observations of the Earth offer historical and long-term monitoring capabilities that provide exciting and easily accessible data for student inquiry. Students who are exposed to remote sensing in grades K-12 have a significant advantage in a wide variety of undergraduate scientific and technical fields including the biological/ecological sciences, physical and cultural geography, geosciences, civil and environmental engineering, and the military sciences.
Remote Sensing resources for educators are available from many sources. The U.S. Geological Survey, NASA, NOAA, National Geographic, and GLOBE are the leading organizations that provide these resources for K-16 classrooms and laboratories. Identifying these resources and effectively integrating them into the curriculum, however, can be challenging. Support for teachers is also necessary as they implement the technology in their classrooms. AmericaView is developing a focused set of activities that target specific standards and learning outcomes in the science and geography disciplines, while developing interdisciplinary activities designed to connect remote sensing to mathematics, social studies, and creative disciplines including language and the arts. AmericaView is working through partner academic consortia to implement and support local, regional, and global remote sensing data-gathering activities during EO Day. Consortia partners will also work with K-16 teachers, students, and faculty to perform pre- and post EO Day activities including data gathering, analysis, and reporting.
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