| Geomagnetic Event Observation Network by
Students (GEONS) |
An inquiry-based approach to THEMIS science.
The THEMIS Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) team has established ten
ground-based magnetometer stations each located in the proximity
of a rural school in traditionally under-served, under-represented
communities. In addition, two additional schools in Alaska are involved with the E/PO team through the THEMIS science ground-based observatories. A teacher at each of these schools is responsible
for their magnetometer data and system as well as using the data
with their students through lesson plans developed by SEGway
and the Astronomy
Café.
The network of these teachers, students, and magnetometers together
with other students who participate using the web is called the
Geomagnetic
Event Observation Network by Students (GEONS).
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This unique network is providing students and teachers with project-based
activities that support inquiry and promote access to real scientific
data collected in their neighborhood. This is one of the key targets
of the National Science Education Standards (NSES) that is not
routinely supported by traditional science curricular materials.
GEONS is helping to introduce K-12 students to themes of fundamental importance,
such as space weather and its effects on the habitability of the
near-Earth environment, on satellite communications, and on electrical
power distribution on Earth.
Teachers involved in the GEONS project have helped and are helping us to complete
and test our THEMIS teacher's guides and users manual: (1) a ground magnetometer user manual appropriate for
a school
setting, (2) nationally-tested inquiry-based lesson plans, and
(3) learning materials on how to utilize the magnetometer data
to enhance
classroom instruction in space science concepts. The lesson plans
include topics such as: Forces and Motion, Magnetic Induction,
The Geomagnetic Field, Solar Storms, Space Weather, and data
analysis, as appropriate. Some flexibility is built-in to these materials so that a suitably motivated teacher could use
the data as is in a set of simple lessons. These lessons are available on our "In the Classroom" webpage.
As part of the GEONS program, the Astronomy Café and the
THEMIS E/PO team organize and hold teachers' Professional
Development magnetism workshops each year with GEONS participants.
These workshops
provide content, training, and materials related to the
THEMIS science mission and the GEONS magnetometers. The workshops
are inquiry-based in both practice and theory and include strong
emphasis
on both scientific content and effective pedagogical approaches.
If you are interested in being part of the GEONS project, there
will be several ways of joining us. You can access the GEONS data from the "GEONS data" link on the left. If you would like to become more involved, send us an email and we'll find out how to best include you in the project.
The GEONS data will be accessible from the NASA Sun-Earth Connection Education Forum's Student Observation Network (SON), Tracking a Solar Storm as our program matures.
This SON module shows you how to make your own observations of the Sun, Radio Waves, Earth's Magnetosphere, and Aurora and compare it with NASA data.
Each section provides tutorials to help you understand the scientific data and step-by-step guides to using
the data. In addition, there is background information, including connections to NASA scientists,
to help you understand these essential scientific questions. Using the SON Tracking a Solar Storm module with the THEMIS data is a good way to share with students the connection between the Sun and Earth's Magnetosphere.
We will share our THEMIS lessons with educators at our teacher professional workshops.
If you would like to participate in one of our workshops, please check our teacher workshop webpage to find out when and where we are
holding them. |
