Earth Day Programming for Public LibrariesMontana State LibraryJanuary 21st, 2020
Speakers TodayDr. Selena Ahmed, Associate Professor of Sustainable Food Systems, Montana State University
Suzi Taylor, Director of the Science Math Resource Center
Today’s Agenda⪢ Earth Day History⪢ Space Science Institute
Resources⪢ Activity Highlight: Windy
City⪢ Activity Highlight: Edible
Destruction⪢ Citizen Science Resources⪢ Questions/Comments
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Earth Day HistoryMISSION
“To build the world’s largest environmental movement to drive transformative change for people and planet.”
HISTORY
⪢ Started back in 1970 – 50th Anniversary!⪢ Gaylord Nelson, US Senator from Wisconsin as founder⪢ 20 million Americans demonstrated – grown to over 1
billion who celebrate globally today
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NASA and Space Science Institute (SSI) Resources
⪢ Great STEM-based activity suggestions
⪢ Free registration to get monthly Earth Day newsletter and RAFFLE!
⪢ Excellent webinars, videos, printables
Our Planet: Earth Website
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https://www.starnetlibraries.org/our-planet-earth/
Resource Highlight: Earth Campaign Video Collection
⪢ Educational videos that show specific environmental impacts/changes
⪢ Short and well-explained
○ Bee data affected by climate change
○ Measuring where snow and ice are freezing
○ Polar region changes
○ Methane gas trapped in arctic lakes
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Resource Highlight: NASA Earth Day Posters
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STARNet Activity Highlights: Windy City Tower
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Materials Needed:
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Set Up for Activity:
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Supplemental Videos
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• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHMPR7flpf4:
Talks about specific scientific phenomena that
occur with tall buildings and wind, and what
construction techniques architects use to reduce
wind loads. High level, but well explained and
interesting!
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebx5Y5qOmT
M: Shorter version, goes through specific
techniques
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STARNet Activity Highlights: Edible Destruction
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Rules:
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- Structure must be 6" or more in height
- Test structure on shake table, and
see whose holds up!
- Goal is earthquake resistant, or
earthquake proof? Can suffer
damage, but not collapse!
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Supplemental Videos
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• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4fKB
GsllZI: Goes through specific techniques
for building earthquake resistant buildings
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7ho6
z32yyo: Explains why earthquakes occur
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Other Activity Ideas
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- Make a backyard rain
gauge
- Solar Energy
visualization
- Creating fossils
- Preventing mudslides Image from Wikihow
Citizen Science Projects
SciStarter.org
⪢ Stall Catchers⪢ Globe at Night⪢ Stream Selfies
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CoCoRaHS.org⪢ Community Collaborative Rain,
Hail, and Snow Network⪢ Measuring precipitation across
the globe!⪢ Can purchase a rain gauge, or
make your own
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Citizen Science Kits at Libraries
⪢ Public libraries in AZ have kits for citizen science projects
○ Stream Mapping
○ Measure Light Pollution
○ Exploring Biodiversity
○ Monitoring Air Quality
○ Zombee Hunting⪢ https://scistarter.org/library-kits
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Globe Observer (Phone App)
⪢ GLOBE observations help scientists track changes in clouds, water, plants, and other life in support of Earth system science research.
⪢ Scientists can also use your data to help interpret NASA and other satellite data.
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Globe Observer Trees
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- Taking pictures of trees and measuring their height, to compare with data taken from satellites above- Will prompt you to take pictures of the base and top of the tree- Will ask you to count your steps to the base of the tree to calculate height
Tutorial: https://observer.globe.gov/documents/19589576/b8f8c436-90e0-404e-a919-64608c382376
Globe Observer Clouds
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- Photograph clouds and record sky observations to compare with satellite data that NASA is collecting- Will ask you to identify sky color, contrails, types of clouds, etc
Tutorial: https://observer.globe.gov/do-globe-observer/clouds/making-cloud-observations
Montana Citizen Science Projects
Montana Citizen Science: Yellowstone Phenology Project
• Yellowstone National Park based project
• Phenology: study of plant and animal life cycle changes over time
• Time frame: April to October• Free housing provided, one
weekend a month• Project Website
What I Value About the Land Citizen Science project
• New place-based citizen science project coming Spring 2020
• Tied to a National Science Foundation research grant to Montana State University, University of Wyoming and University of South Dakota
• Encourages participants to think about how the land around us is used:
AgricultureEnergyRecreationCultural/spiritual, etc....And why each of us value those uses in different ways
About WAFERx Research
What I Value About the Land
• Can be used with youth, teens or adults in informal education settings
• Libraries and other organizations can apply for a physical kit (Resources will also be available for digital download)
• Potential activities include photo monitoring, historical research, journaling/reflection, arts, interviews
• Will also tie to GLOBE Observer Land Cover
Globe Observer Land Cover
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- Land cover changes can alter temperature, rainfall, how water flows, and can greatly affect the general biosphere
- Taking pictures of the land cover can help researchers create more detailed information for an area’s vulnerabilities and changes
Tutorial: In the app, you will be prompted on how to take proper photos
Other citizen science at MSUWestern Transportation Institute is the country’s largest university-based research center focused on rural transportation issues. Potential citizen science opportunities:• Roadkill counts• Bike / pedestrian counts
What else would you like to see from MSU?
Questions?
Contact Information:
Dr. Selena Ahmed –[email protected] Taylor – [email protected] Kim – [email protected]
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