GSFC: Storyline Review and Alternate Proposal

Project Definition

The project is an interactive web site for World Wide Web and later distribution on CD-ROM. The site will incorporate educational material with some of the latest technologies available for the WWW including streaming Shockwave by Macromedia. The educational use is as a interactive lesson for students and as a reference for incorporation into the classroom. The intended audience for the site is students in grades 3-6 and teachers for use in the classroom. The educational objectives are to show an application of remote sensing through NatureMapping thus providing an example of how scientific discovery from space can enhance life on earth. The site will provide lessons and lesson plans that reinforce geography and biology concepts taught in the classroom.

Review of BRD Biodiversity/NatureMapping Storyline - Summary

The use of remote sensing can be the starting point for NatureMapping. Satellite imagery is used to identify areas where NatureMapping needs to be conducted. Remote sensing is applied in helping NatureMappers map. The grade level of the story can be improved through reworking of the text and adding more content relating to bats (i.e. Why do bats migrate? Why do bats live together?) The learning themes are addressed within the story and general topics relating to science curriculum are addressed in separate lesson modules. The interactivity and metaphor are figured into the high level design which requires some variation on the story. Using this storyline as a guide, a new high level design is proposed accounting for these issues.

Alternate storyline

Spring (or summer), somewhere in the US (utopian bat summer home), a baby bat was born. The baby learns about what it is like to be a bat. When does he sleep? What does he eat? How does he eat? With whom does he live?

The weather turns cooler and Mama Bat says to Baby Bat that it's time to leave. Mama Bat explains what it means to migrate. As they start on their journey, a forest fire separates Mama and Baby one night. Baby Bat needs help to find his mother. All he knows is what his mother told him about migrating.

The student is then introduced to an interface to help Baby Bat migrate south to find his mother. The interface includes a general map of the U.S. and Central America. This map will map their progress as they travel. A larger screen will reveal their current status, whether a view from the bats perspective (on the ground), or aerial, or satellite image. The student can navigate themselves North, South, East or West by clicking on the screen.

During their journey they will meet up with several obstacles such as clear cut forest. Some places Baby Bat will have lots of food, some places will not. The student will learn about the elements needed in a bat's habitat and the importance of preservation.

The student navigates through the maze of obstacles slowly advancing closer to the baby's colony. The Baby Bat meets different species of bats (i.e. frugivores) during his journey. The obstacles and other events are drawn from the BRD storyline.

The journey will introduce opportunities for the student to learn about remote sensing, reading maps, different habitats and different animals. Each new step introduces reveals more about the environment. Each area can also call upon or link to different lesson modules.

The design of the maze will lead the student and the Baby Bat south. The end of the story would reunite the mother and the baby (the baby may not be a baby by that time). While the student was navigating, the map show areas where a suitable habitat was scarce. These areas, discerned from space, serve as a map resource for NatureMapping. NatureMapping is introduced and linked to relevant lessons.

The story concept offers interactivity and a vehicle of explanation (Mama Bat). The baby can ask questions. As the baby bat learns about what it is like to be a bat, so does the student. The student is drawn into the story to help the baby bat. To effectively help the baby bat, the student must learn about the bat's habitat. Lessons are introduced through-out the journey. A separate "teacher's edition" page can provide all the lesson modules outside of the interactive story line. The end ties together the use of remote sensing as a starting point and resource to NatureMapping.