|
ABOUT the IMAGERS project The IMAGERS (Interactive Multimedia Adventures for Grade School Education Using Remote Sensing) Program is NASAšs comprehensive Earth science education resource for the introduction of remote sensing and satellite imagery to children in grades K-8. The IMAGERS Program is comprised of two multimedia web sites: "Adventures of Amelia the Pigeon" and "Adventures of Echo the Bat". The Programšs objective is to captivate children at an early age in Earth science through multimedia adventures. "Echo the Bat" and "Amelia the Pigeon" encompass two major components: (1) an interactive web site with a multimedia adventure game; and (2) an activity guide with lesson plans and reproducible hands-on activities. The interactive web sites are meant to engage children, while the supplemental materials enable educators to introduce the concepts through hands-on activities in the classroom. Applying this methodology, parents and teachers are able to teach Earth science using remote sensing imagery via identification of land use, exploration of featured habitats, and changes in the environment. "The Adventures of Echo the Bat", developed in 1998, was the inaugural project of the IMAGERS Program. The web site follows Echo as he migrates through various habitats in Arizona and teaches students the "understanding of light" and the "electromagnetic spectrum" as a foundation for remote sensing. The Adventure offers a directed and investigative approach to how land features look from space, what the colors mean in a satellite image, and how to identify habitats using false color. These fundamental concepts behind remote sensing science are reinforced in the classroom with a teacheršs guide for grades 5-8. Following the success of the web site, an Echo the Bat picture book was released in 2001. The book tells the story of Echošs adventure in Arizona to children grades K-4, through the introduction of the five basic concepts of understanding satellite imagery: perspective, shape, pattern, color, and texture. The book also contains an activity guide, which reinforces these concepts with hands-on activities for the classroom. In the summer of 2002, Echo the Bat project was expanded again and introduced to a broader audience through an informal education project with Arizona State Parks. Located in three different geographic regions of Arizona, each location features an interactive information display, accompanied with an activity booklet. The general public (adults and children) visiting these locations are introduced to the local habitat through satellite imagery. Each of these locations has education specialists who interact daily with visitors and school groups and introduce the benefits of studying the environment from space. "The Adventures of Amelia the Pigeon" was launched in the fall of 2002. Amelia is IMAGERS second interactive web site with multimedia components to engage the K-4 audience and illustrate Earth science concepts. The Pigeon Adventure presents science concepts through metaphors and analogies that relate to inner-city life. The use of a pigeon as the vehicle for the web site provides a metaphor familiar to inner-city children, and Amelia is utilized to introduce the concept of perspective. Through aerial photography created by Pigeon cameras, the web site focuses on the benefits of a birdšs eye view. Throughout the interactive adventure portion of the web site, aerial and satellite imagery are used to demonstrate the advances of remote sensing through the century. Amelia the Pigeon presents new insights into habitats as she explores the urban environment of New York City.
Site
maintained by: GSFC Laboratory for
Terrestrial Physics |
