GREENBELT, MD October 7, 2002. NASA announces a new educational resource for teaching children the concepts of Earth science. "The Adventures of Amelia the Pigeon" project is a new interactive web site with supporting lesson plans and hands-on activities to illustrate science concepts to children in grades K-4. The animated adventure engages children in a story-based scenario that emphasizes concepts of remote sensing. Children are taught how NASA scientists use satellite imagery to better understand the Earth's environmental changes.

The web site introduces students to Earth science concepts, beginning with classifying objects by shape, color, and texture, building a foundation for interpretation and understanding of remote sensing. The Pigeon Adventure encourages the development of a childıs inquiry skills, via on-line explorations, sequential story telling, and hands-on investigations.

ALEXANDRIA, VA February 7, 2002. The National Science Teachers Association has reviewed Echo the Bat and the EMS site using a stringent set of criteria that ensure selected materials have accurate content and effective pedagogy. Criteria they used can be read at http://www.scilinks.org/nsfinstitute/criteria.htm.

The SciLinks program links school textbooks to effective online content. A direct connection from a concept on the textbook page to materials exploring that concept in cyberspace leads readers to the kinds of materials our professional educators believe work best in the classroom. Once a web site is selected, NSTA places the URL in a database, correlate it to the National Science Education Standards, and write a brief description that identifies one or more of its salient characteristics. When a reader (a teacher, student, or even parent) of a SciLinked textbook comes across a SciLinks icon in their textbook, they know that the content on that page has been enhanced with online content specifically connected to a single concept. The reader goes to the free SciLinks web site, and they type in a code found on the pages of that text, and the SciLinks search engine reports the five to 15 pages our teachers selected.

GREENBELT, MD. June 16, 2001. At NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center's Community Day, children of all ages were delighted with a puppet show adapted from the Story of Echo the Bat. The show follows Echo along his adventure through Arizona. Dramatic backgrounds of satellite images bring together story and science.

WASHINGTON, DC. December 10th, 1999. The Pigeon Adventure: An Adventure through Remote Sensing History was selected in the NASA Research Announcements for participation in the Earth Science Education Program. The monies made available from NASA will enable this project to incorporate more interactive technology including Shockwave Flash animations and take advantage of the new QuickTime 4.0 technology. The site will also have more audio to appeal to the younger target audience of K-4. We will also develop under this proposal 20 activities that can be used without a computer and in the formal and informal educational setting for children in K-4.

Initial work on the Pigeon project is made possible through funding from Goddard's Laboratory for Terrestrial Physics and Tennesse State University (MU-SPIN/NRTS program). This award from NASA's Earth Science Education Program will greatly shorten the development cycle and increase the amount of interactive technology within the adventure.

Look for story development and testing information of the Pigeon Adventure on the IMAGERS web site February 2000. See NASA's Earth Science Enterprise web site for a full list of selected proposals.

"I'm currently working on an article on Earth Day activities in which I reference your site. I just wanted to let you know how terrific it is! It is, without a doubt, one of the best examples of the correct use of instructional technology that I've ever seen. It's extremely well-written, the story and activities are engaging and educationally sound, and the Teacher's Guide is terrific--exceptionally valuable. (Can you tell how much I loved it?) Someday I'm going to do an article on the Web sites that show how educational technology SHOULD be used--and your site will be at the top of my list! Are you planning any more sites like this? Anyway, I was really bowled over by the quality of this activity and wanted to let you know that. Thanks! "

Linda Starr, former editor at Weekly Reader, a former editor and instructional designer at McGraw Hill, and (currently) the Curriculum/Technology Editor at http://www.education-world.com Education World, an ezine for educators

"After making a comment this morning about how many of the websites are much ado about nothing, I had to eat my words when I found your site. Bravo.! We are hanging a picture of Echo on our bat box"

Regina McCarthy Gateway Environmental Study Center/NYC Bd of Ed @ Gateway National Recreation Area Floyd Bennett Field Brooklyn, NY

"This is a great tool for teachers to use since everything for the lesson is right there. It is great how you wrote the story and then linked it to two topics, electromagnetic spectrum and remote sensing. The teacher's guide was wonderful and full of great ideas. Thanks for creating this great site for me, and other teachers, to use in our classrooms."

Nina Hoffman, Middle School Teacher in Maryland

"I used Echo myself to better understand the electromagnetic spectrum and remote sensing. The lessons were easy to use and the exercises supported the lessons. What made the whole "red, green, blue" concepts click for me was the coloring page. I LOVED IT and I could demonstrate that I learned something too!"

Toni Dufficy, Park Ranger Everglades National Park