Free teaching materials, a research project, and student contests are part of this year’s Earth Science Week celebration, taking place October 11–17. The American Geological Institute (AGI), which holds this event to promote the Earth sciences, has chosen the 2009 theme: “Understanding Climate.”
“Students and the general public need to understand Earth’s climate system, above and beyond the sound bites of public debate,” says Ann E. Benbow, AGI’s director of education and outreach. “Earth Science Week 2009 will provide educators, students, and interested citizens with the information, resources, and activities they need for scientifically sound climate education.”
Free standards-based classroom activity ideas and resources connected with the theme are available at www.earthsciweek.org. One resource of note is Climate Change: Frequently Asked Questions, a National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration report. Targeted to teachers, the report answers 19 key questions ranging from “What factors determine Earth’s climate?” to “How do human activities contribute to climate change, and how do they compare with natural influences?”
Climate is also related to this year’s research project, the Sun Shadow Project. Classrooms worldwide can join students from James Monroe Middle School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in collecting data for Earth scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, Antarctic Geologic Drilling, and Raytheon Polar Services. The Albuquerque students began this project in October 2007; it has grown to become an international study “with data coming in from the United States, Egypt, China, Russia, Norway, and both of Earth’s poles,” according to the website. The project seeks to answer this question: Are shadows longer during the winter, when the Sun is at a lower angle to the Earth, or longer in summer, when the opposite is true? Teachers will appreciate the project’s flexibility: Students can take measurements daily from the equinox (September 22, 2009) to the solstice (December 21, 2010), just on those two special days, or at some other times.
Teachers, students, and parents can also learn about climate and other topics at AGI’s new Facebook Earth Science Week fan page at www.facebook.com/pages/Earth-Science-Week/24519701661?ref=nf.
AGI is sponsoring three climate-related contests for U.S. students. The photography contest, for all ages, focuses on “How Climate Shapes My World.” The visual arts contest, themed “The Climate Where I Live,” is open to K–5 students. For the “Climate Connections” contest, students in grades 6–9 can submit essays of up to 300 words describing how climate interacts with Earth’s systems—geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere—in their area.
Entries are due on October 16. Each contest has a first-place prize of $300 and a copy of AGI’s Faces of Earth two-DVD package.