VisEarth Project Personnel Principal Investigators Daniel Barstow (TERC) directs the Kids Network Curriculum Development Project and developed the Accu-Weather Forecaster. Eric Frost (SDSU) has applied cutting-edge visualization and animation tools to teacher education and research in structural geography. Lynn Liben (Penn State) has done seminal cognitive research in spatial and geographical domains. Sally Ride (UCSD CalSpace) has directed efforts to use space shuttle photos and other imagery in education. Randall Souviney (UCSD TEP) has worked with teachers to develop applications of network technology to enhance mathematics and science education. Senior Researchers Paula Levin (UCSD TEP) coordinates the TEP graduate program in curriculum design. Jerry Bolzano (UCSD Music/TEP) teaches courses on effective educational uses of interactive technology. Karen Flammer (UCSD) conducts research in computer simulations and visualization of space physics phenomena. Richard Carlson (Penn State CAVE) conducts research in skill acquisition, problem solving, diagnostic problem solving. Roger Downs (Penn State CAVE) geography education, formation and use of cognitive maps. Alan MacEachren (Penn State CAVE) conducts research in scientific visualization. Cynthia Brewer (Penn State CAVE) conducts research in cartographic design, color interpretation in maps, geographic data analysis and visualization. David Dibiase (Penn State CAVE) conducts research in development and evaluation of scientific visualization multimedia. Ron Blom (JPL/SDSU) specializes in the use of earth imagery to solve problems in tectonics and natural disasters at JPJ and is one of the people that helped discover the lost city of Ubar. Bob Crippen (JPL/SDSU) is one of the premier image processors at JPL and has developed image processing techniques for distinguishing rocks using satelliteimagery. Holly Dodson (UCSD) is a geologist from Santa Barbara and is the newest member of the Visualizing Earth team at UCSD. Researchers Mitra Fattahipour Kevin Robinson Jeff Johnson

Description Visualizations have tremendous power. Pictures and maps are among the essential tools our brains use to make sense of the world. Spatial representations enable us to visualize large volumes of data, and perceive and understand complex concepts, create mental models of systems and comprehend the interactions among data elements. A picture is worth a thousand words, and a map is worth a thousand data points. Over the past two decades, technology has dramatically advanced the ability of scientists to use geographic visualizations to explore, learn and communicate about the geosciences. These advances include the vast amounts of data and images derived from remote-sensing instruments on satellites, the direct observations and photographs taken by astronauts, and the development of new computer-based tools to display, manipulate and analyze the data and images. These developments have truly revolutionized how scientists investigate Earth. The addition of technology for accessing, displaying and manipulating the data and images, dramatically extends the scientific, and educational power of the images. In a school setting, for example, students could use telecommunications to access seismic data from the USGS Earthquake Center on the WWW, and use computer-mapping tools to display and analyze the data within hours of the occurrence of an Earthquake. With more advanced visualization tools, students could overlay the data onto space-based and aerial photos which clearly depict the fault lines, and use three dimensional rotations to explore not only the surface data but also the structure of the faults beneath the surface. This in turn can help students visualize the essential nature of the plate tectonics which cause earthquakes. We believe that these rich resources of data, images and software tools have the potential to revolutionize Earth science education. Given an appropriate set of tools and "real world" data, students will be able to directly observe, explore and investigate fundamental concepts in Earth science in ways that have never before been possible in a school environment. We believe that the richness of the data, the student hands-on investigations, and the cognitive power of the dynamic visualizations will a) enable students to learn key concepts in Earth science more easily; b) enable students to gain a deeper understanding of more complex concepts; and c)enable such concepts to be learned and understood by a broader range of students, including those who are not currently inclined towards science. Capitalizing on this power depends upon developing a deeper understanding of the ways in which students make sense of geographic images in technology-rich learning environments. "Visualizing Earth" seeks to develop this knowledge base through research and development in three areas: Cognitive Visualization Research -- better understanding how geographic visualizations can help students learn, how technology impacts these visualizations, and how students differ in their development of the underlying skills of spatial,logical and symbolic thinking. Technology -- reviewing the vast array of data sources to identify those with the greatest potential for educational use, and adapting software tools for accessing, displaying and manipulating the data, to make them easy and inexpensive enough for school use Curriculum Models -- experimenting with curricula, instructional approaches and learning environments to better understand how to help students can use visualization tools to understand relationships among complex data. "Visualizing Weather" -- providing students with access to current weather data and images for them to interpret and make forecasts; with a cognitive research focus on how students integrate multiple representations and how this can be used to develop higher order thinking skills. "Engines of Change"-- Volcanoes, Earthquakes, and Plate Tectonics" --an investigation into how best to convey concepts of plate tectonics, with a cognitive research focus on understanding the development of increasingly complex visualization skills, and a technology focus on advanced tools of data overlaying and 3-dimensional rotations.

VisEarth Papers Computers&Geosciences Meridian