June/July 2000 THIS ISSUE: Research Biological Sciences Science Joint effort: Astronaut Jerry Ross gives a tour of the International Space Station. Briefs Rediscovering Lewis and Clark: A UM program will host a new National Lewis and Clark Education Center. Out of the Classroom, Into the Field: Teachers spend part of their summer at UM, learning research skills in the Montana Teachers Investigate Ecology Project. Exercising Minds: Montana students win big at Detroit's International Science and Engineering Fair. INDEX: |
Rediscovering UM’s Earth Observing System Education Project has been selected by the National Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Council to house a new National Lewis and Clark Education Center. Alex Philp, assistant director of the EOS Education Project, says the new center will train teachers to augment their Lewis and Clark instruction through the use of satellite imagery, multimedia productions, Internet delivery, improved curriculum development, geospatial data and much more. The NASA-funded EOS Education Project was formed at UM to disseminate Earth science imagery and supportive curricula to the global educational community – especially information from NASA’s Earth Observing System, a flotilla of satellites now being launched. Now that the National Lewis and Clark Education Center has been added to the project, Philp says, EOSEP will use a Lewis and Clark theme in all its endeavors for NASA. He says the education center will gain national exposure when it is highlighted on the NASA Earth Observatory Web site at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov. Philp says EOSEP became a leading candidate for the national center after it joined the Corps of Education Partners Program, an alliance of organizations dedicated to creating educational programs about Lewis and Clark’s historic trek for the nation’s K-12 educational community. The program members are EOSEP, the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, the Mid-Continental Regional Educational Laboratory, the national bicentennial council and the National Education Association. “Having the National Lewis and Clark Education Center at UM will allow us to participate more fully in the Corps of Education Partners Program,” Philp says. EOSEP has created a Lewis and Clark Data Consortium, comprising various institutions and agencies, to help the project gather data and cooperatively develop digital and multimedia resources for several Lewis and Clark programs. To date, the consortium has provided $172,000 in goods and services to EOSEP to make the project’s educational programs successful. For more information about the center, call Lauren Mackay at (406) 243-6703 or e-mail lmackay@eoscenter.com. |
