SIMULATION (ABOVE): Black carbon (soot) in the atmosphere over a 120-hour period from January 31, 2007 - February 4, 2007.
ACTION RESEARCH
Action Research is a participatory research methodology founded on Constructivism, a theory of learning that argues that humans generate knowledge and meaning from an interaction between their experiences and their ideas. Constructivist learners come to learning situations with knowledge gained from previous experience and construct new learning experiences – and new knowledge – through action-based scientific inquiry.
SolarQuest™ aims to create an Action Research Community defined as an intentional community of learners – teachers and students – collectively engaged in a disciplined inquiry on the impacts of climate change on Earth’s biosphere and human populations. Note: Both high school Action Research program levels are designed as two-term courses.
Grades 9-10
High school research teams will focus on measuring anthropogenic carbon emissions from the world's 27 mega-cities, including New York City and Los Angeles, and assessing the capacity of Earth's Biosphere to sequester greater amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) that has accumulated in the atmosphere over centuries of global industrial development and change in land use.
Analyzing hundreds of thousands data sets collected daily by the Orbiting Carbon Observatory - 2 (OCO-2), and consulting with scientists from NASA, NOAA and university research institutes from around the world, teacher and student teams from America's high schools will develop high resolution profiles of CO2 emissions and create simulations designed to educate the general public on the potentially catastrophic impacts of unmitigated global warming on human populations due to thermodynamic imbalances in Earth's Biosphere.
Grades 11-12, Advanced Placement (AP)
AP research teams will conduct interdisciplinary research that examines the dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems (CNHS) and the complex interactions between these systems at diverse geographic scales. Specifically, teacher and student researchers examine the linkage between: (a) Econometric Productivity (the System of National Accounting that measures global economy and relative health and prosperity of human populations); and (b) Primary Productivity, the thermodynamic, hydro-logical and photosynthetic processes that form the foundation of Ecosystems Services – from clean air and water to healthy soils and food systems – upon which all species sustain life.
Research projects will include analyses of four different components:
In addition to examining measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and the sequestration capacity of Earth's Biosphere from OCO-2 satellite data, students will integrate a wide range of data sourced from the A-Train series of NASA satellites that provide a more comprehensive view of the impact of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere on Ecosystems Services. Knowledge gained from inquires into natural systems will be examined within a Systems Dynamic (SD) Starting Framework Analysis utilizing Threshold 21 SD modeling software to provide predictive analysis and decision support services for public policy changes. Participation in Grade 9-10 Action Research is a prerequisite to the AP course.
Research teams at both the 9-12 and AP course levels will publish their work in a peer-reviewed project journal and other scientific publications. Team animations and simulations, as shown above, will be distributed to over 100 museums in 39 countries hosting more than 30 million visitors annually. Selected teachers and students will invited to present their research findings at periodic meetings of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and participate in education workshops at the UNFCCC annual Conference of Parties (COP).
EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS
Participating high schools will require a dedicated geospatial laboratory with 21" Apple iMac computers, a dedicated project server, simulation display equipment, a portable 30" diameter Digital Video Globe display system and requisite geographic information systems (GIS) software applications. Equipment will be provided under an Action Research Cooperative Agreement. (High school geospatial laboratory specifications will be developed on a case-by-case basis.)
ACTION RESEARCH
Action Research is a participatory research methodology founded on Constructivism, a theory of learning that argues that humans generate knowledge and meaning from an interaction between their experiences and their ideas. Constructivist learners come to learning situations with knowledge gained from previous experience and construct new learning experiences – and new knowledge – through action-based scientific inquiry.
SolarQuest™ aims to create an Action Research Community defined as an intentional community of learners – teachers and students – collectively engaged in a disciplined inquiry on the impacts of climate change on Earth’s biosphere and human populations. Note: Both high school Action Research program levels are designed as two-term courses.
Grades 9-10
High school research teams will focus on measuring anthropogenic carbon emissions from the world's 27 mega-cities, including New York City and Los Angeles, and assessing the capacity of Earth's Biosphere to sequester greater amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) that has accumulated in the atmosphere over centuries of global industrial development and change in land use.
Analyzing hundreds of thousands data sets collected daily by the Orbiting Carbon Observatory - 2 (OCO-2), and consulting with scientists from NASA, NOAA and university research institutes from around the world, teacher and student teams from America's high schools will develop high resolution profiles of CO2 emissions and create simulations designed to educate the general public on the potentially catastrophic impacts of unmitigated global warming on human populations due to thermodynamic imbalances in Earth's Biosphere.
Grades 11-12, Advanced Placement (AP)
AP research teams will conduct interdisciplinary research that examines the dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems (CNHS) and the complex interactions between these systems at diverse geographic scales. Specifically, teacher and student researchers examine the linkage between: (a) Econometric Productivity (the System of National Accounting that measures global economy and relative health and prosperity of human populations); and (b) Primary Productivity, the thermodynamic, hydro-logical and photosynthetic processes that form the foundation of Ecosystems Services – from clean air and water to healthy soils and food systems – upon which all species sustain life.
Research projects will include analyses of four different components:
- The dynamics of natural systems;
- The dynamics of human systems;
- The processes through which natural systems affect human systems; and
- The processes through which human systems affect natural systems.
In addition to examining measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and the sequestration capacity of Earth's Biosphere from OCO-2 satellite data, students will integrate a wide range of data sourced from the A-Train series of NASA satellites that provide a more comprehensive view of the impact of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere on Ecosystems Services. Knowledge gained from inquires into natural systems will be examined within a Systems Dynamic (SD) Starting Framework Analysis utilizing Threshold 21 SD modeling software to provide predictive analysis and decision support services for public policy changes. Participation in Grade 9-10 Action Research is a prerequisite to the AP course.
Research teams at both the 9-12 and AP course levels will publish their work in a peer-reviewed project journal and other scientific publications. Team animations and simulations, as shown above, will be distributed to over 100 museums in 39 countries hosting more than 30 million visitors annually. Selected teachers and students will invited to present their research findings at periodic meetings of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and participate in education workshops at the UNFCCC annual Conference of Parties (COP).
EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS
Participating high schools will require a dedicated geospatial laboratory with 21" Apple iMac computers, a dedicated project server, simulation display equipment, a portable 30" diameter Digital Video Globe display system and requisite geographic information systems (GIS) software applications. Equipment will be provided under an Action Research Cooperative Agreement. (High school geospatial laboratory specifications will be developed on a case-by-case basis.)