March 21st, 2010
Check out this neat imagery from NASA:
NASA Image from March 2010
NASA Image from August 2009
From the NASA Earth Observatory Natural Hazards Feed:
“The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured these images of the Twin Cities region on March 17, 2010 (top), and August 5, 2009 (bottom). Both use a combination of infrared and visible light to increase the contrast between water and land. Vegetation appears bright green. Clouds appear sky blue. Water varies in color from electric blue to navy. Bare ground ranges in color from dark brown to tan.
Taken in different seasons—late winter and mid-summer—these images not only show different water levels in the Mississippi and other rivers, but also dramatically different amounts of vegetation. While much of the region is heavily vegetated in August 2009, river levels are low enough to make the water bodies nearly invisible. (Tree cover along the riverbanks may partly obscure the rivers.) In contrast, the image from March 2010 shows vegetation just beginning to emerge from winter’s chill. Differences in vegetation between August and March are especially visible in the west, in what appears to be a large patchwork of agricultural lands. Compared to the previous summer, the Mississippi and other rivers in the region appear swollen. Some of the electric-blue hues in water bodies away from the rivers might result from lingering ice. Springtime rains and snowmelt often conspire to raise water levels.”
Tags: flooding, imagery, local, minneapolis, Mississippi, NASA, science, St. Paul, water, Watershed, websites
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December 11th, 2008
Dawn Pape at the Rice Creek Watershed District has created a genius program to get Environmental Educators into the classroom. Its called the Resource Teacher Program.
When a classroom teacher needs to be away (for a conference, sick day, etc.) they can call in an Environmental Educator. In this way, teachers can take advantage of the change in routine by creating a special environmental day for their students instead of a potentially inefficient day with a substitute teacher.
Classroom teachers can learn about the program and the individual resource teachers on the website and choose which resource teacher would be a good fit for their classroom needs and curricula. The classroom teachers directly contact the resource teachers- no middlemen. And the Rice Creek Watershed district pays the resource teachers for teaching in classrooms so there is no additional expense to the schools.
This year is the second year of the program. I did not participate last year, but have had the opportunity to teach in the classroom twice this year (and will be heading into the classroom once again in a couple weeks). Both were great experiences. Each morning I met up with a substitute (because I am not a certified teacher a sub is still required) who showed me the ropes of each school. The students were excited to get outside. The school environment is pretty different than the nature centers and parks I am used to, but once we were outside I felt much more comfortable and was able to jump into the familiar territory exploring and teaching with what was around us.
Dawn or the other Resource Teachers would need to confirm this, but I believe that as the school year has developed classroom teachers have created relationships with individual resource teachers and the resource teachers have become a repeated part of the classroom experience.
Currently, this program is only available to a handful of schools within the Rice Creek Watershed District. However, I think there is huge potential to expand to other schools through other organizations. Any agency or non-profit with a mission that calls for the education about a natural resource could take advantage of this great idea. To save on costs, current paid educational staff or volunteers could be redirected and used.
If you are interested in learning more about the program check out the websites linked above, contact Dawn Pape, or email me at ami@amithompson.com.
Tags: Environmental Education, Teachers, Watershed
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