NASA Launches New Educational Multimedia Adeventure for Chil

by Goddard Space Fight Center. Contact: Cynthia M. O'Carroll

NASA announces a new educational resource for teaching children the concepts of Earth science. "The Adventures of Amelia the Pigeon" project is a new interactive web site with supporting lesson plans and hands-on activities to illustrate science concepts to children in grades K-4.

The animated adventure engages children in a story-based scenario that emphasizes concepts of remote sensing. Children are taught how NASA scientists use satellite imagery to better understand the Earth's environmental changes.

The development of the web site is intended to better help introduce students to the science of NASA. "The use of satellite imagery is an essential tool in NASA's studies in Earth science," said Ginger Butcher. "NASA imagery will inspire our next generation of scientists at these early grades, when children form their opinions about science."

Butcher, with Science System Applications Incorporated, is an education specialist for the Laboratory for Terrestrial Physics at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and the creator of the Amelia the Pigeon project.

The web site introduces students to Earth science concepts, beginning with classifying objects by shape, color and texture, building a foundation for interpretation and understanding of remote sensing. The Pigeon Adventure encourages the development of a child's inquiry skills, via on-line explorations, sequential story telling and hands-on investigations.

The Pigeon Adventure is based in New York City, chosen for its size, diversity and the visibility of prominent features in satellite imagery. There are also supplemental classroom materials linked to geography and National Science standards, which enable educators to introduce concepts through hands-on activities in the classroom.

Amelia the Pigeon is the second installment of the IMAGERS (Interactive Multimedia Adventures for Grade-school Education using Remote Sensing) Program. It follows the success of Echo the Bat, an interactive multimedia web site, which teaches students the understanding of light and the electromagnetic spectrum as a foundation for remote sensing. Echo the Bat offers a directed and investigative approach, teaching children in grades 5-8 the concepts of satellite imagery.

More information on the Adventures of Amelia the Pigeon project is available at: http://imagers.gsfc.nasa.gov/