Making Earth Science Research Accessible Through New Media Technology

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Prose0331151Intellectual MeritThis grant lays the groundwork for a project that will integrate cutting-edge international geologic research with the development of innovative multimedia Earth sciences educational resources. The PIs, Doug Prose and Diane LaMacchia of Earth Images Foundation, are carrying out pre-production and production activities for two Earth science documentary videos and a classroom guide and interactive DVD for each. The PIs are collaborating with research scientists, a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) television production director at KQED in San Francisco, and a curriculum specialist to prepare and execute the shooting plan for filming the initial activities of several major scientific programs. Filming will cover the deep drilling to install sensors 4km deep in the San Andreas Fault, to penetrate the Hawaiian shield lava down to pre-existing seafloor, and the recovery of million year old sediments from Lake Malawi. Another effort will capture video from a multidisciplinary geophysical efforts surveying the ancient shield and accretionary arc in Venezuela and the Caribbean basin, and the evolution of the Appennine Mountains in Italy.Borader ImpactsThe PIs are creating a design plan to produce the classroom guides and DVDs; and preparing video treatments that produce videos compelling to both a PBS audience and to students in introductory Earth science classes. The video shooting plan, the educational material design plans, and video treatments are all evaluated by an external evaluator. The final products increase the availability of up-to-date Earth sciences educational materials that formally and informally increase science literacy and encourage young people to enter the Earth sciences as a profession. The DVDs also serve as a prototype for using new multimedia technology to organize and adapt the latest scientific research results into a rich learning experience. The PIs have filmed scientists that serve as role models to under-represented students in Earth sciences: women and minorities.