Final Project:: Global Climate Change in Alaska and the Arctic

Objectives for my final project are
  1. Create a visual, self-guided interactive display using the Magic Planet
 2. Use topics that are engaging and relevant to students as well as community members
 3. Show the direct impacts and extent of changes in sea ice and snow cover in the Arctic 
 4.  Encourage participants to think about strategies for changes that are happening now or may happen in the future.

Goals and Rationale 

 The Challenger Learning Center of Alaska recently acquired a Magic Planet display globe for educational presentations at the center.  My goal is to make an interactive display that can be used as:

·         A walk-in activity for community members

·          A self-guided display for students when they stay overnight at the center

·         A display for educational presentations that uses real data

·         An interactive station for students when participating in the Earth mission in our simulated spacecraft.

Global climate change is relevant to all of us, especially those living in the furthest north latitudes.  There is a lot of data out there, including statistics about the temperature rise per year, the square miles of change in the ice pack, rates of glacial retreats and associated volumes, and much more.  However, these numbers are hard to comprehend to scientists in the field, so imagine how abstract they are to the average citizen!  By putting some of the data on the display globe in a visual format, the data can be more easily comprehended.  The data also becomes “real” when you see it and can relate it to something you know, such as when it is displayed on a map.  Changes over time can be seen and they become much more meaningful that the numbers alone. 

Our center currently does not have any walk- in displays.  We schedule programs for school and other groups, but do not have any activities for individuals or family groups.  This project will start to fill that niche and at the same time provide relevant information to visitors to the center.

Project Description

Main Screen choices

There will be three icons on the main touch screen to choose from:

1.       The Land and the Ice

2.       The Weather

3.      The Oceans

Under each choice, the user will be able to access time –lapse maps, interactive, and short video clips as described below.  This format will allow additional icons and materials to be easily added to the display.

The  Magic Planet is designed to be an interactive display. I plan on collaborating with our IT employee as I will need help with the process of downloading files in the correct format for display on the Magic Planet.

I. The Land and the Ice

Photo credit: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/marine_mammals/

The user will choose from the following three options.

1. Sea Ice Map a link that has maps of polar sea ice over time.  The maps can be input through Story Teller software on the Magic Planet and displayed on the globe.  Users will be able to scroll through temporal data.

   2. The Cryosphere Today a website with daily ice pack maps that can be loaded onto and displayed on the Magic Planet globe.

 

 3. Ice Packs of the Past which has maps of ice coverage over Alaska during the last ice age.  I will have to figure out how to download these files in a format that the Magic Planet can display.

 4. Cultural Connections:  a video from Teachers Domain,  Hunters Navigate the Warming Climate, which discusses how hunting on the ice is changing as the ice changes.

  II. The Ocean

Clam Gulch, AK. (Photo by K. East)

 The user will choose from the following four options:

 1. Global Sea Temperatures with maps of sea temperatures from 2001 to 2010.  Participants will be able to scroll through and see how the temperatures change over time.

  

  2. What happens if the ice melts? This is the interactive that shows what may happen to shorelines as the ice melts.

3.  Oceans and Winds which will pull up maps from  Earth Observatory showing ocean and wind currents.

4. Cultural Connections:  Saving Shismaref: The high price of global warming.  This video clip shows the damage occurring in Shismaref and some of the options that residents are forced to choose from.

 III. The Weather

Contrail cloud over Kenai, AK (Photo by K. East)

  The following four options will be available to choose from:

     1. Land Temperatures and how they are changing.  The land temperature maps from Earth Observatory will be displayed so that the user can scroll through available maps over time and see how temperatures are changing.

      2. El Nino and La Nina These earth observatory maps show the effects of the weather phenomenon known as El Nino and La Nina, and the changes in annual precipitation.  The changes over time can be observed.

      3. What's the weather today?  The Magic Planet software can link up to the internet and display near  real time data (I believe it's within the last 4 hours).  I don't know the link - it's on the Magic Planet menu at work:)

     4. Cultural Connection: Unpredictability This video discusses Arctic Climate Perspectives and how the changing climate is affecting the people of Barrow.  The can not depend on old knowledge as the weather and climate rapidly change.

I am looking forward to implementing this display. I am also going to implement blogging as part of a class I am working on for the school district, and possibly as part of our summer camp.  Thanks to Clay and all the participants with their great feedback for making this an awesome course!