Building Partnerships to Create Data Visualizations for Education

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Building Partnerships to Create Data
Visualizations for Education

• Dr. Carrie McDougall
• NOAA, Office of Education

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Leveraging the capability of informal science
education institutions

• Goal
• Create an environmentally literate public
• Objective
• Incorporate NOAA sciences into venues where the
  general public seeks science information
• Strategy
• Enable informal science education institutions to
  regularly use NOAAs products and incorporate
  them into their exhibits
• Build capability of informal science ed
  institutions to incorporate this type of
  information (i.e., provide funding, technology,
  scientific expertise, capability to incorporate
  near real-time datastreams)
• Demonstrate the publics interest for this type
  of science information
• Build NOAAs capability to provide products that
  meet the needs of these institutions

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An Ideal Partnership
Trusted provider of science information
The general public
Data information
Data collection Analysis Scientific Expertise
Context Annotation Audience-appropriate
presentation Mass dissemination Collect Feedback
from audience
Areas of Expertise
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Current Activities

• Science On a Sphere
• American Museum of Natural History-NCEP
  partnership
• Smithsonian Ocean Hall
• Magic Planet and other spherical visualizations

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Science On a Sphere
Locations (Current Pending) Bishop Museum,
Honolulu, HI Science Museum of Minnesota, St.
Paul, MN Maryland Science Center, Baltimore,
MD The Tech Center of Innovation, San Jose,
CA NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt,
MD Nauticus, Norfolk, VA Great Lakes Maritime
Center, Alpena, MI McWane Science Center,
Birmingham, AL Fiske Planetarium, Boulder,
CO Orlando Science Center, Orlando, FL National
Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico, Mobile,
AL Smithsonian National Museum of Natural
History, Washington, DC Reaching over 9M visitors
a year

• The Office of Education has funded installation
  of 10 SOS in science centers and museums

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Science On a Sphere
What were learning from the first installations

• Audience surveys find
• Fascination with the technology
• Most understanding of the blue marble images or
  any satellite imagery showing clouds
• Pseudo-colored datasets are abstract and often
  misinterpreted
• Mixed reactions to desirability of controlling
  images on sphere and adding labels on sphere

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Science On a Sphere
Where were headed

• Utilize the expertise of the SOS network to
  provide guidelines as to how to create the most
  compelling SOS content and associated stories
• Host a meeting of the network
• Create a virtual library to share content among
  users
• Build NOAAs capability to produce SOS content
  that is appropriate for museum audiences

• Develop products that can be used on all
  spherical display technologies
• Improve our understanding of how these types of
  technologies impact learning about the Earth
  (evaluation across network)
• ID Best practices for using this technology
• Enable museums, science centers, and aquariums to
  become Earth System Science providers with the
  most cutting edge technology and content

Photo courtesy of Hampton University
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NCEP-AMNH Partnership
Creating visualizations for the general public
from operational datasets

• AMNH scientists data visualizers work with NCEP
  scientists to create stories and annotated data
  visualizations
• High definition video time-series produced from
  global cloud cover satellite data
• NCEP scientists provide data and
  highlight/explain features of interest
• AMNH data visualization team annotates data, adds
  contextual images and writes story at
  audience-appropriate level

• Products distributed as part of AMNHs Science
  Bulletins
• HD videos play in AMNH exhibit halls
• Products reach a total of 10M through a network
  of 28 museums and science centers
• NCEP uses the AMNH products in their operational
  discussions
• Funded last year through a NOAA Environmental
  Literacy Grant

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Smithsonian Ocean Hall
NOAA is 1 partner

• 6 million visitors/year

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Magic Planet

• Developing Magic Planet touch-screen kiosks and
  new animations to tell NOAA stories
• Global Imagination will distribute to network of
  60 Magic Planet users
• Working to maximize collaboration between Magic
  Planet and SOS

Photo courtesy of Global Imagination
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Funding Opportunities

• Education Mini Grants
• Available for NOAA employees
• Will be focused on regional approaches to
  increasing environmental literacy
• Announcement end of November 2006 DUE end of
  January 2007
• 50-100K/grant available
• Free-choice Learning about Earth System Science
• 1.5M available (pending final appropriation)
• 2 to 5 awards expected
• minimum request 200K maximum request 750K
• Emphasis on providing consistent messages through
  extensive networks. 
• Pre-proposals due November 29, 2006
• K-12 Education about Earth System Science
• 3.0M available (pending final appropriation)
• 4 to 6 awards expected
• minimum request 200K maximum request 750K
• Focus is on infusing ESS into K-12 formal
  education through pre-service and in-service
  teacher education/professional development and
  modification of instructional materials
• Pre-proposals due November 29, 2006
• See http//www.oesd.noaa.gov/funding_opps.html
  for details

Environmental Literacy Grants
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Funding Opportunities (cont.)
Environmental Literacy Grants

• Data Visualizations for Spherical Display
  Systems Support for associated hardware
• Will offer support for installations and content
  development for spherical display technologies
• Funding Announcement to be published in early
  2007
• Up to 1.5M will be available
• Your input is critical for informing this
  announcement
• For additional information see
  http//www.oesd.noaa.gov/funding_opps.html

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Next Steps

• Identify best practices for how we use these
  technologies and visualizations to ultimately
  create an informed society/build understanding
  about the earth
• Formalize and solidify NOAAs role as a provider
  of Earth system science products to these venues

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Closing

• Thank you
• Contact me
• Carrie McDougall
• Carrie.mcdougall_at_noaa.gov
• 202-482-0875