What is Environmental e-Science? An Approach to Public
Understanding
Joshua Underwood, Rosemary Luckin, Geraldine Fitzpatrick, Yvonne Rogers
School of Computer Science & IT, University of Sussex
Abstract
Our aim is to engage school-aged children in
thought about e-Science and in particular two
related projects currently being developed by the
Equator IRC [1]. Both projects use data from
remote sensors and information visualisations to
help scientists study complex dynamic systems in
the environment, the ecosystem of an Antarctic
lake [2] and pollution in a city [3]. Rather than
providing descriptions of these, we challenge
learners to construct their own understanding
through exploration. We use images, questions
and deliberate ambiguity [4] to engage learners in
a quest to find out what the e-Scientists are doing
on the lake and in the city. Learners follow a
structured investigative process that guides them
through interactive resources, which we are
currently developing, and existing websites, and
prompts them to think about relevant issues. They
also have the freedom to use search and the web
to investigate in any direction they feel is
appropriate. This work is at an early stage; we are
currently prototyping resources and working with
teachers to structure the investigative process.
1.
Introduction
It is increasingly important for scientists to
communicate their research to the public, as
reflected by EPSRC’s Partnerships for Public
Awareness awards [5] and the Sciart initiative [6].
This is especially true for environmental research
where issues surrounding climate change are
being widely debated within society at large. One
vision for environmental science is that data can
be captured from arrays of sensors deployed
throughout the environment, integrated with other
data sources and accessed on a global scale by
scientists able to visualise, manipulate and share
the data from any location on the planet. The
Equator IRC is changing this vision into a reality,
to be demonstrated through two environmental
science applications:
• the study of carbon cycling in an Antarctic
lake
• the study of pollution monitoring in urban
environments
Fig 1. What is it? Where is it? Why is it there?
Can you find out?
Our aim is to promote interest in, and
understanding of these two projects amongst
school-aged children. For example, by showing
how carbon atoms might travel from the urban
world to the Antarctic (e.g. how exhaust fumes
created in London could end up in a lake in the
Antarctic). Part of our plan is to transcend the
learners’ normal vision by making what is
invisible visible and by bringing the distant near.
Learners will be able to hear the Antarctic winds,
see microscope organisms and hidden pollution,
and measure CO levels in Gower Street or UV
light intensity in the Antarctic from the comfort of
their classroom or home. Hence, the scientists of
the future can begin to experience and consider
the
consequences
of
this
global
interconnectedness.
The activities and interactive materials we are
developing aim primarily to engage and challenge
learners, rather than to explain. Our approach
takes de-contextualised and deliberately
ambiguous images, words and sounds
representing aspects of ongoing environmental eScience work and uses them as clues. Starting
from these clues, we challenge learners to create
their own understanding of what they see and
hear. Currently, we are working on three related
strands to this work: a ‘WebQuest’, a televisual
‘channel’ and practical activities relating the
investigation of remote environments to the study
of the learners’ own local environment.
2.
2.1.
Approach
A WebQuest
WebQuests are a popular form of inquiry-oriented
learning activity in which much of the information
used by learners is drawn from the Web [7]. A
WebQuest typically consists of 1) a scene setting
introduction, 2) a challenge or task to solve, 3) a
description of the process learners should follow
to accomplish the task within which links and
references to resources (relevant websites, books,
e-mail addresses, message-boards, etc…) are
embedded, 4) some guidance on how to organize
the information acquired, e.g. guiding questions, a
template for a report, or instructions to produce a
diagram or poster, and 5) a conclusion that guides
learners in evaluating their work and may
encourage them to extend the web-based
experience into other domains [8]. If well
structured this kind of activity is generally popular
with learners and provides good opportunities for
use and development of cross-curriculum thinking
skills (enquiry, information processing, reasoning,
evaluation, creative thinking) included in the
national curriculum [9]. In situations where the
domain material itself is not within the curriculum
the opportunity to practise thinking skills may
provide a necessary incentive for teachers to use
an activity.
Our challenge is for learners to find out what the
‘mysterious’ e-Scientists are up to on an Antarctic
lake and in London and eventually for them to
discover how these two projects might be related.
First, small groups of learners are prompted to
discuss what they think is shown in a selection of
images and how they believe these may be related.
For example, for figure 1 they are asked to share
and record ideas about what the device might be,
where it might be, what it might be for, and how
they might find out more. They also add
questions they think it would be interesting to find
answers to.
Learners are then asked to follow a structured
investigate process that leads them to interactive
versions of the photos online. Moving and
clicking the mouse within these interactive photos
may reveal hidden details, lead to other
viewpoints or link to relevant websites. For
example, moving over the wire on the ice reveals
sensors below the ice and shows readings for the
currently displayed data and time, clicking on a
sensor opens a link to a website describing that
sensor, clicking on the ‘eye’ takes you to a map
view revealing some information about the
device’s location (see figure 2). The learners’
activity within these interactive movies causes
messages to be sent to the ‘news-ticker’ (blue line
at bottom of figure 2), messages here can prompt
learners to consider specific questions or to
investigate in a particular direction. However,
learners are always free to search the web for
information and investigate in any direction that
they believe to be relevant.
Eventually, learners bring together the
information they have gathered and produce a
report. They are encouraged to evaluate their
work using the guidelines provided. When the
report is complete, they will have the option to
upload it to an online database. This action gives
them access to other learners’ reports, which they
can then view and evaluate and compare with their
own.
Figure 2. Interactive photo, showing current
wind speed and direction
2.2.
Channel
The ‘channel’ provides a much less structured
route into the same web-based material. Here,
images, sounds, and text fade in and out
continuously. No action is required on the part of
the viewer; she may simply watch the slideshow
and perhaps consider the images, text and sounds
and how they may be related. However, if she
feels sufficiently engaged by any particular
passing stimulus she may choose to lean forward
and interact by clicking. This action takes her to
resources related to the current image.
2.3.
Activities
Finally, we are developing outlines for possible
follow up activities relating the environmental eScience projects to the learners’ world. For
example, learners might be asked to collect
environmental data about a local pond and
compare conditions in the Antarctic lake over the
same time frame. Or, they could predict how a
pollution map of their own environment would
vary over a day. Possibly, they could then plan a
methodology for mapping pollution in their own
area over a day, borrow CO monitors and collect
data to feed into a local pollution visualisation
generated online.
3.
Discussion
This poster has outlined a possible approach to
promoting understanding of two specific eScience projects based around prompting learner
directed investigation and providing structured
support for this, as opposed to providing
explanations. This approach to promoting public
understanding may also prove appropriate for
other projects. However, our work is at an early
stage, we are currently prototyping resources and
refining guidelines for the investigative process in
collaboration with school science teachers [10].
By the end of the project, we plan to have
evaluated this approach and hope to have
developed an enduring set of web-based resources
that are both engaging for learners and useful to
teachers.
Acknowledgements
We very much appreciate photographs,
information, and comments and help provided by
Malcolm Foster and Paula Mills, currently based
in the Antarctic [11, 12]. This work is supported
by EPSRC Grant GR/R81985/01 “Advanced Grid
Interfaces for Environmental e-science in the Lab
and in the Field”.
Palethorpe, T Reid, M Sumner. “e-Science from
the Antarctic to the GRID”, Proceedings of the
UK e-Science All Hands Meeting 2003,
Nottingham, Sept 2-4.
[3] “Advanced Grid Interfaces for Environmental
e-Science: Urban Pollution”
http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/research/vr/Projects/
envesci/ (verified 2003-08-12)
[4] W Gaver, J Beaver, S Benford. “Ambiguity as
a resource for design”, Technical Report Equator02-024, Equator, September 2002.
[5] Partnerships for Public Awareness Awards
http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/WebSite/default.aspx?
ZoneID=3&MenuID=1060 (verified 2003-08-12)
[6] Sciart, http://www.sciart.org/site/ (verified
2003-08-12)
[7] WebQuest Portal, http://www.webquest.org/
(verified 2003-08-12)
[8] B Dodge. “Some Thoughts About
WebQuests”, http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/
edtec596/about_webquests.html
[9] Thinking Skills…..
References
[10] http://www.cogs.susx.ac.uk/users/joshuau/
esci/index.html
[1] EQUATOR, “Environmental e-Science
Project”, http://www.equator.ac.uk/projects/
environmental/index.htm (verified 2003-08-12)
[11] http://www.mrl.nott.ac.uk/~mbf/
antarctica/data.htm
[2] S Benford, N Crout, J Crowe, S Egglestone, M
Foster, C Greenhalgh, A Hampshire, B HayesGill, J Humble, A Irune, J Laybourn-Parry, B
[18] http://www.mrl.nott.ac.uk/~mbf/paula/
crooked.htm