Earth Day Programming for Public LibrariesMontana State LibraryJanuary 21st, 2020

Speakers TodayDr. Selena Ahmed, Associate Professor of Sustainable Food Systems, Montana State University

Suzi Taylor, Director of the Science Math Resource Center

Today’s Agenda⪢ Earth Day History⪢ Space Science Institute

Resources⪢ Activity Highlight: Windy

City⪢ Activity Highlight: Edible

Destruction⪢ Citizen Science Resources⪢ Questions/Comments

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Earth Day HistoryMISSION

“To build the world’s largest environmental movement to drive transformative change for people and planet.”

HISTORY

⪢ Started back in 1970 – 50th Anniversary!⪢ Gaylord Nelson, US Senator from Wisconsin as founder⪢ 20 million Americans demonstrated – grown to over 1

billion who celebrate globally today

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NASA and Space Science Institute (SSI) Resources

⪢ Great STEM-based activity suggestions

⪢ Free registration to get monthly Earth Day newsletter and RAFFLE!

⪢ Excellent webinars, videos, printables

Our Planet: Earth Website

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https://www.starnetlibraries.org/our-planet-earth/

Resource Highlight: Earth Campaign Video Collection

⪢ Educational videos that show specific environmental impacts/changes

⪢ Short and well-explained

○ Bee data affected by climate change

○ Measuring where snow and ice are freezing

○ Polar region changes

○ Methane gas trapped in arctic lakes

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Resource Highlight: NASA Earth Day Posters

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STARNet Activity Highlights: Windy City Tower

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Materials Needed:

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Set Up for Activity:

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Supplemental Videos

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• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHMPR7flpf4:

Talks about specific scientific phenomena that

occur with tall buildings and wind, and what

construction techniques architects use to reduce

wind loads. High level, but well explained and

interesting!

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebx5Y5qOmT

M: Shorter version, goes through specific

techniques

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STARNet Activity Highlights: Edible Destruction

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Rules:

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- Structure must be 6" or more in height

- Test structure on shake table, and

see whose holds up!

- Goal is earthquake resistant, or

earthquake proof? Can suffer

damage, but not collapse!

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Supplemental Videos

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• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4fKB

GsllZI: Goes through specific techniques

for building earthquake resistant buildings

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7ho6

z32yyo: Explains why earthquakes occur

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Other Activity Ideas

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- Make a backyard rain

gauge

- Solar Energy

visualization

- Creating fossils

- Preventing mudslides Image from Wikihow

Citizen Science Projects

SciStarter.org

⪢ Stall Catchers⪢ Globe at Night⪢ Stream Selfies

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CoCoRaHS.org⪢ Community Collaborative Rain,

Hail, and Snow Network⪢ Measuring precipitation across

the globe!⪢ Can purchase a rain gauge, or

make your own

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Citizen Science Kits at Libraries

⪢ Public libraries in AZ have kits for citizen science projects

○ Stream Mapping

○ Measure Light Pollution

○ Exploring Biodiversity

○ Monitoring Air Quality

○ Zombee Hunting⪢ https://scistarter.org/library-kits

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Globe Observer (Phone App)

⪢ GLOBE observations help scientists track changes in clouds, water, plants, and other life in support of Earth system science research.

⪢ Scientists can also use your data to help interpret NASA and other satellite data.

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Globe Observer Trees

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- Taking pictures of trees and measuring their height, to compare with data taken from satellites above- Will prompt you to take pictures of the base and top of the tree- Will ask you to count your steps to the base of the tree to calculate height

Tutorial: https://observer.globe.gov/documents/19589576/b8f8c436-90e0-404e-a919-64608c382376

Globe Observer Clouds

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- Photograph clouds and record sky observations to compare with satellite data that NASA is collecting- Will ask you to identify sky color, contrails, types of clouds, etc

Tutorial: https://observer.globe.gov/do-globe-observer/clouds/making-cloud-observations

Montana Citizen Science Projects

Montana Citizen Science: Yellowstone Phenology Project

• Yellowstone National Park based project

• Phenology: study of plant and animal life cycle changes over time

• Time frame: April to October• Free housing provided, one

weekend a month• Project Website

What I Value About the Land Citizen Science project

• New place-based citizen science project coming Spring 2020

• Tied to a National Science Foundation research grant to Montana State University, University of Wyoming and University of South Dakota

• Encourages participants to think about how the land around us is used:

AgricultureEnergyRecreationCultural/spiritual, etc....And why each of us value those uses in different ways

About WAFERx Research

What I Value About the Land

• Can be used with youth, teens or adults in informal education settings

• Libraries and other organizations can apply for a physical kit (Resources will also be available for digital download)

• Potential activities include photo monitoring, historical research, journaling/reflection, arts, interviews

• Will also tie to GLOBE Observer Land Cover

Globe Observer Land Cover

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- Land cover changes can alter temperature, rainfall, how water flows, and can greatly affect the general biosphere

- Taking pictures of the land cover can help researchers create more detailed information for an area’s vulnerabilities and changes

Tutorial: In the app, you will be prompted on how to take proper photos

Other citizen science at MSUWestern Transportation Institute is the country’s largest university-based research center focused on rural transportation issues. Potential citizen science opportunities:• Roadkill counts• Bike / pedestrian counts

What else would you like to see from MSU?

Questions?

Contact Information:

Dr. Selena Ahmed –Selena.ahmed@montana.eduSuzi Taylor – taylor@montana.eduAmelea Kim – akim@mt.gov

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