Description:
The Pigeon Adventure is an interactive Web site and hands-on activities that are being developed to teach children in grades K through 4 about remote sensing and change over time. Set in New York City, the product will present science concepts via a Pigeon as metaphor familiar to inner-city children to introduce the concept of perspective and change in urban habitats. Through aerial photography created by pigeon cameras, the product will focus on the benefits of a bird's eye view then introduce the advances of remote sensing throughout the century.

The interactive adventure will engage children to follow a carrier pigeon on an adventure through New York City. They will be challenged to solve problems based on historical information gathered from the Pigeon's adventure and visual cues in the satellite imagery. These problems will emphasize how the city and its habitats have changed over time. Thus drawing a systemic relationship of urban development, change-over-time, and its effect on biodiversity.

The supplemental materials will enable educators to introduce and reinforce the concepts through hands-on activities linked to national standards. Parents and teachers will be able to teach Earth system science via identification of land use in remotely-sensed imagery, exploration of featured habitats, and through the investigation of the interactions and changes in these systems.

Organization:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)

Contact:
Ginger Butcher, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Mail Stop 920, Greenbelt, MD 20771; Phone: (301) 614-6540; Email: ginger@ltpmail.gsfc.nasa.gov

Education Level:
Kindergarten-Grade 4

Subject:
Geography
Remote Sensing

Program type:
Curriculum Development/Support

Date Added to teachearth.com:
5/1/00