Earth Observation Day is an education and awareness effort of the AmericaView Consortium. Working closely with the U.S. Geological Survey, AmericaView is comprised of 37 state-led academic consortia (the “StateViews”) whose educational vision and goals focus on engaging students and teachers at all levels in Earth observations using remote sensing. EO Day resources–including imagery focused on surface land use/land cover, freshwater and marine ecosystems, and the atmosphere–will provide teachers with the data and geospatial interpretive tools needed for inquiry-based, Earth systems focused learning in the disciplines of Earth Science, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Mathematics, and Geography. National Science Education Standards in all fields of science stress the importance of inquiry involving observations, data gathering, and analysis. Remote sensing of the Earth allows observations from the global to the regional and local scales, and requires ground observations to validate remotely sensed observations and support data analysis and interpretation. National Geography Education Standards are closey aligned with remote sensing observations and the processes of acquiring, analyzing, and reporting information at all scales covering the Earth’s four systems (lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere).  The goals for Earth Observation Day are as follows:

  • To introduce teachers to remote sensing as a scientific and professional discipline and as a means to study and understand earth sciences and human/cultural systems.
  • To introduce teachers to instructional resources that will allow them to integrate the teaching and application of remote sensing and related geospatial technologies at K-12 levels into the teaching curriculum.
  • To teach educators how to make valid observations of the Earth, both on the ground and in the air/space using data from satellites.
  • To teach educators how to develop inquiry-based activities built around Earth observations.
  • To help create a network of teachers, professors, and scientists working together to support and enhance existing instructional remote sensing resources and create new resources.
  • To connect K-16 educators with active remote sensing research efforts while at the same time providing researchers with outreach networks.