Using NEON Data and Educational Materials in Your Classroom | LDC 2017

LIFE DISCOVERY – DOING SCIENCE EDUCATION CONFERENCE

Data discovery is a crucial step to bolstering lessons with data and for students to be comfortable asking questions using data. The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) collects data at 81 sites across the United States and freely provides this data that can be used to ask questions about the impacts of climate change, land-use change, and invasive species on natural resources and biodiversity. Participants in this workshop will explore how to directly access the full NEON database to get the data they want for use in the classroom. Participants will also explore already curated teaching data subsets that are available for download and classroom use. 

The learning objectives of the workshop are for educators to have the tools and comfort level to discover and access data from the NEON database (data.neonscience.org), to be aware of the increasing number of data visualization tools that NEON will be offering through their website (www.neonscience.org), and to be able to use the curated teaching data subsets with or without the associated activities in their own educational setting. 

The workshop will be presented as a guided navigation through the resources available, therefore, workshop participants should bring a laptop or tablet (phones are not ideal) to be able to participate fully in the workshop. The workshop instructors will model how educators can present the data discovery tools in their own classrooms. Each participant will have the opportunity to leave the workshop with a downloaded data set that they may use for a classroom lesson.

Registration

All participants in this workshop must be registered for the 2017 Life Discovery – Doing Science Education Conference and have selected this workshop during registration.  

Required Prior Knowledge

None. This workshop is open to all participants. 

Things You’ll Need For The Workshop

To fully participant in this workshop, we recommend you bring a laptop to the workshop with you. 

Workshop Instructors

• Megan A. Jones; @meganahjones, Staff Scientist/Science Educator; NEON project, Battelle
• Wendy Gram; Director of Education & Engagement; NEON project, Battelle

Please get in touch with the instructors prior to the workshop with any questions.

Schedule

Location: Thurman J. White Forum Building, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK