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    Kansas Legislator Proposes Bill to Outlaw Sustainability Education

    A bill has been introduced in the Kansas legislature this week that would prohibit the promotion of sustainability. Here is a link to the one-page bill: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/measures/documents/hb2366_00_0000.pdf. See report on Bloomberg News.
  • Earth's Center Is 1,000 Degrees Hotter Than Previously Thought, Synchrotron X-Ray Experiment Shows
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    Earth's Center Is 1,000 Degrees Hotter Than Previously Thought, Synchrotron X-Ray Experiment Shows

    Scientists have determined the temperature near the Earth’s center to be 6000 degrees Celsius, 1000 degrees hotter than in a previous experiment run 20 years ago. These measurements confirm geophysical models that the temperature difference between the solid core and the mantle above, must be at least 1500 degrees to explain why the Earth has a magnetic field. For more information about this study, see the press release from the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility.
  • Ocean Volcanic Rocks Contain Samples of Recycled Crust
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    Ocean Volcanic Rocks Contain Samples of Recycled Crust

    Scientists have long believed that lava erupted from certain oceanic volcanoes contains materials from the early Earth’s crust. But decisive evidence for this phenomenon has proven elusive. New research from a team including Carnegie’s Erik Hauri demonstrates that oceanic volcanic rocks contain samples of recycled crust dating back to the Archean era 2.5 billion years ago. Their work is published in Nature. Oceanic crust sinks into the Earth’s mantle at so-called subduction zones, where two plates come together. Much of what happens to the crust during this journey is unknown. Model-dependent studies for how long subducted material can exist in the mantle are uncertain and evidence of very old crust returning to Earth’s surface via upwellings of magma has not been found until now. For more information about these results, see the press release from the Carnegie Institution.

Workshop at the 2007 NSTA National Conference in St. Louis

NSTA National 2007 Interactive Simulations workshopWindows to the Universe staff presented a workshop titled "Interactive Simulations and Hands-on Activities across the Earth and Space Sciences" at the NSTA National Conference in St. Louis, Missouri, from 5-6 PM on Friday, March 30, 2007.

This workshop combined hands-on activities with computer-based interactives and animations. The bulk of the workshop dealt with three topics of potential relevance to Earth science teachers:

  • Annual and Long-term Variations in Sea Ice Extent in the Arctic and Antarctic
  • Magnetism, Geomagnetism, and Space Weather
  • Paleoclimatology - Tree Rings and Dendrochronology

Below are links to the resources (write-ups of hands-on activities and accompanying student worksheets, interactive simulations, animations, images, and web pages with relevant background information) used or referred to during this workshop:

  1. Magnetism & Space Weather
    1. Hands-on activities
      1. Magnetometer (in Spanish)
      2. Magnetometer Extensions [Ore Deposits & Seafloor Spreading] (in Spanish)
      3. Terrabagga (in Spanish)
    2. Computer-based interactives
      1. Bar magnet & compass
      2. Earth's magnetic field
      3. Earth's North Magnetic Pole
    3. Background info on site
      1. Planetary magnetosphere pages
        1. Mercury, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
        2. Detecting Planetary Magnetism
      2. Basics of magnetism pages
        1. Magnetic Field, Magnetism, The Force of Magnetism
  2. Paleoclimateology - Dendrochronology
    1. Dendrochronology Interactives
      1. "Build a Tree" Dendrochronology Activity
      2. Align Tree Ring Cores Activity
    2. Project Learn activity page
      1. "Time & Cycles - Dendrochronology" activity
      2. Student guide
    3. Climate Discovery Teacher's Guide activity - "Trees: Recorders of Climate Change"
  3. Sea Ice Extent Graphing Activity
    1. Activity: Graphing Sea Ice Extent in the Arctic and Antarctic
    2. Interactive Image Viewers (compare sea ice maps side-by-side)
      1. Compare Images of Arctic Sea Ice Extent Side-by-side
      2. Compare Images of Antarctic Sea Ice Extent Side-by-side
    3. Animations
      1. Animation of Annual Variation in Sea Ice Extent in the Northern Hemisphere
      2. Animation of Annual Variation in Sea Ice Extent in the Southern Hemisphere
Last modified March 27, 2007 by Randy Russell.

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Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation and NASA, our Founding Partners (the American Geophysical Union and American Geosciences Institute) as well as through Institutional, Contributing, and Affiliate Partners, individual memberships and generous donors. Thank you for your support! NASA AGU AGI NSF