DLESE description of Discover Our Earth

Discover Our Earth contains a wide range of information related to Earth science using graphs, maps, and movies. The focal topics are earthquakes, volcanoes, topography, plate tectonics, and sea level change. There are three main areas to access the data: Educators, Students, and Web Tools. The Educators section is designed to provide teachers with basic background information about selected Earth science topics and suggest several student activities and exercises that can be employed in classroom settings. Educators are encouraged to adopt, adapt, and modify exercises to suit their needs or situation. The Students section provides critical background information and primarily prepares students to start using the web tool QUEST (Quick Use Earth Science Study Tool). Using QUEST, students are able to experiment and test their own ideas and hypotheses related to any topics provided in these pages. With the tools and information provided, students are able to actively engage in an earth science knowledge discovery, critically evaluate the data and results, and reach their own conclusions about the earth system processes. Two Java-based, interactive data analyses and mapping tools allow customized access to a large variety of earth science data sets that are used by research scientists. The first Java applet, QUEST, has been designed and developed to be used by beginning and intermediate level earth science students. It has an easy-to-use interface that allows access to key earth science data sets. The second Java applet, GEOID (Geoscience Interactive Data tool), is more appropriate for advanced users, and provides a dynamic mapping interface and can be used to access all of the underlying earth science data sets.