WorldWatcher

WorldWatcher

Author: Yueh-Chen Weng

WorldWatcher is a supportive scientific visualization environment for the investigation of scientific data. It has been designed specifically for use in educational environments and can support data in a variety of fields including earth science, biology, physics, geography, and more. The software's aim is to provide an accessible and supportive environment for students to explore, interpret, and analyze scientific data in a manner which allows them to emulate the work of actual scientists.

This program” WorldWatcher” is created by the Geographic Data in Education (GEODE) Initiative at Northwestern University which is devoted to improving public understanding of our world through education about the Earth’s physical, biological, and social systems.

• Grade Level: Middle school through College

• Potential Educational Application

The potential of scientific visualization

The GEODE Initiative is devoted to the improvement of Earth and environmental science education through the use of data visualization and analysis tools to support inquire-based pedagogy. Scientific visualization which incorporated into inquiry-based learning can enable students of diverse abilities to develop an understanding of complex scientific phenomena in the Earth and environmental science education such as climate and weather. The specific software” WorldWatcher” can transform data visualization and analysis into an effective educational technology.

Design for learners

Scientific visualization is a valuable tool for students engaged in inquiry-based learning. “WorldWatcher” is developing and evaluating scientific visualization environments for the study of climate and global climate change. These supportive environments enable learners to examine data sets created by the scientific community and to create their own data using built-in arithmetic operations and climate models. They allow students to view this data in the form of color maps at a variety of spatial and temporal resolutions. The activities are supported by a multimedia database, or mediabase, of background and explanatory materials focusing on science topics and scientific visualization techniques.

All the information and pictures of the webpage is retrieved from the website and the program of WorldWatcher@ September 23, 2008.

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