David R. Brooks, PhD

President Institute for Earth Science Research and Education 2686 Overhill Drive Eagleville, Pennsylvania 19403 USA Phone: 610-584-5619 E-mail: brooksdr@drexel.edu Drexel University Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics

Much of the work described on this site has been made possible by support from the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.

NOTICE OF TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP
Workshop Title: "Here Comes the Sun – Teaching About Solar Science and Technology"
Audience: middle- and secondary-grade teachers
Location: The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, Phildelphia, PA
Dates: June 29 & 30 <---- NOTE NEW DATES!
Time: 8:45 AM—3:30 PM
      Participants will learn and experience through hands-on activities how to teach about our sun's role in the solar system, how we can measure and make use of the sun's energy, how solar panels work,and how students can build solar car kits in the classroom that will help them consolidate their knowledge about these topics. Workshop activities will include simulation games about the sun and solar energy, some alternative assessment strategies, and construction of both solar car kits and pyranometers, instruments for measuring amounts of insolation (available sun energy) in the schoolyard. Activities are based on PDE science standards.
      Attending teachers will receive a $50 stipend, 6 ACT 48 credit hours per day of attendance (for Pennsylvania teachers), a pyranometer, and a solar car kit
      For more information and registration, contact:
Leigh Ashbrook, Environmental Educator
The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education
215-482-7300 x 124
lashbrook@schuylkillcenter.org

Whitetail deer, Odocoileus virginianus November, 2008. Whitetail deer are beautiful animals, but where we live they are considered to be invasive pests that destroy woodland ecosystems. Because their natural predators have been eliminated, their population has surged to much higher levels than would normally be the case. Despite the fact that they regularly stroll across our property, near our house, deer are skittish and not easy to photograph. They are most likely to be found in the open near dawn or dusk, in very poor lighting conditions. This large doe has spotted me and she bolted just after I took this photo in mid-morning.

You can now use your PayPal account to purchase instruments from IESRE.

Notes from a Temperate Climate. A site dedicated to students, teachers, and my friends living in Thailand's tropical climate.

In light of recent controversy surrounding poor siting of many "official" weather stations around the country, this link to information about sites in Pennsylvania, with photos from 1983 and 2003, is very interesting: http://pasc.met.psu.edu/PA_Climatologist/cooptan/. Almost without exception, the quality of these sites is good and the surrounding environment has not changed significantly.

Insolation data from McMurdo Station, Antarctica.

These data were collected with an Institute for Earth Science Research and Education pyranometer taken to Antarctica by Ann Linsley, a teacher at Bellaire High School, Bellaire, Texas. It is not surprising that, under these extreme conditions, the pyranometer data do not agree perfectly with a clear-sky solar noon insolation model that assumes a much different atmosphere. Thanks, Ann!