Last month, CISESS hosted a field trip for a 6th grade class from New Hope Academy. Twenty  students and five adults visited the ESSIC offices and participated in educational activities led by CISESS scientists. CISESS Coordinator Kate Cooney organized and coordinated the event.

During the morning session, Dr. Malar Arulraj and Dr. Veljko Petković led the students in a “making a cloud in a bottle” activity and showed them remote sensing images from their birthdays that they could print and bring home. The students also completed a scavenger hunt. Following lunch and outdoor activities, Dr. Guangyang Fang and CISESS intern Ashmita Pyne provided VR demonstrations in the CISESS Visualization Lab and Dr. Daile Zhang and Joseph Patton taught the students about lightning observations and safety. In addition, Dr. Hu Yang showed students the CISESS Remote Sensing Lab and led hands-on activities, including building ultrasonic radar in a breadboard and wearing specially-designed “bat eyes” that allow students to experience sensing objects using ultrasound.

The students also enjoyed freebie educational materials. Bekkah Lampe (NOAA Office of Education) sent cloud charts and stickers, Caroline Donovan (NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program) delivered coral reef activity booklets and other materials, and Cazzy Medley (ESSIC) provided educational and fun giveaways for the students.