Geoscience Innovating for Earth and People

Innovations in the geosciences allow us to study the Earth in new ways. Emerging technologies and updated methods of collecting data help monitor phenomena such as natural hazards, climate change, and the overall health of ecosystems. Understanding these processes and continuing to innovate techniques for studying the Earth helps people make decisions that support communities while maintaining and strengthening the planet’s ability to support thriving life.

Table of Contents:

Drones for Earth Science

The 2023 Earth Science Week Poster highlights drones, an innovation commonly used to study geosciences around the world. Learn more about drones by watching the introductory video below or reading an article by Dr. Matthew Zimmerer, titled “Drones for the Geosciences: A New Eye in the Sky.”

Drone Resources

Incorporating Drones into Earth Science Education

  • 2023 ESW poster activities (NGSS: Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science; K-ESS2-2, 4-ESS2-2, 5-ESS2-1, 5-ESS3-1, HS-ESS3-1)
    • Innovations, and specifically drones, can be used to address major world issues, as defined by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as: ensuring stable infrastructure, fostering sustainable water sources, locating mineral and energy resources, keeping people safe from natural hazards, and analyzing and applying data about the Earth. Examine the images on the front of the poster and decide which phrase best describes each use of a drone. Visit https://sdgs.un.org/goals to learn more about the SDGs. List additional ways that the use of drones could assist in working toward one of these goals.
    • Think about a problem in your community where having a drone might be beneficial. How could the drone help solve this problem?
    • Imagine you had access to a drone and endless amounts of funding. What scientific question might you want to research? Where would you fly your drone and how would you utilize it? Write up a scientific proposal explaining your ideas.
  • Select from a variety of math and science curricula that incorporate drones, written by teachers who participated in an NSF Drone Research Experience: NSF Research Opportunity for High School Teachers - College of Engineering & Natural Sciences (utulsa.edu)
  • Design a solution to global warming and climate change using drones that focuses on the engineering design process: Drone Climate Project
  • Explore resources from Tuskegee University for programming with drones: Teaching Materials | Tuskegee University
  • Browse through UCAR’s Teaching with Drones library, which is a collection of activities to learn about engineering, technology, and drone use.
  • Read the peer-reviewed journal article, “Teaching Innovation in STEM Education Using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), published in a 2022 special issue of Education Sciences.
  • Learn how drones are being used in higher education programs across the country from Adorama: Drones in Higher Education - 42West, Adorama
  • Did you know there is a helicopter on Mars? Learn about the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter as you build a model of your own from a NASA webinar, Learning Space with NASA - Make a Mars Helicopter - YouTube (lesson plan: Make a Paper Mars Helicopter)

2023 Geologic Map Day Poster: Enhancing Geologic Maps with Lidar

Explore this year’s Geologic Map Day poster (side 1, side 2), which highlights how lidar (short for Light Detection and Ranging) has revolutionized data collection, mapping, and analysis. Lidar uses a laser scanner that releases laser pulses, then measures the time it takes for those pulses to reflect off the Earth’s surface and back to the scanner, enabling the generation of precise 3D representations of terrain. The data collected using lidar has helped improve geologic maps and has many other geoscience applications.

Geologic Map Day Poster Learning Activities

  1. Look at “Enhancing Geologic Maps with Lidar” side of the GMD poster. (NGSS: 4-ESS2-2, MS-ESS2-3)

    • Examine the top three images. Make comparisons between the outdated geologic map on the left and the updated geologic map on the right. How has the map improved? Point out specific places where it has changed.
    • Examine the lidar map in the middle. How does this image differ from the geologic maps? How do you think the lidar data helped improve the geologic map?
    • Examine the detailed geologic map on the bottom of the poster. Can you find a steep incline? A body of water? A fault? What rock type is most common? What features of the map require the use of a key to be understood?
    • Notice the thin black line running diagonally across the large geologic map. Infer what the cross section through this line might look like. Draw your predictions, then examine and make comparisons to the published cross section found at NGMDB Product Description Page

  2. Look at the “Applications of Lidar” side of the GMD poster (NGSS: Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science; 2-ESS1-1, 4-ESS2-2, MS-ESS2-2, HS-ESS2-1)

    • Learn more about the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For each image on the poster, list which SDGs could be aligned to what is shown and explain how.
    • Lidar can make geologic features apparent, such as fault scarps and landslides, that may not be visible in satellite imagery. What other types of geologic features or processes might be hidden that lidar can help locate and measure?
    • The USGS used lidar data to help make comparisons of pre- and post-fire conditions. What differences do you notice between the two models? What questions can be answered with these images? What other questions do you have after analyzing these models?
    • Three images on the poster show rivers. List how these rivers are similar and how they are different. What could be some factors causing these differences?
    • Consider the Montana active and past river channels in the purple image on the right side of the poster. What do you notice about the right side of the image and the left side? What might have caused these differences?
    • Examine the top right image that displays the airborne magnetic and radiometric data collected over Charleston, South Carolina. What do you notice about the bright yellow colors that display a concentrated thorium deposit? Is there a pattern that you see? Are there common locations where they are found? What might explain your observations? Learn more about this image by watching the ESW webinar, “The Future of Earth’s Critical Materials”, on October 12 during ESW.

  3. Explore how the surface geology can relate to hazards, mineral resources, geothermal data, and more through Washington state’s geology by using an interactive map: Interactive map of Washington’s geology and natural resources (NGSS: 2-ESS1-1, 2-ESS2-2, 4-ESS2-2, 5-ESS2-1, MS-ESS2-2, MS-ESS3-1, HS-ESS2-1)

    • Turn on and off layers highlighting hazards (tsunami hazard areas, volcanoes, earthquakes, landslides, radon hazards, and more) while making comparisons to the surface geology. What do you notice? What comparisons can you make?
    • What do you notice about the locations of mineral resources, including metals, non-metallic minerals, and coal? Why might this be?
    • Explore other layers and make observations. How do other data correlate?

  4. Consider why it is important for geologic maps to be updated. Write down a list of five reasons and compare with someone else. Did you think of the same reasons?

    • Learn how geologic maps are being updated and the early career professionals doing the work during AGI’s Early Career Professionals in Mapping webinar series.
    • Look for resources about how geologic maps are being updated in your state. Summarize your findings. If you find they aren’t being updated, make an argument for why they should be.

  5. Learn how elevation data are used in your state from 3DEP’s State Factsheets. What are some of the business uses of lidar data? What geologic features has lidar helped identify in your state?

  6. Elevation data, such as that collected by lidar, can be used to make high resolution topographic maps. Practice making your own topographic maps through an activity from NASA: Educator Guide: Making Topographic Maps

Lidar Resources

Get Involved in Earth Science Week

How can you get involved? Explore the links below and others on the Earth Science Week website to find a host of tools designed to make planning and attending events easy, fun, and rewarding! We have many resources to help you work with local geoscience professionals to engage young people and others in events that help everyone to consider their role in Earth science, innovation, and sustainability.

Do you have resources you would like to share with the K-12 community about drones or other innovations? Email the resource(s) to outreach@americangeosciences.org for consideration. Please use “ESW 2023 Website Addition – Innovation” as the subject line.