EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE EDUCATION ALLIANCE (ESSEA) Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) Arlington, VA Robert J. Myers

NSF GEO-Teach Program Improve the quality of geoscience instruction - primarily middle and high school Provide teachers with easy access to high- quality curricular materials and current science Implement pre-service teacher training and in-service professional development programs designed to enhance students' understanding of and appreciation for the importance of the geosciences

ESSEA Associates Organizations involved in geoscience teacher education and/or professional development Mutual benefit from their association with ESSEA Provide evaluation data on use of ESSEA courses

Associate Benefits Access to the ESSEA courses/updates Training in running the courses Participation at annual meetings Access to ESSEA network

New Module Examples Three Gorges Dam in China (TAMU) International Amphibian Crisis (UNO with Henry Doorly Zoo) Carbon Sequestration: Iron Seeding Ocean Conveyor Belt Dust Bowls Globe-related modules: El Nino, Permafrost Black Carbon or Soot Alternative Fuels (ethanol from corn) Yucatan Impact

Scenario: Dinosaurs walked the Earth for nearly 180 million years, then a cataclysmic occurrence changed everything in one of Earth’s largest mass extinctions. The asteroid impact at the end of the Cretaceous Period is hypothesized to have caused the demise of dinosaurs. Scientists believe that an asteroid about 6 miles (10 km) wide hurtled to Earth 65.5 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous Period, plunging into what is now Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula to carve out the Chicxulub (pronounced CHIK-shu-loob) crater measuring about 110 miles (180 km) across. The scenario played out along these lines: the asteroid or comet, struck the shallow sea in a blinding fireball! A vast cone of red-hot rock and steam blasted upward above the atmosphere only to fall back and flare again upon re-entry. Vast forest fires ignited all over the world by the intense heat! Mile-high waves from the impact site roared across the shorelines of North and South America, sweeping everything away! Huge clouds of dust quickly spread from the impact site to cover the whole Earth!

Astronomy Links JPL Solar System Dynamics Sloan Digital Sky Survey NASA Near Earth Object Program Astronomical Research Institute

JPL Small-Body Database Browser

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