Hosted by California State University, Los Angeles
and Sponsored by
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Keynote Speakers

Dickert studied meteorology at San Jose State University and UCLA. He was elected a full member of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) in 1994 and is recognized as a meteorologist by the organization. Dickert also earned a degree in geography. In 2002, he was awarded the Television Seal of Approval by the AMS. In May of 2005, Rick was the first weathercaster in Los Angeles to be awarded the prestigious Certified Broadcast Meteorologist seal by the AMS. The seal is sought as a mark of distinction and a recognition of the achievement in the communication of scientific information. The AMS grants the CBM designation to broadcast meteorologists who meet established criteria for scientific competence and effective communication skills in their weather presentations. The CBM is a new program, launched in January 2005 as an upgrade to the Society’s Seal of Approval.

Dickert is also a member of the National Weather Association and earned their television seal of approval in 2003.

Rick is the secretary of the LA Chapter of the AMS, a member of the National Weather Association, and cofounder and board member of the California Weather Association.

Conference Highlights
Breakout Sessions of 2008

Dr. Thomas has developed and implemented national training programs on leadership, success, motivation, achieving excellence, multicultural workforce practice, management principles, and basic supervisory practices.  He has assisted several Federal agencies in managing their human resources by conducting program evaluations and organizational training assessments.   Dr. Thomas has also conducted extensive research on inner‑city juvenile gangs.  He teaches at the internationally recognized Johns Hopkins University Leadership Development Institute.

Power Steps: Principles  for Teaching Y Generation Youth

This two-hour workshop will provide hands on activities to teachers working with today’s youth based on the book Power Steps:10 Principles of Success.  In today’s society, young people display characteristics and function in a manner that is referred to as the “Y Generation.”  The principles of vision, belief and action in Power Steps will be stressed, as well as an overview of the learning styles of the Y Generation student.  The workshop will be fun filled with hands-on communications and motivational techniques for working with the Y Generation.  Participants are encouraged to bring and share stories and teaching strategies that have been successful in the classroom.

Ron Gird, Outreach Program Manager, NOAA, National Weather Service
Climate Change Information for the Classroom and Home

Allan and Nancy Strong
Senior Consultant, NOAA/NESDIS
NOAA Coral Reef Watch - update: teaching about coral reefs using satellite data

Coral bleaching puts coral reefs in danger nearly every year, somewhere in the world. The major cause of coral bleaching is high sea surface temperature (SST), which is measured globally and in near-real-time by NOAA's operational satellites. The Coral Reef Watch program has customized these SST measurements to highlight areas currently at risk for coral bleaching. The session will begin with a brief background lecture on coral reef ecology and coral bleaching, and how NOAA satellites are used in observing coral reefs. Educational resources are described, including lesson plans and an online tutorial. Presenters will also lead a hands-on activity in which the teachers investigate the 2005 Caribbean bleaching event using Coral Reef Watch satellite data. These NOAA data products can use coral reefs, a charismatic and beautiful environment, to excite students about concepts like climate change, cutting-edge satellite technology, ocean observing systems, and ocean ecology. Exploring the global satellite data is also an exciting way to introduce students to world geography from an ocean perspective.  This topic has been a student M.Y.S.P.A.C.E. activity for the past two years at SEC.

Thomas Wrublewski, NOAA Liaison Office

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader or Whoever You Teach, When it Comes to Satellites?
This working session is designed to answer questions that you and/or your students may have about satellites and related services or contemporary issues.  Bring your questions and those you think or know your students will ask.  This working group will attempt to answer all questions and those that cannot be answered may be researched for later follow up.  Sample student questions and answers will be available for the NOAA GOES and POES satellites, but session success depends on you and others bringing questions that we will answer in “real time”.  Join us and stay smarter than a 5^th grader!

Steve LaDochy, Department of Geography and Urban Analysis and Pedro Ramirez, Department of Geological Sciences, College of Natural and Social Sciences, Cal State L.A.
Change and Variability in Southern California: Looking at the Evidence
During the last decade, extreme weather occurrences have impacted southern California. In 2004 the Los Angeles area recorded the wettest year ever.  Two years later, a record dry year followed,  Deadly heat waves occurred in 2006, 2007 and may possibly continue through summer 2008.  The frequency of destructive fires increased during hot, dry periods while increased precipitation generated more devastating floods and mudslides.  Regionally, the Southwest U.S. is in the midst of one of the worst droughts in the last 500 years.  The extreme weather may reflect climate change.  Conversely, the changing weather may result from natural variations in atmosphere/ocean interactions.  A combination of climate change and natural variability likely accounts for the changing weather patterns in the southern California area.

Pete Arvedson
Science Teacher, La Puente High School

Analyzing Antarctic Ozone
Measure stratospheric ozone using ImageJ – a powerful (and free) image processing software from the National Institute of Health.  Learn how you can easily duplicate and expand this process with your students in your own classroom.  This is a hands-on, computer-assisted activity. Leave the session with knowledge, a plan, and lots of free resources.  Keyed to science standards.

Tectonic Hot Spots – a GIS Lesson
Using satellite imagery of the Earth’s surface and up-to-the-minute records of seismic activity, plot the locations of the most current earthquakes and volcanic activity. Use geographic information systems software (GIS) to compare those locations to major landforms, tectonic plate boundaries, and major fault lines globally to discover geographic patterns and predict those population centers most likely at risk from future activity. Many free and inexpensive resources are available for you to duplicate this lesson in your own classroom. This is a hands-on, computer assisted activity to follow the Thursday’s GIS workshop.  All are welcome whether you attended the GIS workshop or not.  This lesson was originally developed for educators and published by ESRI.  It is keyed to Earth Science and Geography standards.

Effects of Rainwater Runoff on the Ocean – A GIS Lesson
Monitor turbidity and resulting phytoplankton changes in coastal waters caused by runoff from heavy El Niño season rainfull using data from SeaWIFS, a satellite based instrument measuring ocean color. Use geographic information system software (GIS) to analyze data and create a pollution prevention plan for a coastal city. Many free and inexpensive resources are available for you to duplicate this activity in your own classroom. This is a hands-on, computer assisted activity to follow the GIS workshop on Thursday.  All are welcome whether you attended Thursday’s workshop or not. This lesson was originally developed by the Center for Image Processing in Education, the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, and Sustainable Seas Expeditions. It is keyed to science standards.

Nel Graham, Teacher - California

Classroom Activities in Planetary Science
Planetary science deals with the description, formation, evolution, and relation to the rest of the Universe of objects in out Solar System, and now, planets around other stars.  Planetary science and astronomy are addressed in the California science content standards in 5th & 8th grades, and high school Earth science.
The topic is very visual and lends itself well to hands-on activities at a variety of grade levels.  Students enjoy learning how the home planet compares to other members of the Solar System,  how we relate to the rest of the solar family, how it all formed & evolved, and how it will all end.  To say that satellite images are a very valuable source of information is a huge understatement.  In 44 years technology has progressed from indistinct, sketchy views to clearly imaging objects the size of a basketball from orbit.  The images not only provide important insights, but many are spectacularly beautiful.  Planetary science not only tells us about our solar neighbors, but about ourselves.

M.Y. S.P.A.C.E. is an initiative of the Satellites & Education Conference. Middle school and high school students who attend the conference with their teachers are brought together in team building activities and charged with a global issue to study during the conference.  They are given the resources of the university and of NASA and NOAA. They present a report on their findings to the conference during the last session. During an intense three days, they build friendships with students from around the world while gaining multiple perspectives.

Thursday
August 7

Friday
August 8

Saturday
August 9