K-12+ Classroom Use
How to Use SOS Explorer® (SOSx) in the Classroom?
Permalink to How to Use SOS Explorer® (SOSx) in the Classroom?Whether you have the free SOSx application for Windows personal computer or SOS Explorer® Mobile, free mobile app, these resources can guide your fun and easy exploration of our datasets with your students.
Phenomenon-based Learning
Permalink to Phenomenon-based LearningBrowse our Phenomenon-based Learning Modules (tagged as “Available for: SOSx”) and look through the exciting phenomena that will undoubtedly engage your students. The modules contain descriptions of phenomena like Sailing Stones in Death Valley, CA, guiding questions, related datasets available for SOS Explorer® and Next Generation Science Standards related to the topic.
Group Discussion/VTS*-style Observation
Permalink to Group Discussion/VTS*-style ObservationAllow students to observe a dataset as a group very slowly without any objections, comments, or judgements. A dataset from SOS Explorer® or SOS Explorer® Mobile app can be displayed on a projector screen or a large monitor in front of the class and guided using three simple questions and a little bit of facilitation finesse. For example, it’s important in this method to kindly paraphrase what you hear from each student and don’t lead them or suggest any answers are right or wrong. It keeps them on the edge of their seat.
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Begin with: “What is going on here?” or “What do you notice?”
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Then ask: “What do you see that makes you say that?”
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Continue the discussion: “What more can we find?”
*Visual Thinking Strategies or VTS is a deceptively simple observation facilitation technique taught by VTS and is at its best after a person is professionally trained.
Presentation
Permalink to PresentationMultiple datasets can be strung together to tell a story or complete a learning goal. Check out SOSx with Beth & Hil for topic ideas, or follow us on Facebook, and Instagram for more ideas.
Guided Questions and Supplemental materials
Permalink to Guided Questions and Supplemental materialsGuiding questions and supplemental materials (.docx) were co-created by David Sutton, Director of Boulder Center for Interactive Learning at Dawson School and Hilary Peddicord, SOS Education Lead. Use these as a jumping off point for deeper exploration into the topics illustrated by SOSx datasets.
Flipped Classroom/Independent Hands-on Learning
Permalink to Flipped Classroom/Independent Hands-on LearningNearly every student now has access to some type of mobile device. For older students, ask them to download SOS Explorer® Mobile on a mobile device, such as an iPad or a Chromebook, have them take a Tour and answer the questions on the follow-up activities or do a scavenger hunt, go to a particular topic on our NGSS paired Phenomenon Based Learning Modules, and answer the guiding questions or just have them generate their own authentic questions for discussion. Other student-led examples include the Global Climate Change and Carbon Dioxide Lesson, where students are given instructions for loading multiple datasets (e.g. CarbonTracker and Biosphere: Marine Chlorophyll and Land Vegetation) and asked to make correlations between them as well as diagrams and websites regarding climate change and the greenhouse effect.
Lessons & Activities
Permalink to Lessons & Activities- SOS Explorer® Mobile Scavenger Hunt: All topics or Earthquakes
- The Pandemic & Air Quality Tour and worksheet
- Monster Saharan Dust Plume Tour and worksheet
- HRRR-Smoke and 2020 Fire Season Tour and worksheet
- Global Climate Change and Carbon Dioxide Lesson (6-12th) (PDF)
- Global Climate Change and Carbon Dioxide Lesson - Teacher version (with answers) (PDF)
Inquiry & Scientific Literacy
Permalink to Inquiry & Scientific LiteracySOSx datasets can be a powerful tool for inquiry. In large part, this is because upon first glance, SOSx datasets can be complicated. This makes them perfect for inquiry learning and initiating deeper scientific and geographic research topics. In addition, each SOSx dataset has a written description and can be good practice in scientific literacy.
Combining inquiry and literacy, here are a few lesson examples in a modified KWL format. KWL is a commonly used graphical organizer using the themes: Know, Want to know, Learned.
Using these examples, a teacher could display the dataset, have students fill out the boxes Know and Want to Know, come up with good questions about what they see, read the dataset description, fill out the box Still Want to Know, and plan a research investigation to answer one of their questions. What the student Learned might be shared, presented or written.
- Atmospheric Chemistry — GEOS 5 Model (6–12th) (PDF)
- Biosphere: Marine Chlorophyll Concentration and Land Vegetation (6–12th) (PDF)
- CarbonTracker — 2005–2010 (6–12th) (PDF)
Beginning and Ending a Unit
Permalink to Beginning and Ending a UnitWhether you’re drumming up excitement at the beginning of a lesson, leading an authentic question generation session to gauge your students background knowledge on a new topic, tying up a unit by summarizing what you’ve learned, or utilizing it as a knowledge assessment visual tool — wouldn’t that be a cool way to take a test? — SOS Explorer® can bring REAL data visualization practice to your students.