Regional Course Preliminary Assignments

These assignments are an integral component and mark the beginning of the learning experience for Earth to Sky regional courses. The readings, videos and worksheet are used during our time together and provide foundational information upon which the science presenters build. They are also meant to be of use in development of a personal action plan. The assignments were chosen to provide all participants with a common ground for learning, communication and engagement.

Please note that one of these assignments is a Subject Matter Expert Interview, for which we have provided a guideline/worksheet. Given everyone’s busy schedules, we suggest that you set up your interview as soon as you are able. Feel free to contact us if you have any concerns regarding these resources and tasks.

The following four assignments should take 4-5 hours in total to complete.

Please bring any notes and work from these assignments to class.

You may complete these in any order you choose; however you may find it useful to complete the Earth System Science Module prior to viewing the two video presentations. 

1. Register on earthtosky.org

If you have not already done so, please completely fill out your Earth to Sky profile.  In your profile biography, please share two or three areas of interest and/or expertise related to climate change. We suggest you also post a photo of yourself, it's nice to be able to put some faces to names. Using the map function to provide your work location will enable us to provide you with a map of all the participants locations. Completing your profile will help all of us to start getting to know one another prior to our “face time," and aid everyone in collaborative efforts in the future.

2. Conduct a Subject Matter Expert Interview (allow approximately 1 hour)

Please use the questions in this sheet as a guideline for your interview, and be prepared to share some of your insights with the class when we meet.

ETS-RC-Regional-Interview-Questions.docx

3. Readings (allow approximately 1 hour)

A. Excerpts from The Psychology of Climate Change Communication

This booklet provides a useful guide to communication strategies; you’ll see the focus is on climate change, but the methodologies work well for science communication in general. We encourage you to read the whole guide when you have some time--it will be well worth your while. Meantime, please download the booklet and read the excerpts indicated below:

The Psychology of Climate Change Communication

Begin with "The Principles of Climate Change Communication in Brief" (pp 40-43) 

Next read

• "What is Framing" (p 6);
• "Bring the Message Close to Home: A Local Frame" (p 9-10); and
• "Words with Different Meanings (box p 27)

Here are guiding questions for you to consider as you read:

• Consider a climate topic of particular relevance to your site or institution. What is a local frame that you have used (or could use) to communicate about that topic?
• Using the strategies found on pages 40 - 43, select one and briefly describe how you might make use of it in your site or institution as you interact with your audience(s).

B. Excerpt from The Norms of Collaboration

Working in groups is a natural condition of human life--we are members of clubs, teams, neighborhoods, and families, to name a few ways to affiliate ourselves. While each group you find yourself in is unique, there are recognizable social patterns that emerge when people gather in groups.

The Norms of Collaboration offer a practical and well-tested set of principles and tools for developing, facilitating and working in collaborative groups. We have found them to be very helpful in various aspects of our work life! However, this set of norms is rooted in Western culture. You may find some of these norms to be less helpful or appropriate, or even harmful in some instances. You are encouraged to use these norms as a starting point for your ETS course and to collaboratively determine norms that would be most suitable for your group.

Excerpt from the Norms of Collaboration

Please take a few minutes to reflect about how you might use the Norms:

• Choose one of the Norms that comes easily to you--one that you already use--and reflect on why you find it to be so effective.
• Choose a Norm that you do not generally use in your communications and give it a try! Use it in a low-risk situation and reflect on how successful it was for you. And if it did not work smoothly, think about how you might try it differently in the future.

Optional Additional Reading from the Norms of Collaboration, from The Adaptive School: A Sourcebook for Developing Collaborative Groups, 2nd edition by R. Garmston and B. Wellman (2009).  Norms of Collaboration Chapter 3

C. Building Communities of Practice by Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner (entire article)

In joining Earth to Sky, you are becoming a member of a community of practice.  Communities of practice thrive when they are actively sustained and built by their members.  This reading will help you understand what a community of practice is, and how to get the most out of your experience with Earth to Sky. Building Communities of Practice 

4. Complete the Earth Systems Science Overview Module (approximately 1.5 hour)

The goal for this module is to provide an overview of the Earth system, which also serves as our climate system. To understand climate change, we need to begin with the Earth and its components – land (or rock), life, water, and air- our lithosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere.

You can stop at any time and pick up where you left off. There is no quiz at the end!

Please be sure you  read the introduction and complete the preparations prior to beginning the module.

5. View These Videos (allow approximately 1 hour)

Earth’s Energy Budget (approximately 30 min)

Carbon – A Love Story (approximately 20 min)

Guiding questions to think about as you watch these videos

• What is new information for you?  Did you find anything surprising about the content?
• What are the key ideas in the videos are useful to you in your work?
• To what extent do you think that you can make use of this information in your work with various audiences? Are there any specific images, analogies or graphics that you might want to use in your presentations?
• Is there an aspect of the video content you need to know more about (i.e., what aspect of the research will you look into more deeply?)
• Do you have questions you would like to ask the science presenters during your upcoming course?

6. Fill Out the Photo Release (allow approximately 5 minutes)

ETS-RC-NASA-Goddard-Release-Form-efill.pdf

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