Using Remote Sensing and GIS to Teach Inquiry‐Based Spatial Thinking Skills: An Example Using the GLOBE Program's Integrated Earth Systems Science

Earth systems science and technology are essential elements of a contemporary education. Remote sensing and GIS provide a valuable spatial framework for scientific inquiry, and are highly effective as a means to integrate Earth system science components. Drawing on the GLOBE Program's K-12 Earth science curriculum, we show how remote sensing and GIS can be used to integrate GLOBE's Land Cover-Biology and Hydrology investigations, emphasizing the Earth as a system. Our approach uses spatial thinking, geospatial technology, and the concept of watersheds to help students develop an understanding of the basic relationships between land cover and surface hydrology, two critically important and easily observed components of the Earth's surface. By starting with very simple exercises and analyses, students build upon a conceptual framework for understanding how land use pattern can influence the quantity and quality of one of the most critically important Earth resources, local fresh water. Ultimately, by understanding how terrestrial and aquatic systems interact, students begin to understand the link between science and land use policy.