About ESSEA:
IGES has received an award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to build and expand on the original ESSEA program funded by NASA and administered by IGES from 2000 to 2005. IGES will update the existing courses with additional online tools, modules and materials, and the number of educational institutions offering the courses is expected to increase from 17 to 40.
Colleges and universities interested in joining ESSEA are invited to respond to a request for proposals:
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What is ESSEA?
How does a volcanic eruption in the Philippines influence weather halfway around the world? How does ozone depletion in the stratosphere affect human beings on the ground? How does a change in Earth's temperature alter sea level along coastlines?
Traditionally, subjects like geology, weather, chemistry, and biology are taught separately from one another. In the real world, however, almost nothing occurs in isolation. The Earth is a system of interconnected parts always interacting with and affecting each other.
Earth system science (ESS) is the study of interactions between the various components, or spheres, of Earth lithosphere (land), atmosphere (air), hydrosphere (water), and biosphere (life) and how an event in one sphere can impact the others.
The Earth System Science Education Alliance (ESSEA) supports educational institutions across the country in offering a series of online ESS courses for teachers. Working in collaborative groups, teachers earn graduate or continuing education credit while solving problems, building models, and designing classroom activities.
Quote: "Working collaboratively with teachers in Maine, New York and Japan was quite enlightening, I wish all my graduate courses were this engaging and that they encouraged such camaraderie." Erin Gannon, a high school teacher from New York
