This award funds a pilot project to adapt a Global Climate Model (GCM), currently run on large mainframe computers, for use as a full-scale, 3-dimensional GCM capable of being run on inexpensive desktop computers common to most high school and university labs. In addition, the research team will meet with educators in a series of interactive workshops to discuss how the climate model exercise can best be integrated with science curricula. The overall goal is to provide upper level high school students and undergraduate students with an educational tool to investigate Earth's climate system.
The 3-dimensional GCMs are one of the primary tools used in climate change research. Most operational GCMs, however, still reside at institutions with large-scale computational resources such as national labs with supercomputers. Thus, few students have exposure to GCMs prior to graduate school. To some extent, the lack of familiarity with the most basic tools and concepts for studying climate breeds a distrust of important scientific findings that employ those methods.
The researcher has already made some modifications to adapt the GCM and has worked with educators to determine how best to serve education. The original GCM was developed at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and is a fully operational model to study climates of the past, present, and future. To operate the GCM in a classroom environment, the researcher has developed a user-friendly interface that includes a database that allows the teacher manage the model. In addition, the initial software package permits the teacher to add instructional materials such as text, charts, graphics, and web links to fit specific lesson plans.
The proposed research has the potential for a tremendous impact across a wide swath of the general public and the wider education and research communities by providing easy access to user-friendly GCMs to study climate. Climate change is likely to remain a topic of great public concern and scientific scrutiny in the foreseeable future since it impacts everything from the economy to the environment. Potentially, this award would expand the understanding of climate and modeling beyond the realm of a relative small group of specialists. As such, this may encourage others to develop new insights into the working of Earth's climate.
