Power Systems Journey – Pop-Up Exhibits & ASES Conference

The Power Systems Journey class at the University of Minnesota  is based on the Earth Systems Journey model. Students follow the power grid upstream and downstream from a light switch at the Bell Museum and create GIS Story Maps of MN Power Histories and MN Power Futures. These were just some of the creative energy education activities presented at the American Solar Energy Society conference this summer. The class was held Spring 2019 and is being held Fall 2019 as well. For both courses, students have a chance to present an original exhibit at a “Power Pop-Up” exhibit for the public at the Bell Museum. The Fall 2019 Power Pop-Up is being held Saturday, November 23rd from 10am – 2pm at the Bell Museum in the Imagine the Future Gallery.

4th year of Mississippi River Water Journey Camps

The Mississippi River Water Journey Camps were held for the 4th year at the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota. Campers age 6-11 explored their drinking water and storm water, learning how human-engineered infrastructure connects them to the natural landscapes of the Mississippi River and how they can help protect their water systems.  This is the longest running implementation of the Earth Systems Journey Model and is currently being planned for summer 2020, which will be its fifth year.

Big Stone Lake Stories presented at the ESRI Education Summit in San Diego

Big Stone Lake Stories, an Earth Systems Journey in the form of a teaching artist residency, summer 2018, was presented at the ESRI Education Summit in San Diego in July 2019. ESRI is the developer of the GIS software used in this and other Earth Systems Journeys for participants to share their water journey stories. ESRI provides free versions of their software for K-12 schools and K-12 serving organizations.