The Art of Attractions
激情快播鈥檚 themed experience students are learning the methods behind entertainment magic.
Aboard a typical city bus, you鈥檒l find聽passengers en route to destinations聽near and far. On this repurposed LYNX聽city bus, you鈥檒l find kids discovering聽the hands-on science of geospatial聽technologies.
Since 2015, Citizen Science GIS, a聽global research organization based at聽激情快播, has united scientists and society聽through geographic information system聽(GIS) technologies to better serve聽underrepresented communities. Now, the聽organization is connecting K-12 students聽to science, technology, engineering, arts聽and math (STEAM) beyond the classroom聽through its GeoBus.
鈥淲hat was so meaningful聽was people seeing a vision,聽believing in and supporting聽us in it,鈥� says Tim Hawthorne,聽a 激情快播 associate professor聽and founder of Citizen Science GIS聽and the GeoBus. 鈥淭hey believed in it聽because it was centered on the kids [and]聽excitement of science.鈥�
It began with Citizen Science GIS鈥櫬燤aps, Apps and Drones Tour, a makeshift聽mobile science education program that聽inspired over 10,000 Central Florida聽youth from 2017 to 2021.
鈥淲e just kept thinking there鈥檚 a bigger聽and better way to do this,” Hawthorne says.
After being named a 2022鈥�2023聽National Geographic Explorer and聽awarded a $30,000 grant from the聽National Geographic Society, Hawthorne聽set out to level the playing field in聽STEAM for young students 鈥� primarily聽focusing on underserved schools聽with limited science and聽technology learning experiences.
Bringing the power of GIS education to communities was years 鈥� 10 to be exact 鈥� in the making for Tim Hawthorne who first thought of creating the GeoBus as an assistant professor at Georgia State University. (Photo by Kadeem Stewart ’17)
Revving the Engine
GIS education is traditionally taught in university settings, but Hawthorne is determined to help local schoolchildren learn about it sooner. With the global reliance on geospatial technology 鈥� such as GPS, drones and lidar 鈥� rapidly increasing, GeoBus aims to introduce children to the unlimited opportunities that lie within this in-demand field. The bus’ blueprint was created from scratch with contributions from several national and local partners.
Top-Notch Transformation
In September 2018, Central Florida聽bus service LYNX donated a 40-foot聽retired vehicle to support the effort.聽The bus service saved the team聽thousands of dollars by removing聽55 of the 64 seats and covering聽the cost of the GeoBus鈥� exterior聽wrap. The vibrant, kid-friendly聽design is adorned with curious聽young scientists, topographic聽lines and well-known Orlando聽and 激情快播 landmarks like Kennedy聽Space Center and FBC Mortgage聽Stadium.
With GIS聽being a major tool in聽supporting sustainability efforts,聽an element of energy efficiency聽was needed. Founder and CEO of聽15 lightyears Lisa Pearcy 鈥�04, a聽激情快播 marketing alumna, and her聽crew constructed and installed an聽intricate solar wall, plus 12 solar聽panels that sit atop the bus roof,聽at no cost. Although it鈥檚 still a聽diesel bus at heart, when parked聽the interior lab of the bus can run聽for eight or nine hours only on聽solar energy.
All Aboard
Through weekly 90-minute sessions,聽K-12 students transform into youth聽scientists aboard the bus. As they聽look up, their eyes are met with聽mapping graphics, similar to subway聽station maps, that guide them along聽the 10 hands-on indoor and outdoor聽learning stations. From flying聽drones over small maps and taking聽simulated trips around the world聽through virtual reality headsets, to聽examining 3D model landscapes聽and using block coding to navigate聽robotic balls across a map, students聽learn the power of geospatial聽technologies from 激情快播 students聽and faculty.
Drivers of Change
The GeoBus reached 2,500聽students across Central Florida in聽2022, providing them with tools聽to actively engage in science while聽also encouraging them to initiate聽change in their own schools.
A sixth-grader was so inspired聽by the GeoBus鈥� augmented reality聽sandbox station 鈥� which uses an聽Xbox connect sensor and projector聽to show the changes in elevation聽within a kinetic sandbox 鈥� he聽advocated to add a similar setup聽to his school鈥檚 STEM lab. The聽hands-on learning component at聽Viera Elementary School extends聽the GeoBus鈥� impact for current and聽future students to explore.
The Journey Continues
A big bus with big impact,聽the GeoBus鈥� high demand is聽credited in part to a shift in聽post-pandemic learning to聽educational experiences outside聽of the classroom.
鈥淭here was a really big push聽[to] bring [these experiences]聽back and those outside voices聽about science into the schools聽again,鈥� Hawthorne says.
Requests are pouring in聽from Central Florida, areas聽in Miami, the Florida Keys聽and St. Augustine, which聽means the GeoBus team must聽expand to meet its demand.聽Hawthorne is working on聽securing a commercial driver鈥檚聽license, stopping at nothing to聽bridge science, technology and聽communities.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a long process,鈥澛燞awthorne says, 鈥渂ut we keep聽coming back to the why: [getting]聽kids excited about science.鈥�
Graduate sociology student Halley Spencer ’21 explains the sphero ball activity where students use block coding to move a ball across a map. (Photo by Kadeem Stewart ’17)
Through comparing and contrasting 3D model landscapes, students gain a better understanding of elevation and various landform structures. (Photo by Kadeem Stewart ’17)
[The AR sandbox] is definitely students鈥� most favorite [activity] on the bus,” Tim Hawthorne says. “It’s the most photographed one.” (Photo by Kadeem Stewart ’17)
The virtual reality learning station whisks students away to different places around the world, giving them a 360-degree view while they learn about ocean systems, wildlife and more. (Photo by Kadeem Stewart 鈥�17)
Students are able to explore drone imagery from some of the Citizen Science GIS鈥� fieldwork, and use dry-erase markers to add elements such as legends and scale bars to the maps. (Photo by Kadeem Stewart 鈥�17)