Stars and STEM Stories
GLOBE United States: New Mexico Teacher Uses GLOBE to Prepare Students for Careers in the Energy Industry
Hannah VanScotter, a longtime GLOBE science educator, is
bringing hands-on, authentic learning experiences to her career and
technical education (CTE) students in New Mexico. Situated in Carlsbad
High School’s STEM & Industrial Sciences Academy, the Energy and
Natural Resources Management Pathway (or Energy Pathway, as Hannah
calls it) offers career-focused, project-based instruction to prepare
students for high-demand jobs in the natural resources industry.
Hannah is in her eighth year implementing GLOBE with middle and high school students. With a background in geology, she worked on a drilling rig before becoming a teacher. In her CTE instructor role, Hannah helps her students understand the ins and outs of working in the oil and gas industry.
“Coming from industry, I've always been really passionate about connecting kids to their community,” reflects Hannah. “GLOBE is one way that I could really do that, and the Energy Pathway is now how I can do that because I’m connecting kids to the industry that is local to them.”
Students in her program learn about the science involved
in finding oil and gas reservoirs, develop a simulated plan for
drilling an oil well, and learn about the role of renewable energy in
the oil and gas industry. As she begins her third year building the
Energy Pathway program, Hannah is preparing to engage students in
real-world data collection by incorporating GLOBE
protocols into her oil and gas project-based learning activities.
“I always love GLOBE because it's not just like those cookie-cutter science labs where you take students into the lab . . . and you already have the knowledge of what students’ data should look like,” she explains. “I love that [with] GLOBE we don't always know what we're going to figure out or what questions are going to be brought up.”
On a recent cloudy day, Hannah had the idea to use GLOBE’s Cloud Observation protocol when examining the efficiency of renewable energy sources, such as solar panels. “We don't get a lot of clouds in New Mexico, so it was kind of like the universe was telling me this should be a connection—because it was cloudy the first day and not cloudy the next day,” she recalled.
Another link to GLOBE was when Hannah went on a field trip to learn about how oil is sold and transferred to the pipeline company. She learned that the pipe carrying the oil is white because it needs to reflect the sunlight and not absorb heat. “I was like, ‘there’s even the albedo effect in this?’ [how much sunlight a surface reflects versus how much it absorbs]—so that was a connection to GLOBE as well,” she explains. “I just am super passionate about finding those connections that are authentic and real—not just trying to force something that isn’t there.” To bring this concept to life, Hannah plans to use GLOBE’s Surface Temperature protocol.
In one of the Energy Pathway projects, students learn
how
water quality can affect the efficiency of moving water through the
pipeline. Poor water quality can corrode pipes, and it can negatively
affect the pumps that are circulating the water. Hannah is planning to
use GLOBE’s Water
Quality protocols. “We can talk about water having different pHs
and hardness levels and temperature and what effects it could have on
the pumps and pipes,” she says.
Hannah is working with GLOBE Mission Earth to incorporate these and other GLOBE protocols into her program. Each of Hannah’s Energy Pathway projects also includes a science and math lesson that involves solving a real-world industry problem.
“Teenagers can see through stuff a mile away—like if you're trying to just have them do something to do something,” says Hannah. “So I think one of the biggest benefits [of GLOBE] is that it helps them connect with where they live, and it really makes it real for them—and they own that data and take responsibility because they know that NASA scientists are going to possibly use this data.”
Students who complete the Energy Pathway program will be prepared for high-demand, high-wage careers in the energy and natural resources industry. To learn more about the Energy Pathway Program, listen to the New Mexico Oil & Gas Association Teacher Spotlight.
Learn more about GLOBE United States.
Photos courtesy of Hannah VanScotter.