Earth Expeditions
Encyclopedia
Earth Expeditions is a global education and conservation program offering graduate courses worldwide. The program was created by Project Dragonfly of Miami University
. Earth Expeditions courses also count toward a Master's degree in global leadership, education, and environmental stewardship through the Global Field Program.
Example Earth Expeditions courses:
The image of people who merely transmit and receive knowledge from books is of limited usefulness in an era of rapidly changing social, environmental and technological. This program envisions each person as an ambassador who creates and transmits knowledge and who promotes authentic dialogue at all levels of society, inspiring others to do the same. With the adoption of participatory models of education, schools become centers of research students to engage more deeply in their studies, and communities achieve higher levels of self-determination.
Project Dragonfly pioneered the " Real Kids, Real Science " approach to learning, and continues to work for inquiry-driven reform to increase public involvement in science and global understanding. In addition to Earth Expeditions, Project Dragonfly generated the Emmy-Award winning PBS children's television series DragonflyTV, which led to the 2010 launch of the spinoff series SciGirls, both produced by TPT public Television. Project Dragonfly also oversees two national exhibit projects: Wild Research and Saving Species, which are creating public research stations at zoos and aquariums nationwide to engage families in science inquiry and conservation. The National Science Foundation has called the Dragonfly, "A true innovation, and a model of active learning that should be."
Miami University
Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...
. Earth Expeditions courses also count toward a Master's degree in global leadership, education, and environmental stewardship through the Global Field Program.
Brief history
The "Earth Expeditions" program began in 2003 as a global education and conservation initiative from Miami University.Example Earth Expeditions courses:
- AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
: Great Barrier Reef
- KenyaKenyaKenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
: Wildlife & People in Integrated Landscapes
- NamibiaNamibiaNamibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
: Great Cat Conservation
- MongoliaMongoliaMongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
: Ecology and Conservation of Steppe
- TrinidadTrinidadTrinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
: Environmental Education
- Costa RicaCosta RicaCosta Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
: Neotropical Ecology
- BelizeBelizeBelize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
: Forest & Marine Ecology
- ThailandThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
: Conservation and Buddhism
Mission Program
The mission of Earth Expeditions is to build an alliance of people with direct knowledge of inquiry-driven, community-based learning for the benefit of ecological communities, student achievement, and global understanding.The image of people who merely transmit and receive knowledge from books is of limited usefulness in an era of rapidly changing social, environmental and technological. This program envisions each person as an ambassador who creates and transmits knowledge and who promotes authentic dialogue at all levels of society, inspiring others to do the same. With the adoption of participatory models of education, schools become centers of research students to engage more deeply in their studies, and communities achieve higher levels of self-determination.
Project Dragonfly
Since its inception more than a decade ago, Project Dragonfly has reached millions of children, parents and educators through science learning media, exhibits, and graduate programs. The project began in 1994 with the creation of the award-winning Dragonfly magazine, the first national magazine to feature the investigations and discoveries of children. Created in 1994 at Miami University, Dragonfly magazine was funded by NSF and published by the National Science Teachers Association.[If past tense, when did it stop?] The magazine published young investigators alongside such adult researchers as Dr. Jane Goodall.Project Dragonfly pioneered the " Real Kids, Real Science " approach to learning, and continues to work for inquiry-driven reform to increase public involvement in science and global understanding. In addition to Earth Expeditions, Project Dragonfly generated the Emmy-Award winning PBS children's television series DragonflyTV, which led to the 2010 launch of the spinoff series SciGirls, both produced by TPT public Television. Project Dragonfly also oversees two national exhibit projects: Wild Research and Saving Species, which are creating public research stations at zoos and aquariums nationwide to engage families in science inquiry and conservation. The National Science Foundation has called the Dragonfly, "A true innovation, and a model of active learning that should be."