About SENSE IT: Project Overview
The Student Enabled Network of Sensors for the Environment using Innovative Technology (SENSE IT) project will integrate science, technology, pre-engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills into a robust interdisciplinary curricula and teacher development effort by teaching 3,000 high school students to design, build, test, deploy and interpret their own environmental sensors. SENSE IT will span three distinct residential regions in New Yorkˇ¦s Hudson and St. Lawrence River valleys (Potsdam, Troy and Beacon), as well as a diverse socioeconomic and racial spectrum. SENSE IT will reach at least 60 teachers in the region, providing 120 hours of professional development, in-class support and necessary equipment, while directly increasing awareness of STEM career opportunities for students and teachers.
Modules
SENSE IT will provide four project-based educational modules:1) Sensor development
Each module will require three to five typical 45-minute class periods and include comprehensive lesson plans to accommodate insertion into any standard high school STEM curricula (mathematics, chemistry, general science, physics, environmental science and computer science), while meeting state and national education standards.
2) Sensor deployment and data gathering
3) Water quality investigation
4) Sharing data across observatories