HIGH SCHOOL EXTRACURRICULARS & HOMESCHOOL ENRICHMENT CLASSES

How do satellites help protect forests, track wildlife, and uncover environmental secrets? How do scientists monitor oceans, identify climate change, and expose pollution?

Join Fells & Mystic Education to explore the incredible, cutting-edge world of space technology and conservation with an experienced earth observation specialist and educator who has worked for the Massachusetts DCR and NASA Lifelines, with a masters degree from Tufts (including coursework at Harvard) and a BS in Geography.

Students will explore and discuss a new environmental application of space technology and science every week, learning about important nature issues and ways they can use the technology, too!

In this class, students will learn about earth observation and ‘remote sensing’ – using satellites to take images of the earth. We will explore how different people and professions use satellites to spy on the world (sometimes called OSINT) for different purposes. This will include spies – for defense and security purposes, journalists – to reveal vital stories, humanitarians – to expose crises worldwide, and conservationists – to discover environmental change and destruction across earth. 

Each class will involve an introductory lecture to the topic before diving into a practical activity that will teach students the basic skills to explore satellite imagery for each theme themselves. Each class will feature a mini-investigation into a real-world topic that only earth observation can reveal and a discussion. Students will leave each class with an understanding of how space is used to monitor the world and how they could use it or study it further in the future. 

Each week, we will discuss a new international affairs topic that is either in the news or of significant interest and importance. This might include disasters, environmental conservation, international challenges, humanitarian crises, political developments, and conflicts. These issues will be truly global, including Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, the Americas, the Middle East, and Antarctica. 

Students will learn and practice how to engage sensitively and respectfully on global issues, considering different perspectives and opposing arguments from a critical, evidence-based perspective. The class will begin with introductions and short round-up of important news before diving into our global issue of the day. We will then have a guided discussion of the topic, considering different perspectives, complex ideas, and analyzing them together. 

In Disasters and Maps, students will discover how maps, satellite imagery, and geospatial technology are used to understand and respond to disasters around the world.

From hurricanes and wildfires to earthquakes and floods, disasters can change landscapes, damage infrastructure, displace communities, and make it difficult for responders to know what is happening on the ground. Maps and satellite imagery can provide a critical view of the situation.

Students will learn how geospatial professionals use these tools to identify damage, understand what has changed, locate people and infrastructure at risk, and help organizations make better decisions during a crisis.