“Fall in Love with Geoscience” on April 30, 2021
(Video: IEEE GRSS Bangalore Section YouTube Channel)
In collaboration with the Institute of Geographical Studies (TIGS), Bangalore: A seminar by Dr. Chandra Shekhar Balachandran, Founder, and Director of TIGSDr. Balachandran has a Ph.D. in Geography from Kent State University and has been passionate about Geoscience education. A geography educator himself, Dr. Balachandran has been actively following his passion through TIGS.
The topics covered in the seminar:
| Ideas | Minutes | Visuals |
| 1. Presenter introduction | 4 | Preferably as a life-long student fascinated with geography rather than as a teacher |
| 2. Introduction: a. What is geoscience? b. What does it cover? | 5 | Slides: a. Text slide: Definition – Physical geography and physical science = geoscience b. Graphic slide: Venn diagram of Earth “spheres” |
| 3. “I’ll never use it!” – why should I understand geoscience? Example scenarios with explanations: i. Understanding Earth processes ii. Winds iii. Ocean currents iv. Understanding Earth processes and ingredients in our food items — delicious geoscience & geography | 10 | Screens i. Video clip of Sinabung eruption in Indonesia and how this influences life there. ii. Live shot of windy.com iii. View of NASA’s Perceptual Ocean clip iv. Slides from “Delicious and Precious Geography” showing connections |
| 4. Visualizations of Earth with examples from Twitter a. What does each example show us? b. What questions can we ask and try to answer with each image? | 8 | Still or video images of (a) Teesta River Basin, (b) Kosi river in Bihar, and (c) Mangaluru–Chennai cross-section |
| 5. How do satellite and related technologies help us? Introduction (and link) to an amazing NASA documentary showcasing the power of geoscience in understanding Earth as a dynamic system. | 5 | Text screens: a. Connections made in the film. b. Link to the YouTube film |
| 6. Suggestions for action: Visit the TIGS website i. Blog ii. Online resources for geography and geoscience iii. Coming soon … iv. Contact | 8 | Online resources: TIGS site: i. Blog page (www.tigs.in ) ii. Online resources page iii. Coming soon … interactive GeoInformatics blog iv. geo@tigs.in |
| Estimated presentation time | 40 | +Q&A for 15 minutes, if feasible |
While this is targeted at high school students (aged 13-18 years old), this is a public seminar — all those passionate about geoscience education are also welcome.
Fall in Love with Geoscience
Time: April 30, 2021, 11 am IST (UTC +05:30)
Speaker: Dr. Chandra Shekhar Balachandran https://www.linkedin.com/in/csbalachandran/ ; https://www.tigs.in/
The talk is on a zoom meeting, and the link will be shared with registered participants.