Palmyra Cove Nature Park (PCNP) is a 250-acre urban oasis along a highly developed area on the Delaware River. Habitats include wetlands, woodlands, meadows, wild creek and river shoreline, and a freshwater Tidal Cove after which the park is named.
The Institute for Earth Observations at Palmyra Cove is a STEM educational initiative for students and teachers that studies Planet Earth. This is a unique and engaging facility where experiences can be shared…and innovative collaboration begins!
MOBILE PROGRAMS (RV)
Let science come to you! Through a partnership with Rowan College of Burlington County, PCNP/IEO offers mobile programs aboard a fully equipped recreational vehicle called the Mobile Geoscience Laboratory. Schools and organizations may schedule a visit from the Mobile Geoscience Laboratory, which brings programs for grades K through 12 to your location!
Through the Mobile Geoscience Laboratory, participants of all ages can investigate the Earth as a system and experience the national and global environmental challenges being faced by tomorrow’s scientists and engineers.
In a partnership between PCNP/IEO and Rowan College at Burlington County (RCBC), an over-30 foot long recreational vehicle has been outfitted with with a virtual reality laboratory, a satellite remote sensing laboratory, a GLOBE laboratory, and an inflatable STARLAB planetarium. Each laboratory includes a variety of hands-on STEM based learning modules that are also aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
The virtual reality (VR) laboratory is equipped with the latest VR gear (headsets, tracking devices) to provide an immersive experience of a view of the Earth from space. Participants are placed on a virtual space station where they can interact with real-time satellite imagery and study current weather events like hurricanes.
The satellite remote-sensing laboratory provides an opportunity for participants to study weather and climate using real-time satellite data and simulation modeling. Students are guided through various age appropriate image analysis activities where they can observe seasonal changes in land cover, make measurements to calculate rates of change, and construct image animations.
The mobile “GLOBE to GO!!” laboratory brings the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program’s extensive measurement protocols and outdoor field-based activities to students, teachers, and citizen scientists. (Learn more about GLOBE at www.globe.gov)
The mobile labs onboard the RV are scalable solutions to the technology labs that are currently at PCNP/IEO. This allows the Cove staff to take these labs on the road and bring them to school districts that, for various reasons, are unable to visit the Cove. The RV has already reached schools and the public through various venues such as Moorestown Sustainability day, RCBC GIS Day, and the Science Summit at Medford Memorial School.
For more information on the Mobile Geoscience Laboratory, contact Peter Dorofy, Director of Science, Technology, and Education; (856) 829-1900, ext. 1263, email@example.com.