USING WINDOWS MOVIE MAKER TO ILLUSTRATE EARTH SYSTEM PROCESSES IN AN INTRODUCTORY EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE COURSE

Window Movie Maker is a video editing application resident on all computers operating Windows XP and Windows Vista systems. It is also available as a free download from Microsoft Corporation at:

(http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/moviemaker2.mspx)

Windows Movie Maker has a reasonably intuitive graphical user interface with drag-and-drop capability, and is an ideal platform to illustrate complex Earth system processes using time series imagery from many sources. Movie Maker has been utilized successfully in an introductory Earth System Science course for honors students and pre-service teachers at the University of Arkansas since 2001. Students create their own animations of many Earth and solar system processes using imagery obtained from public domain sources available across the internet. An example exercise of a virtual storm chase illustrating development of severe thunderstorms leading to tornadic super cells will be presented. The ability to engage in ‘virtual storm chases' in absolute safety using near-real time imagery to create time-series animations with Movie Maker aids students understanding of the complex atmospheric interactions that lead to severe weather outbreaks. To complete this exercise, teams of students gathered relevant imagery from various sources, created animations from their data, then replayed animations simultaneously on several computers synchronize various data views of the developing severe thunderstorm complex. Students were able to observe surface weather reports, radar images, and satellite water vapor, visible, and infrared images of the developing severe storm system and apply their knowledge of severe weather to interpret images. By compressing time using animations, Movie Maker makes it possible for students to observe complex, large-scale phenomena at almost any spatial or temporal scale to develop a more complete understanding of processes shaping the Earth system.