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Virtual Field Trip Interface |
The Virtual Field Trip is an immersive multimedia
application developed to support student
and user exploration of areas on Earth that have been identified
as analog sites to regions on Mars. Analog sites are those areas
that share some common traits with sites on Mars and have been
identified based on their significance and importance to NASA.
Within the application, users are taken from a
global view directly down to a surface view of a site.
They are then seamlessly placed into a 360 degree spherical virtual
reality surface panorama of that location. Next users navigate
around the site selecting various objects and scientists
to learn more about how and why this site was chosen, how it relates
to Mars, and why it is of interest. The environment consists
of various linked 360 degree spherical stitched virtual reality
environments, 3D based layered environments, global fly downs,
as well as compressed streaming video files within each area of
research.
*Virtual Field Trip was created by NASA in collaboration
with the Macquarie University at Sydney, the Australian Centre
for Astrobiology and the ICT Innovations Center at Macquarie University. |
- VFT is a free, educational software download of immersive, complete
Spherical interactive panoramas
to transport users into remote and exciting locations to view
and listen to scientists as they work.
- New visual data from the Outback of Western Australia.
- A new online database links users to additional exciting multimedia
resources and content.
- New data from other Mars analog sites are coming shortly,
so be sure to bookmark
this page and come back soon!
PC Users:
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VFTPC.zip (1000MB) |
(Broadband connection highly recommended for
download).
(Unzip the compressed file and double-click on VFTpc.exe to launch
the program). |
Mac Users:
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VFTMac.sit (1000MB) |
(Broadband connection highly recommended for
download)
(Unstuff the compressed file and double-click on VFTmac to launch
the program). |
Additional Field Trip Locations for DVD version only:
To add additional location sets to the Virtual Field Trip:
Choose platform and download zip or sit file, uncompress, read ReadMe.txt and drag files to correct folder.
Enjoy the new locations.
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| “What’s the Difference?” (WTD)
is a free multimedia software application that facilitates
scientific analysis by allowing virtually any pictures,
graphics, animations, and movies to be compared side by
side. The application includes three ready-made data sets:
Solar System, Moon Math, and Pilbara. The WTD Solar System
dataset contains comparisons of the planets and major moons
within our solar system, and the WTD Moon Math dataset
compares various geometric shapes in terms of area, volume,
and proportion. The WTD Pilbara dataset contains comparisons
between modern and ancient environments on Earth and Mars. |
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| WTD is also a robust and flexible in-depth
authoring tool that allows users to create their own data comparisons
related to any desired topic. Using the WTD template, users can
upload graphical, animated, interactive, textual, and audio-formatted
content into the categories and attributes grid and then supplement
their data with customized multiple choice and summary assessment
tests.
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| “Solar System
Math” is a series of four classroom lessons centered
on pre-algebra topics such as measurement, unit conversion,
ratio and proportion, scale, data analysis, and data representation.
The downloadable software application, What’s the Difference,
supports the lessons with engaging multimedia that accurately
illustrates the size, distance, and composition of the bodies
in our solar system as well as key concepts such as transfer
orbit and synodic period. By exploring key attributes of our
solar system’s planets and major moons, students decide
where humans should next explore. These lessons were developed
in response to a needs-assessment conducted for the NASA Explorer
Schools and are aligned with national math standards for grades
5-8. The lessons and What’s the Difference software nicely
blend science and math through quality hands-on investigations,
multimedia, and paper-and-pencil activities.
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| Lesson 3 Comparing Planetary
Travel Distances |
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