Earth Voyage's Mission Statement

Earth Voyage is dedicated to inspiring people of all ages to experience the world with a new perspective and encouraging their active participation as global citizens. Our mission is to engage students in a life-long learning process which integrates multiple intelligences, imaginative problem-solving techniques, immersive multi-media environments, life-size educational tools, kinesthetic games, and service-learning projects in order to cultivate a deep understanding of the interconnectedness of life and promote local and global environmental stewardship.

What Is Earth Voyage?

Earth Voyage is a North Carolina non-profit and a special project of The Buckminster Fuller Institute. We are a group of educators, scientists, artists and parents that have come together to offer a unique cross-curricular experiential earth systems science program.

Leading educational researchers have found that the use of educational technology, active and experiential learning, community involvement, service learning and multiple intelligences, are particularly effective with students at risk of dropping out.

Making learning playful and fun is also an essential element of nurturing life-long learners.

We recognize that the most powerful forms of education promote critical thinking, engage students’ natural curiosity, and supply fundamental knowledge about how things work and why.

One of the ways to prevent children from becoming disengaged is to promote a sense of belonging- to communities, regions and the world, and being able to understand the systems at play in the world around them and how they influence and are affected by them.
Students need to form an “ecological identity" which can “…connect their inner voices with understanding of ecology, community, and citizenship". When we become aware of our interconnections both ecologically and socially, this lends itself to responsible action and decision-making and stimulates "critical reflection and deep introspection"

- Ecological Identity: Becoming a Reflective Environmentalist. Mitchell Thomashow. (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA 1995).

IMAGINE LEARNING AND PLAYING ON A MAP

THE SIZE OF A GYMNASIUM !

Earth Voyage, Water Is Life program, Blue Ridge Assembly, Black Mountain, NC May 2008

"With our increasing global awareness, a world map is needed which enables us to highlight the relationships among all nations and cultures of the world. A map of the Earth, which presents geographic information in a single, comprehensive picture without breaks in any of the continental contours, or any visible distortion of the relative shapes or sizes of the landmasses. - Global Energy Network Institute

Watch The World Unfold!

THE FULLER PROJECTION

Dymaxion Air-Ocean World Map

One of the unique tools Earth Voyage has to offer is Buckminster Fuller's gymnasium sized, Dymaxion map projection. This exceptional map portrays a different perspective from the standard projection maps used today in most classrooms. This striking view aids the process of conceptual development and problem solving and immediately awakens a new perspective of our planet, allowing one to see our world not as divided continents and countries, but as one great island, interconnected.

Playing and learning on this map is a profound experience that nurtures a sense of belonging to that Island. This perspective is at the core of the curricula we create, namely a systems perspective of thinking about our planet.

Within the framework of our designs, we have incorporated AAAS Benchmarks For Science Literacy which includes geography, social studies, science, math and art.

Working with other existing organizations, Earth Voyage also offers an introduction to service learning and creates opportunities for participants to understand how what they are learning can be used to effect change in the world.

Roey Rosenblith from The Fully Belly Project and Western North Carolina middle school students from The Rainbow Mountain Children's School, Arthur Morgan and The Learning Community, working together to construct peanut shelling machines and learning how people throughout the world can have relief from hunger "by taking advantage of the highly nutritious properties of peanuts through appropriate agricultural technology" (FBP).

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MOST RECENTLY

Thanks to Will Harwood, a member of the Earth Voyage team, a group of his middle school students, as well as teachers and parents from the Rainbow Mountain Children's School in Asheville, NC participated in Earth Voyage's Water Is Life program. This culminated a semester studying global water issues in the classroom. Because they learned that almost one out of five people on our planet do not have access to safe drinking water, Will and his students created the Omega Challenge to raise money to provide safe drinking water for some of the 1.2 billion people in need. These motivated young leaders challenged themselves physically with the 5 mile race at the Blue Planet Run 24 - Black Mountain, a unique trail running relay series raising awareness and funds to solve the safe drinking water crisis.

During the Earth Voyage Program, participants learned about and identified key water geography locations around the world. They played The World Water Mega Water Quiz, a geography and virtual water quiz helping them identify ways to reduce, reuse and recycle water in their everyday lives. Other activities included graphing out, on the giant map of the world, all the worlds water, clean water availability by region and population . Participants came away with a new perspective on one of our most precious resources...WATER... as well knowing that they can make a difference.

Donations to the Blue Planet Run Water Fund were made in recognition of the Omega Challenge as a whole or in honor of individual students participating in the event.

Blue Planet Run

Students, teachers and parents from Rainbow Mountain Children's School after a day of learning about water... holding their donation to Blue Planet Run.

Students getting water points, during the Earth Voyage Virtual Water Quiz Game Show,

Blue Ridge Assembly, Black Mountain, NC May 2008

Identifying key water geography of the world.

Graphing out all the worlds water.

Graphing world population and access to clean water.

Graphing the world's water.

What is it like to have to carry your water?

Graphing the water by global region.

A serious assessment of the information.

Something we learned today!

World Water Quiz

Sometimes the facts can be startling!

Movies From Our Program

#1 Interconnection

Earth Voyage: Stardust

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UP COMING EVENTS

Stay Tuned

WOW FESTIVAL 2009

WOW World Olympiad of Water

Two events sponsored by Earth Voyage and Blue Planet Run!
Help bring water education to your community while also helping to fund sustainable solutions for healthy clean drinking water around the globe!

Who: Earth Voyage is a North Carolina non-profit and a fiscally sponsored special project of The Buckminster Fuller Institute, a (501c3) non-profit organization. We are a group of educators, scientists, artists and parents that have come together to offer a unique cross-curricular experiential earth systems science program. Earth Voyage is dedicated to inspiring people of all ages to experience the world with a new perspective and encouraging their active participation as global citizens. Our current school programs focus on water as one of the world’s most important resources.
The Buckminster Fuller Institute is dedicated to accelerating the development and deployment of solutions, which radically advance human wellbeing and the health of our planet's ecosystems. They aim to deeply influence the ascendance of a new generation of design-science pioneers who are leading the creation of an abundant and restorative world economy that benefits all humanity.
Blue Planet Run Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to raising global awareness about the lack of safe drinking water, and funding working solutions today for the billion people living without ready access to this life sustaining resource.
Since 2004, the U.S.-based foundation has funded 24 non-governmental organizations worldwide, which have in turn implemented 184 sustainable water projects in 18 countries impacting hundreds of thousands of lives. The Foundation's signature awareness and fundraising event is the Blue Planet Run, the first-ever around-the-world relay run.
What We Need: Money donations for event organization and materials. In-kind donations of event T-shirts, water bottles, water for runners and participants and food for runner’s aid stations (healthy energy snacks, Gatorade etc.)

Event 1
Get Dirty for Clean Water at the Swannanoa Splashdown!
What: The 'Hospitality League 6k' at Blue Ridge Assembly on Saturday, January 17th. The event is a race within a race. The larger event is called 'The Swannanoa Splashdown' and is a 15k. The race is a Blue Planet Run. The registration for the 15k is $35. However, for the Hospitality 6k, the cost will only be $15 per participant. All of the money raised from the event is fully tax deductible and will go to Blue Planet Run to make WOW happen. (For more on WOW, see below.) Hospitality League schools that send at least thirty runners from their community: students, teachers, staff, parents, siblings -- will receive a free, half day field trip to Blue Ridge Assembly in March or early April for Earth Voyage's 'Water Is Life' program. (See www.earthvoyage.org)
When: Friday January 17th 6:30 - 7:15 PM buffet pasta dinner for all runners. From 7:15 to 8:30 a presentation about Blue Planet Run and Global water issues.
Saturday, January 3rd at 10:15 AM 6k start time. 10AM 15k start time. Awards @ 11:45AM.
Where: The beautiful grounds, lake, streams and trails of The YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain.

Why: #1: To splash in the New Year with lots of fun while meeting new friends.

#2: Middle schools earn a free, half day field trip to Blue Ridge Assembly in March or April for Earth Voyage’s excellent ‘Water Is Life’ program.
#3: Middle school participants from around the area get to see who has the best runners in the categories of male and female: middle school students / school staff / parents.
#4: To raise money for WOW, the World Olympiad of Water, to be held at Blue Ridge Assembly on Saturday, May 16th (For more information, please see the ‘WOW’ flyer below.)
#5: To bring recognition to the schools of the Hospitality League who will be helping to bring WOW into the world.

*The Hospitality League is a sports event collective of six middle schools around the WNC area.

How: E-mail William Harwood, Rainbow Mountain teacher, at Splashdownrace@aol.com for all details regarding registration options, course, directions and information on the Earth Voyage ‘Water Is Life’ program and the World Olympiad of Water.
Please Note: All fees and donations to Get Dirty for Clean Water at the Swannanoa Splashdown! go to Blue Planet Run specifically for WOW and are fully tax deductible!!! (See www.blueplanetrun.org)

Event 2

WOW
World Olympiad of Water
On Saturday, May 16th, 2009, Earth Voyage (see http://www.earthvoyage.org) will host the 'World Olympiad of Water' festival (WOW) at The YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly. (See http://www.WOWfestival.org and http://www.blueridgeassembly.org/). The purpose of the festival is to establish a feedback loop of philanthropy that will help solve the world's water crisis while also bringing water science and service learning experiences to our WNC community.
During March and April students from the WNC area will be joining Earth Voyage to participate in our 'Water Is Life' program, a half-day program in which students learn about world water issues. The YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly has set aside slots for fifteen WNC middle schools for this program. These students, and their families, will be invited back to Blue Ridge Assembly for May 16th to comprise the core group of participants for WOW. Through WOW, these students are empowered to do something about the world water problems that they learn about in 'Water Is Life.'

Our partner for WOW is Blue Planet Run, an organization that promotes sustainable clean water projects all over the world. (See http://blueplanetrun.org/).

Confirmed participating local organizations are:

The Western North Carolina Nature Center http://www.wildwnc.org

The NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources http://www.enr.state.nc.us/

River Link http://www.riverlink.org/)

The WOW events include:

•    A three-hour 'Trail-A-Thon' fundraiser for Blue Planet Run. From 9:00 to 12:00, participants may complete as many loops of a 3k trail course as they are capable. Prior to the run, participants will receive personalize web pages to solicit sponsorship from friends and for their efforts. One hundred percent of the money raised through such sponsorships will go to clean water programs through Blue Planet Run's existing network of NGOs in the developing world. Last year, using this model one small class of middle school kids raised over a thousand dollars. (See http://blueplanetrun.org/omega). This year’s festival can include up to 800 participants raising the bar for donations significantly.

•    Frisbee Water Golf. Participants may play Blue Ridge Assembly's state-of-the-art, eighteen-hole disk golf course with a twist. At each hole, participants will answer questions and test their water knowledge.
•    Water Knowledge Information Booths where local non-profits as well as local gardeners and businesses will provide information and education to participants about water issues and local water sustainability.
•    Water Challenge Stations where participants may visit well over a dozen carnival-like booths to do hands on water science. Both lake Laurel and the natural mountain streams will be used as well as Earth Voyage’s gymnasium sized Dymaxion maps in which participants will be challenged on their world water geography knowledge!

Blue Planet Run and Earth Voyage intend to use May 16th as a template to replicate WOW events around the country and, we hope, the world.
Earth Voyage will also be one of Blue Planet Run’s featured educational curricula for the Blue Planet Run School Programs: Every Drop Counts: 2009 Pledge For Water School Campaign.

PLEASE CONTACT US IF YOU'D LIKE TO:

PARTICIPATE ~ DONATE ~ GET INVOLVED

Recent events

Earth Voyage at the Buckminster Fuller celebrations in NYC June 2008

Saturday, June 28th

Dymaxion Map youth workshop
Jointly produced by the CFA Foundation and EarthVoyage
Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place. 11:00am - 4:00pm.

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CHECK IT OUT... These are our most awesome game designers from 2007!

Students from The Rainbow Mountain Children's School Middle School Omega Program, in Asheville, NC USA!

For three days in 2007 the Omega Program collaborated with Earth Voyage to design three original games based on the theme of the Hydrosphere and water on planet Earth.

In mid May of 2007, we all came back together to test out our games on the Giant Map.

Inspired by Buckminster Fuller, and fueled with the passion and knowledge that brought us together as an idea and as a group, we are committed to serve our community and to making a contribution towards the re-envisioning of education. We hold as a core belief that synergy is always at work and that through awareness and inspiration, “spontaneous cooperation” is possible.