Integrating Real-Time Environmental Data into an Educational Web Interface

Modern, educational computer simulations can aid in advancing students’ engagement with STEAM topics (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math), as well as enable the integration of on-line teaching tools with a more standard curriculum. One current educational simulation, SIMOC (A Scalable, Interactive Model of an Off-world Community; ICES 2021) provides an interactive model of a Mars habitat. There are substantial complexities to living off-world, principally Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS), which SIMOC incorporates as an integral part of its simulation. A new version of SIMOC, developed in part by an Arizona State University software engineering capstone team, has coupled live instrumentation and data collection with the educational web interface hosted by National Geographic. The sensor array includes CO2, temperature, pressure, and relative humidity, which populate the existing SIMOC dashboard with live readings as components of a simulated life support system. This paper describes how real-life data can be provided to citizen-scientists, establishing a tangible interface between simulation and real-world systems. As described in this publication, the integration of real-world data into SIMOC will offer new and exciting opportunities for students to connect with concepts of interplanetary travel and habitats. This paper details the components integrated into SIMOC such that current and future classrooms may perform hands-on experimentation through use of in-classroom sensor arrays, and describes in-depth a classroom experience implementing this system with local sensors.