1995 IDEA Abstracts

With a mid-size IDEA Grant entitled A Sky Full of Stories: Astronomy in Myth and Legend. We are now site testing the activities nationally in K--9 classrooms. The teachers involved in the evaluation have shown an interest in testing more activities. Therefore, this proposal is to site test and evaluate two more activites in elementary classrooms (one in English and Spanish) that were developed through our programs. This will allow us to disseminate all of these materials nationally through NASA centers and at regional and national meetings. We are limited to two activities (a small proposal) because the PI is also submitting a mid-size proposal (for the DPS Education Committee) to support educational programs at the 1996 DPS meeting in Tucson, AZ.

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Learning Club Hands-On Science Project
Principal Investigator: Bernard Sadoulet, Space Sciences Laboratory and Center for Particle Astrophysics
Category: Multi-Cultural
Amount Awarded: $5,661

We are proposing to expand a program that has grown through AGSE and IDEA funding during the past four years. The program is aimed at primarily minority, inner-city students having trouble academically. We bring the students to the UC campus where they take part in a program of "hands-on" astronomy led by various UC scientists. We will study distance scales, astronomical observations and astronomical instruments with an emphasis on student building and measuring projects. We have used the success of the past four years to secure additional funding from the Center for Particle Astrophysics for administrative salaries and computer equipment that will allow us to add a computer component to the program. With this additional support we plan to use IDEA funding to expand the program to a full academic year with students gaining an in-depth knowledge of astronomy. In addition we are planning community star parties in an effort to get families more involved in the project.

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Multidisciplinary Program

Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe: A Multidisciplinary Exploration of Astronomy
Principal Investigator: Stephen Hulbert, Space Telescope Science Institute
Category: Multidisciplinary Program
Amount Awarded: $5,996

We propose to create a six week thematic unit focused on astronomy for children in kindergarten through grade 5. Children will engage in developmentally appropriate, interdisciplinary activities in science, mathematics, literature, social studies, art, music, drama, and ancient languages (Greek and Latin) while following historical developments on an astronomical time line. We propose to teach this cross-disciplinary study of astronomy to approximately 125 elementary school students with the assistance of 16 classroom teachers at Grace and St. Peter's School during the 1996-1997 school year. Grace and St. Peter's School is a small independent elementary school of 170 students in the Mount Vernon area of downtown Baltimore.

The primary educational objective of this program is for each student to understand how humans investigate the universe. Based on the premise that students learn by being active thinkers, investigators, problems solvers, and communicators, the arena for the investigation of astronomy is expanded across multiple disciplines and sensory spaces. A multidisciplinary treatment of astronomy can be likened to a collection of threadsoeindividual threads of a given subject area are strung across age groups, but when woven together produce a web that encompasses all ages and all subjects and reinforces the study of how humans investigate the universe. The thread running through the center of this web is the study of the history of the exploration of space.

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Mulitple Objectives

Project STELLAR - Students and Teachers Engaged in Learning Laboratories through Astronomy Research
Principal Investigator: W. Thomas Bridgman, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Category: Multiple Objectives
Amount Awarded: $16,000

We propose a system-wide approach to developing a dynamic instructional program for teaching hands-on/minds-on astronomy concepts to over 15,000 K-6 students in Prince George's County Public Schools, Maryland by creating a unique collaborative partnership between a NASA astronomer, the Greenbelt Astronomy Club and the school system. This extensive program will consist of teacher resource training, curriculum development, Internet usage, multi-cultural programs, comminity outreach, and of course student outreach opportunities. A program of this magnitude wil enhance minority achievement in science and mathematics programs (K-6) for the purpose of increasing the number of underrepresented minorities, especially African-American and females, in science, mathematics, and technology-related careers. Broadly defined, Project STELLAR will be vehicle for enhancing excellence in science and technology education. Thirty elementary schools in the Prince George's County Public School system will have the shoulders of a professional astronomer, a NASA teacher resource center, and a local astronomy club to lean on for educational training and support - A teacher's dream come true! It will communicate a resounding message to teachers, students, parents, and the community of Prince George's County that it does indeed take a village to raise a child!

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Resources for Teacher Development and Enhanced K-12 Astronomy/Planetary Science Education
Principal Investigator: Sanjay S. Limaye, Space Sciences and Engineering Center
Category: Multiple Ojectives
Amount Awarded: $10,000

We propose an effort to improve or initiate the study of astronomy and the solar system in the K-12 classrooms in schools within Wisconsin school districts. The effort has two goals- (i) to raise the knowledge base of the K-12 teachers about what has been learned about the solar system objects from ground based astronomy and space exploration in the recent years, and (ii) provide a resource for K-12 teachers for help with lesson plans, hands-on activities, data analysis and observing tools. The specific student-directed efforts include developing a unit for the University of Wisconsin summer College for Kids program. The teacher-oriented efforts include developing a three day workshop in August 1996. To minimize the organizational effort and costs, this workshop will be become a part of the Summer 1995 Workshop for Teachers organized on behalf of the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium by the Space Science and Engineering Center of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The focus will be to convey the current knowledge of the objects in the solar system, and to provide the participants with hands-on experience with telescopes, about current astronomical data acquisition and analysis. The data analysis will include use of the planetary data collected by NASA space missions to the planets and published by the Planetary data System on CD-ROMs. The PI has become familiar with the current issues in science education improvement efforts through participation in a Pre-College Education Workshop for Space Scientists held at Bethesda, Maryland in April 1995, and through other opportunities at professional meetings and interaction with schools. An added incentive for this effort to improve outreach efforts and K-12 education is provided by the fact that Madison will host the 30th Annual Meeting of the Division of Planetary Sciences (DPS) of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), in 1998. Our aim is to provide an outlet for K-12 and public outreach during this meeting, and to encourage the DPS community to avail itself of these outreach opportunities.

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The Summer Science Program: An Integrated, Research-Based Observational Astronomy Curriculum for High School Students
Principal Investigator: Stuart K. Stephens, The Thacher School
Category: Multiple Objectives
Amount Awarded: $20,000

he Summer Science Program (SSP), held at The Thacher School in Ojai, California, for six weeks each summer, has a 37-year history of educating a broad spectrum of junior-level high school girls and boys in the physical sci- ences. A purposefully integrated curriculum consists of lectures in calculus and physics, as well as positional, planetary, stellar, and galactic astron- omy. A central research project requires students to propose, conduct, and analyze photographic observations of asteroids as members of small teams. Using computer programming learned during the summer, and building on other coursework, students ultimately determine orbital elements from three observ- ations of their asteroids. Results are sent to the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory following the summer.

Funds are requested to help continue the Summer Science Program for 30-40 students in 1996. The IDEA category is a combination of astronomy curriculum development, incorporation of modern scientific research techniques (computer programming and remote CCD observing), and outreach to a deliberately broad spectrum of qualified students interested in science. Proposed budget items include research materials, student supplies and other curricular materials, remote observing expenses, field trips to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Mount Wilson Observatory, teaching assistant salaries, and honoraria for sci- entists invited as guest speakers.

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Public Outreach

Universe in the Park
Principal Investigator: Karen S. Bjorkman, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Category: Public Outreach
Amount Awarded: $19,955

We propose to develop "UNIVERSE IN THE PARK", a public outreach program of hands-on astronomy to be presented during the summer months in the state parks of Wisconsin. The program will include a series of informal talks and question-and-answer sessions in the parks, followed by stargazing with a moderate-sized telescope plus binoculars and naked-eye observing, including discussions about the objects seen. Results from astronomical research will be included in the talks, with special emphasis on recent results from NASA missions such as HST and Astro-2. The project will involve the PI as well as staff and graduate students from the UW Dept. of Astronomy in presenting these sessions. In addition, we will provide training for volunteer naturalists from the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources so that this program can be spread to a wider audience throughout the state. We will also extend the program during the school year to provide training for teachers in activities (including telescope activities) that can supplement classroom learning. The intent of the program is to foster an informal connection between active astronomers and the general public and young people, and to share the excitement and wonder of recent advances in our understanding of the universe.

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Live from the Smithsonian!
Principal Investigator: Kimberly. Dow, Smithsonian Institution, Astrophysical Observatory
Category: Public Outreach; Internet Usage/Development
Amount Awarded: $5,989

A video conferencing kiosk in the National Air and Space Museum ``Stars'' gallery will provide patrons with an opportunity to visit with an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. This exhibit will offer Museum visitors a chance to learn more about the research side of the Smithsonian Institution. At the same time, astronomers will gain practise in interacting with the general public. The kiosk will include a frequently asked astronomical questions module. This module will be accessible by a ``touch screen'' mounted on the kiosk. The content for this exhibit will be developed by the PI and Co-Is.

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Science Nights for Students and Their Families: 1996-97 Academic Year Programming
Principal Investigator: Jeff Goldstein, National Air and Space Museum
Category: Public Outreach
Amount Awarded: $16,124

The Laboratory for Astrophysics at the National Air and Space Museum is currently sponsoring a program titled Science Nights for Students and Their Families. The program provides a school-based family field trip to the Museum, after the close of normal hours, for up to 450 parents, students, and educators from area elementary and middle schools with a high proportion of minority and/or low income populations. The idea is to provide a family learning experience on space science subjects that are taught in the classroom, from the unique perspective of a science researcher. Adults do not participate as chaperons, but as parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and big brothers and sisters, to the children. It is a chance for a shared, cross-generational learning experience in space science education. We are requesting funds to support the Science Night program for the 1996-97 academic year, including: 1) 12 evenings for potentially 5000 guests, 2) full up assessment (baseline, formative, and summative), and 3) publication of results in both popularized and scholarly educational journals.

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Voyage - A Permanent Scale Model of the Solar System for the National Mall
Principal Investigator: Jeff Goldstein, National Air and Space Museum
Category: Public Outreach
Amount Awarded: $20,000

We propose the development of a permanent educational exhibition for the National Mall celebrating humanity's quest to understand the nature of the world and our place within it. Dedicated to the spirit of human exploration, Voyage would be a model of our solar system at 1/10,000,000,000 its actual size, stretching 600 meters between the National Air and Space Museum and the Smithsonian Castle. All solar system bodies with a diameter greater than 1000 km [the Sun and 24 worlds] would be depicted to scale as raised bronze hemispheres on 13 pedestals. Each planet (and its moons where appropriate) would reside on a plaque of bronze and porcelain enamel, located atop its own pedestal. Along the periphery of the bronze plaque would be located the names of the planet, in raised relief, in major languages of Earth. NASA color images from human and robotic expeditions to other worlds would be displayed in porcelain enamel, as well as language-independent pictograms that describe basic properties of these worlds in simple terms. Voyage will be an elegant, tactile learning experience accessible to all. The pedestals would be modified National Park Service wayside stations allowing comfortable access for wheelchairs. The educational approach would foster interdisciplinary, inquiry-based learning, stress concept development, and be consistent with the National Standards in K-12 space science education. Voyage's unique placement in the Nation's capital would celebrate our national heritage as spacefarers and provide both national and international visibility. It will allow millions of visitors to experience feelings of wonder and discovery as they walk a path of solar system exploration.

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Interactive Astronomy Module for Museums and Schools
Principal Investigator: Edison Liang, Rice University
Category: Public Outreach
Amount Awarded: $6,000

Rice University and the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences, sponsored by a NASA DLT grant, have set up interactive computer kiosks in the museum to educate visitors about the Earth and Space Sciences. We are currently developing an astronomy module for this that includes the latest exciting results downloaded from the World Wide Web. Once installed, we propose to continue to update the module, so that new results can be shared with the general public quickly and with clear, concise explanations.

Furthermore, we propose to make new sections on high energy astrophysics. During this year, versions of the whole Earth and Space Sciences project will be made on CD ROMs and distributed to schools; we will include the interactive astronomy package in these, and modify it through teacher and student feedback.

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Student Outreach

The Women's Science Forum: A Targeted Outreach Program for High School Girls
Principal Investigator: Megan Donahue, Space Telescope Science Institute
Category: Student Outreach
Amount Awarded: $10,341

The Women's Science Forum, a student-outreach program, is a series of monthly meetings for high-school junior girls held at the STSCI. Our goal is to encourage girls who have expressed an interest in science to continue to pursue that interest in college. We have identified the junior year as one of the critical branch-points along the career path where students can opt to continue in math and science or stop. It is also the time when students are beginning to think about college, standardized tests, applications and financing their college choices. Each forum begins with a student-friendly, interactive science talk by a woman scientist, and continues with small-group discussions and activities relevant to science, math, and career development. This year we wish to quantitatively evaluate the true long-term effects of this program. We will distribute the results and methodology of our evaluation to be used to assess other programs. Finally, we are endeavoring to increase the number of gifted disadvantaged and minority girls in our program by supplying transportation for them.

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Space Explorers Outreach Program
Principal Investigator: Doyle Harper, University of Chicago
Category: Student Outreach, Teacher Resources and Training
Amount Awarded: $6,000

For over four and a half years the Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica (CARA) has operated a program for African-American K-12 students in Chicago. Space Explorers (the high school students in the program) participate in a wide range of Center sponsored educational activities in astronomy. They attend workshops at the Adler Planetarium, on the University of Chicago campus, and at Yerkes Observatory. CARA operates a summer institute for Chicago Space Explorers every summer at Yerkes Observatory. A key program during the school year is one that uses the Adler Planetarium's Starlab. A Starlab is an inflatable, portable planetarium that can easily be transported to schools. The Space Explorers are highly experienced in the use of Starlab and are trained to deliver programs for younger students. They reach nearly three thousand inner-city grammar school students each school year. This Starlab outreach effort is specifically where continuing help from NASA is needed. This proposal also requests support for educational community-building efforts that have grown naturally from the Starlab visits. We want to continue to develop a small program, begun in 1994, to conduct workshops and to assists the teachers whose classes we have reached in past Starlab programs.

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Yerkes Space Explorers
Principal Investigator: Lewis Hobbs, University of Chicago
Category: Student Outreach
Amount Awarded: $14,850

We propose to begin a Space Explorer program based upon the Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica's highly successful Chicago program. We plan to focus our program on the middle school students in the area surrounding Yerkes Observatory so that we can take advantage of its laboratories and telescopes, as well its outstanding faculty and staff. This will be a hands-on program which will include experiences in telescope building, astrophotography, and developing original research using the 10-inch and 24-inch reflecting telescopes at Yerkes.

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Astronomy Through Re-enacting History: Galileo's Neighborhood
Principal Investigator: Robert Howell, University of Wyoming
Category: Student Outreach
Amount Awarded: $7,000

Dr. Howell is currently the director of the Wyoming Infrared Observatory on Jelm Mountain. Christa McAuliffe Fellow Paul Crips, Carey Junior High School in Cheyenne, along with science teacher Debbie Patton, theater arts instructor Kay McAdams and orchestra instructor Robert Mathews are currently working on a project that will enhance everyone's knowledge of astronomy through a theater arts play that showcases part and future scientists, astronauts and technicians who have shaped the course of astronomy understanding. They will be the coinvestigators for this project.

All four teachers are currently employed at Carey Junior High School in Cheyenne, Wyoming. In addition to a play, where students will dress up as Galileo, Newton, Einstein and other influential role players in astronomy, orchestra students will also compose their own space music. After the play, learning stations will be set-up for hands on activities. A star party for viewing using an 18 inch Newtonian telescope will be the culminating activity in the evening. With Wyoming being sparsely populated, small rural schools will be targeted for presentations by the Carey Society of Student Astronomers.

The intended audience will e mainly grade school students K-6. Student astronomers will also present the play and workstations at the Frontier Mall in Cheyenne in the spring and will showcase astronomy programs with civic organizations including the Veterans Administration and various retirement home communities. Students would also like to take the show on the road to the University of Wyoming.

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Astronomy Activities Before and After a Planetarium Visit (A Multicultural, Interdisciplinary and Bilingual Approach)
Principal Investigator: Jose L. Mena-Worth, University of Nebraska at Kearney
Category: Student Outreach
Amount Awarded: $4890

We propose to develop Astronomy Activities both for classes that are planning a visit to a planetarium and for classes that have visited a planetarium. The Astronomy Activities will be designed for grades K to 12. Our schools planetarium serves the south central Nebraska school districts. Every year we offer between 50 and 100 school shows. There is no charge for this service. In some cases, schools travel from over 100 miles away to attend a planetarium show. The Activities will prepare students for the planetarium visit and make the experience more worthwhile. A post-visit Activity will reinforce the ideas studied in the two previous gatherings and further stimulate interest in astronomy. The Astronomy Activities will be interdisciplinary and multicultural in order to increase their usefulness.

We will make these Astronomy Activities available to all schools requesting a planetarium show. Furthermore, we will advertise the existence of these Activities to all school districts in our service area. Lastly, the Astronomy Activities will be translated into Spanish; and planetarium shows will be presented in Spanish upon request.

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Astronomy and Science Education for Elementary School Students (K-8)
Principal Investigator: David A. Turnshek, University of Pittsburgh
Category: Student Outreach
Amount Awarded: $6,000

The category of this program is Student Outreach. We propose to continue our program (originally an AGSE program and last year an IDEA program) which aims to enhance astronomy and science education at the elementary school level in western Pennsylvania, and in particular in the Hempfield Area School District. We will: (a) make presentations and demonstrations for elementary school students (K-8) in order to encourage an understanding of science in general and astronomy and space sciences in particular, (2) conduct observing sessions in order to develop an understanding of telescopes and foster an appreciation of observational astronomy, (3) offer an enrichment program for gifted students, and (4) work with teachers to help them improve their science offerings through personal contact with them and by making them aware of the resources available to them through the NASA Teachers Resource Center. The program will emphasize NASA's involvement in astronomy and space science research. It is primarily intended to foster contact between real astronomers, educators, and pre-high-school students.

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A Mobil Solar Observatory
Principal Investigator: David Turnshek, University of Pittsburgh
Category: Student Outreach
Amount Awarded: $18,422

The category of this program is Student Outreach. In an earlier AGSE program (Espey, PI) we received funding to configure a Mobil Solar Observatory (MSO). This has been accomplished. The MSO saw only limited use during the configuration period, but for the $\approx$ 10 times that it has been used (for a variety of purposes) it has proved successful. We would now like to begin operating it in the manner that was originally intended. We request funding for operations for two days per week to take the MSO to middle schools, junior high schools, high schools, and summer schools and camps. The proposed program will give students hands-on experience in astronomical observation during the day time when school is in session. In cloudy weather video tapes of previous observing sessions can be viewed and instruction on the use and purpose of the MSO can still be given. The opportunity that use of the MSO creates will be used to highlight NASA's commitment to astrophysical research. The MSO program will create an opportunity for contact between astronomy researchers, students and teachers, giving users a real opportunity to embrace and discuss science. The Carnegie Science Center will coordinate scheduling and use of the MSO throughout western Pennsylvania.

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Student Research Opportunities

Expanding Student Understanding of Astronomical Research
Principal Investigator: Joy Nichols, Computer Sciences Corporation
Category: Student Research Opportunities, Teacher Workshop
Amount Awarded: $5,294

This proposal involves a student research opportunity as well as teacher workshops. We propose to provide an active learning experience, primarily for a few female high school students mentored by a female scientist, but impacting several hundred students through teacher workshops and documentary videos. We plan to involve 3-4 upper-class high school female students in a space data analysis project involving IUE and GHRS UV interstellar absorption line measurements, and x-ray and infrared imagery. The students will learn to acquire the data over the Internet and to manipulate and display the data using IDL and the IUEDAC software already available at their school. These students will also create two documentary videos to be used in science and research classes within the school system; these videos will feature female astronomers discussing their career choice, their research, and their occupational activities. In addition to mentoring students in the data analysis project, the PI will visit the classroom of 25 students and present a short course in astronomy, concentrating on space missions. A teacher workshop is planned to expose all high school science teachers in the Howard County system to available instructional materials, classroom exercises developed by the PI and Co-Is, and the documentary videos created by the students.

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Teacher Resources and Training

Penn State Inservice Workshops in Astronomy
Principal Investigator: Eric Feigelson, The Pennsylvania State University
Category: Teacher Resources and Training
Amount Awarded: $20,000

The Penn State In-service Workshops in Astronomy (PSIWA), starting in summer, 1996, will disseminate astronomical science to Pennsylvania children through intensive short-term univerity-level training to their teachers. The target populations are earth science teachers and physics teachers from rural and inner-city schools. The workshops, offering University and Pennsylvania in-service credits, will cover traditional and modern astronomy taught by experienced university faculty. The workshops will intermix lectures, discussion and many laboratory activities. These include guest lectures from reknown astronomers and science education experts, nighttime observing, use of PCs and workstations, WWW information retrieval, demonstrations using inexpensive supplies, and planetarium use. Teachers will receive a kit of classroom materials and software. A diverse team of astronomy and education faculty, and secondary teachers is designing adn will oversee the PSIWA. The team will followup during the school year with site visits and SpaceLink accounts.

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Looking UP: A Portable Planetarium Teacher Enhancement Program
Principal Investigator: David Kuehn, Pittsburg State University
Category: Teacher Resources and Training
Amount Awarded: $8,000

Local school districts and regional school district cooperatives are purchasing many materials aimed at improving science and mathematics instruction. One of the most common items purchased in this area is an inflatable and portable planetarium called STARLAB . The proposers of this collaborative project will develop and deliver a week-long, hands-on, astronomy education workshop and follow-up activities for elementary and middle school teachers in the region who have have access to STARLABs. The goals of the project are to [1] increase the quantity and quality of astronomy education at the elementary and middle school levels, [2] train teachers to use STARLAB as an instructional and motivational tool to improve student achievement, and [3] provide teachers with age-appropriate hands-on astronomy activities to be used in conjunction with an astronomy unit and the STARLAB . Fifteen in-service teachers will receive a stipend of $175 and one hour of graduate credit for participating in the project.

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The Space Center Summer Teacher Institute and Workshop
Principal Investigator: Donald Neidig, National Solar Observatory
Category: Teacher Resources and Training
Amount Awarded: $5,993

We propose to organize, conduct, and evaluate a five-day, one credit-hour, tuition-paid summer institute and workshop, June 10-15, 1996, for 12 teachers selected from applicants in New Mexico and West Texas. The primary goal is to enhance astronomy education and science literacy, especially targeting grade levels 5-8, which are known to be critical for sustaining student interest in science. Because Hispanics and Native Americans are traditionally under represented in the scientific community, we will target teachers from schools with a high minority population.

Our principal strategy will be to present highly focused background material and to develop instructional activities that will provide a hands-on approach to teaching astronomy. By providing workshop participants with concrete examples of ways to use an interdisciplinary approach and activities which involve the students directly, we expect to increase student literacy and help make astronomy a part of their daily lives. Supporting this central theme, we will provide: instruction in the use of small telescopes and a portable planetarium, assistance in tailoring classroom activities to particular grade levels and circumstances, and visits to local observatories to meet with researchers and to establish contacts for field trips.

As a practical strategy for maximum impact and dissemination, we will address instructional activities that tend toward wholistic approaches that reinforce mathematics and language skills, group cooperation, and communication with other schools.

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Workshops for Training Elementary School Teachers
Principal Investigator: Gianfranco Vidali, Syracuse University
Category: Teacher Resources and Training
Amount Awarded: $6,000

We propose a series of activities in elementary public and parochial schools in the Greater Syracuse Area aimed at achieving the following goals:

1. Through a series of workshops, elementary school teachers will develop a curriculum for teaching elements of astronomy and space exploration. Lesson plans will be produced, tested and then distributed to facilitate the instruction of astronmy to elementary school students. Emphasis will be placed on activities which have hands-on demonstrations, and include the building of simple instruments, and the use of other manipulatives. Activities will make use of instruments and demonstration set-ups purchased for the Lending Library.
2. We will continue the build-up of the Lending Library. This Library of instruments, teaching aides, and demonstration set-ups is open for borrowing by elementary school teachers who wish to use items of the Library for teaching elements of astronomy. Teachers receive training on the use of the equipment.
3. We will continue to hold social activities involving pupils, parents and teachers to promote awareness of astronomy and space exploration programs. Activities will be coordinated with MOST, the Museum of Science and Technology, which opened a couple of years ago and is located in downtown Syracuse.

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Teacher/Student Workshops

LUNAR III: Learning Using New Astronomical Resources III
Principal Investigator: Saul J. Adelman, Institute for Space Observations
Category: Teacher Workshops, Internet Usage and Student Outreach
Amount Awarded: $6000

We request continued support to help teachers implement astronomy objectives in the elementary school curriculum of the Charleston and Berkeley County School Districts of South Carolina. Over the past four years our educational grants have brought resources and ideas to classroom teachers through hands-on workshops presented by three astronomers and four master elementary school teachers. Our collaboration has clarified specific content items and topic areas that require inservice training. The introduction of a new science curriculum and the School Districts' mandate to use computers in the classroom both provide excellent opportunities to expand our contacts with the local schools, to coordinate resources across the Low Country of South Carolina, and to provide access to accurate astronomical information. This year we started a program to help elementary school teachers find resources on the Internet and evaluate their applicability in the classroom. We continue to provide a special evening program for elementary school groups to visit the College of Charleston Observatory. Our partnership helps make astronomy an exciting and important element of elementary education.

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Integrating Astronomy Into Middle School Non-Science Curricula: A Teacher Workshop
Principal Investigator: Matt Bobrowsky, CTA Incorporated
Category: Teacher Workshop
Amount Awarded: $4,995

We propose to enhance students' understanding of astronomy during the formative years of middle school by incorporating astronomy into a wide range of non-science curricula. Using techniques shown to be successful in last year's IDEA workshop, educational material will be developed for teachers and students and training will be provided for the teachers in the form of a workshop where both information and hands-on activities will be distributed. In addition, we will disseminate a video tape from the workshop which will be available not only to those who attended the workshop but to other teachers as well. A superb "multiplier effect" in this project comes from our focus on a school that is hosting a group of teachers in training. After these teachers receive certification, they will end up working in all different schools, thereby reaching large numbers of students for many years. The non-scientific subjects that we will connect to astronomy include history, music, art, language arts, social studies, and mathematics, as well as incidental subjects such as health and public safety. With only 2% institutional overhead, we will derive a very high educational benefit from this project.

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Seasons, Motions, Distances and Great Distances A Workshop for Middle School Teachers
Principal Investigator: Elizabeth P. Bozyan, University of Rhode Island
Category: Teacher Workshop
Amount Awarded: $5,228

In most Rhode Island schools astronomy is not included in the science curriculum. Students find astronomy fascinating; but teachers have little or no background in astronomy, certainly not enough to feel comfortable teaching it. To encourage teachers to include astronomy in their science curricula, we propose to present a workshop for 25 middle school teachers. The goals of this workshop are threefold: 1) to give the teachers the necessary background to teach astronomy; 2) to provide teachers with concrete, practical lesson plans; and 3) to have a follow-up meeting to share the successes teachers have had, to address problems encountered, and to suggest practical solutions to those problems. The workshop will be divided into three sessions. The first session, Seasons and Motions, will cover seasons and solar system motions. The second session will begin with a program in the University's planetarium both to reinforce the first session, and to introduce the second session; Distances and Great Distances. The second session will start with how we find distances to nearby stars (parallax) and extend to how redshift is used to find the distances to remote quasars. There will be ample opportunity at both sessions for the teachers to ask questions. Relevant NASA spacecraft and Hubble Space Telescope data will be employed. The third session, to occur after teachers have had practical experience with the material presented, will be the follow- up to evaluate the program. Teachers attending all three sessions will receive one college credit.

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Teachers Touch the Sky: A Workshop for Teachers of Grades 4-8
Principal Investigator: Bonnie J. Buratti, JPL, California Institute of Technology
Category: Teacher Workshop
Amount Awarded: $6,000

City Stars: A Teachers' Workshop on Astronomy
Principal Investigator: Paul Gorenstein, The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Category: Teacher/Student Workshop
Amount Awarded: $5,573

Building on our previous success (AGSE Grant#P3023-7-93) we propose to offer two astronomy workshops for Boston area middle and high school teachers. In October, 1994, two similar workshops for Boston area city teachers (one for middle school and one for high school) were developed in conjunction with the Charles Hayden Planetarium staff and offered at the Boston Museum of Science. Teachers received instruction on basic astronomy concepts and demonstrations of inexpensive hands-on astronomy activities for the classroom. Participants received a teacher's packet consisting of a workbook with descriptive guide sheets for each activity, a cassette tape with astronomy songs, solar system slide set, spectroscope, disposable outdoor camera, sundial template, star finder template, styrofoam ball and pencil, Saturn poster for their classroom, educational catalogs and Museum of Science brochures. As a follow-up, each workshop participant agreed to submit a formal evaluation of his/her students' in-class activity experience (Which activity did the students like the best? Which activities helped students to understand a particular astronomy concept?) with documentation of the students' participation. Such documentation may have included a video or photographs of the students performing the activities.

The Charles Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Science proposes to hold astronomy workshops for 50 Boston urban area teachers. Participants will receive instruction inside the Charles Hayden Planetarium and in a classroom conducting hands-on activities. They will receive materials to take back to their classrooms with which they can engage their students in participatory astronomy activities.

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The Universe in the Classroom: Workshop for Teachers
Principal Investigator: Robert Havlen, Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Category: Teacher Workshop/Teacher Training
Amount Awarded: $6,000

The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) is dedicated to providing educational support for teachers at all levels. At next year's 108th Annual Meeting, June 21-26, we propose holding two special sessions on education, for which we hope to receive IDEA grant support:

1. A two-day workshop on teaching astronomy in grades 3-12, including demonstrations of participatory hands-on activities, demonstrations of teaching techniques by mentor teachers, and introductions to a large array of resource materials that teachers can use in the classroom.
2. A one-day symposium on teaching astronomy in community colleges that will draw together astronomy instructors from those institutions and establish a national network of such instructors.

Education Conference and Program for Local Schools
Principal Investigator: Larry Lebofsky, University of Arizona
Category: Teacher/Scientist Workshop
Amount Awarded: $19,893

The largest gathering of planetary scientists in the world will be held in Tucson, Arizona in October, 1996. This is the Twenty-eighth Annual Meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) of the American Astronomical Society (AAS). Tucson's strong astronomy programs and its preeminence in science education make Tucson the ideal location for a Conference on Science Education. The conference, organized by the DPS Education Committee and local classroom teachers, will bring together about 25 scientists and science educators, funding agents, and 25 classroom teachers in a forum to discuss the challenges of bringing astronomy into the classroom. This conference will be held for two days (Monday and Tuesday, October 20 and 21, 1996) before the general DPS meeting. During the meeting scientists will go into Tucson classrooms to bring the excitement of astronomy directly to the students. These talks will be directly coupled to topics that are being brought to the attention of the public at the meeting (Galileo, Comet Hale-Bopp, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, etc.)

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A Teacher Workshop for Schools with High Hispanic Enrollments
Principal Investigator: Bernard McNamara, New Mexico State University
Category: Teacher Workshop/Multi-Cultural
Amount Awarded: $6,000

Funds are requested to hold a middle school teacher workshop for 14 teachers within the Las Cruces Independent School District. Six schools with Hispanic enrollments of at least 60% are targeted. This workshop is an outgrowth of two previously supported NASA teacher workshops and will provide teacher training using hands-on activities dealing with the areas of light, gravity, the Earth, the Earth-Moon system, the Sun, the Solar System, and Space. These materials will be used in classroom instruction. A core of teacher module experts is also being developed as part of this project. These teachers will help coordinate space science instruction between the elementary and middle school grade levels.

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Astronomy Education for the Colorado Outward Bound School (COBS)
Principal Investigator: Cherilynn Morrow, Space Sciences Institute
Category: Teacher Workshop
Amount Awarded: $20,000

The beautiful night skies visible from Rocky Mountain heights or from the dry, dark canyonlands and deserts of the American southwest inspire even the most hardened souls to ponder the whys and wherefores of our Universe. The Colorado Outward Bound School (COBS) is a program of excellence in experimental education that conducts more than 100 extended wilderness courses in environments like these each year. In 1994 alone, over 4,000 students of all ages, representing a tremendous diversity of social and economic backgrounds, participated in Outward Bound courses. The Space Science Institute, in partner- ship with Colorado's rich amateur and professional communities in astronomy, and the University of Colorado's School of Education, proposes to plan, conduct, and access appropriately tailored workshops in astronomy and skywatching for currently active COBS instructors, pre-service wilderness instructors taking Outward Bound's Teacher Practicum. We will collect and use feedback from the COBS instructors who teach astronomy during their wilderness courses to support the development of a custon-designed astronomy field guide for all Outward Bound schools across the U.S.

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Enrichment of the Grant County Astronomy Network
Principal Investigator: A. William Neely, Western New Mexico University
Category: Teacher/Student Workshops
Amount Awarded: $5,800

We are requesting $5800 in IDEA funds to sponsor TEACHER/STUDENT WORKSHOPS. The funds will be used to train teachers and to rent the portable Planetarium from the Space Museum in Alamagordo, NM. A smaller portion of the grant will go to internet training funds for teachers. The internet will be used to access astronomical materials such as NASA's Spacelink, and to connect NF/ Observatory (located in Grant County) to the area schools. A grant from local industry is being obtained to provide hardware for the network.

Dr. Neely is the chief astronomer at NF/ Observatory. The observatory has an automated 17.5 inch telescope, which is involved in many research observing programs. Dr. Neely is a co- investigator on "PROBING THE LY ALPHA FOREST at 0.5 < Z < 1.6 USING FLARING QUASARS & BL LACS", a HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE project. John Stocke at University of Colorado is the principal investigator for this HST research.

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Hands-On the Solar System: Workshops for Middle School Students from Under-represented Groups and their Teachers in New Mexico
Principal Investigator: Horton Newsom, University of New Mexico
Category: Teacher/Student Workshops
Amount Awarded: $6,000

The New Mexico Hands on the Solar System program (NM HOTSS) is an educational outreach program of the Institute of Meteoritics for grades K-12. Funding is requested to present workshops to middle school students from under-represented groups and their teachers. Specifically, the scientists at the Institute for Meteoritics (IOM) at the University of New Mexico, in collaboration with educators from NM MESA, will develop and present workshops about the solar system and astronomy, taking advantage of the facilities of the IOM, including the research facilities, meteorite collection and meteorite museum. The workshops will be presented to groups from New Mexico Math, Engineering, and Science Achievement (NM MESA). NM MESA is a well-established non-profit organization for middle and high school students from under-represented groups, mainly Hispanic, Native American, and women. The teachers will also gain knowledge of astronomy and training in activities that they can implement in the classroom. The pedagogy comprises strategies espoused by NSTA, AAAS, and NCTM, such as hands-on, minds-on constructivist learning, application of concepts to real research problems, and debriefing on the concepts and knowledge gained during the process. The goal is to provide an opportunity to increase scientific literacy among students who are traditionally underrepresented in science and math.

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An Astronomical Theme Throughout the Junior High Science and Math Curriculum
Principal Investigator: Stephen J. Shawl, University of Kansas
Category: Teacher/Student Workshop
Amount Awarded: $14,004

This project is to fund a two-week summer workshop for junior high/middle school science and math in-service teachers and teachers in training with the purpose of integrating astronomy throughout the junior high science and math curriculum. Students enrolled in the newly formed teacher education program at Haskell Indian Nations University will be encouraged to take advantage of this workshop. During the first of two sessions teachers will learn basic astronomical information and have an opportunity to perform a variety of hands-on activities. Between sessions, participants will work on interim projects of their choosing to integrate some astronomical ideas into one of their courses. Inexperienced teachers in training will be teamed with experienced teachers for the interim projects; such teaming will provide a synergism not otherwise available and will provide an opportunity for a mentoring relationship to develop. During the final session participants will present their projects, receive constructive criticism, and further improve their work so that they will have a completed activity/lesson plan for use the coming year. Dissemination of their work will be via the Explorer Resource Database. A final part of the workshop would involve WWW exploration of available curricular materials.

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Hands-On Astronomy Workshop for Middle School Teachers in the Philadelphia Area
Principal Investigator: H. John Wood, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Category: Teacher Workshop
Funding Requested: $6,000

Middle school students today face a wasteland of violent television and computer arcade games. Rare are the opportunities for them to see how exciting and visually stimulating the world of astronomy can be. Astronomy is the mother of all science and encompasses physics, chemistry, mathematics and computer science. Engineering disciplines are pushed to new heights by the requirements of the Hubble Space Telescope and the other giant ground-based telescopes now being built. The new discoveries by the scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope and other great observatories are revolutionizing mankind's understanding of the universe in recent weeks and months.

There are many young students, especially minority students, who would choose a scientific career if only they were encouraged through exposure by their teachers to this radical new frontier in the science of astronomy. There are teachers in the Philadelphia, Norristown (PA) and Camden (NJ) areas who do encourage them. These teachers have selflessly contributed a major part of their teaching careers by volunteering to be the Coordinators of PRIME. PRIME is a Philadelphia and Delaware Valley-based pre-college program, founded in 1973, designed to increase the number of minority students entering careers in engineering, medicine, pharmacy, and other mathematics and science-based professions. Students join in the sixth grade where they become scientifically motivated and they continue through their graduation into college. This project has enjoyed over a 90 percent graduation rate in the sciences. However, Astronomy is still under - represented by minorities. We propose to help to change that situation.

Also, there are New Frameworks for Science Education Reform that have been developed by Three Major Projects: Benchmarks for Science Literacy; Scope, Sequence, and Coordination of Secondary School Science; and National Science Education Standards (NAS). The methods developed by these projects will be a part of this workshop. Concentration on singular ideas with hands-on learning is becoming the direction of science teaching. More teachers should be familiar with these changes. The 5-E method will be developed: ENGAGE, EXPLORE, EXPLAIN, ELABORATE, AND EVALUATE (and then, EXTENSIONS). Teacher's misconceptions need to be worked on just as well as the student's.

We propose a One-Week Workshop for 20 Middle School Science Teachers of Minority Students (grade 9) with strong interests in mathematics and science. The workshop will be held in the Summer of 1995 at Sproul Observatory of Swarthmore College (Philadelphia Suburbs). The telescopes of the Observatory will be available for nighttime observations on any clear night of the week of the workshop.

The Workshop will be comprised of a concentrated course in elementary Astronomy with emphasis on Hands On Lessons that the teachers can readily use in class. The latest scientific results from Hubble Space Telescope will be discussed by Dr. Wood who is a Senior member of the HST team at Goddard Space Flight Center. Dr. Wood will also give the short course in elementary astronomy during the week. Tom Devlin will teach the new Jackson & Tull interactive software program, "PCs In Space." The Astronomy-internet connection will be developed. Mr. R. Zehnle will be in charge of the Education part of the Workshop and the Hands-On Work Sessions.

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