DC-District Columbia

DC-District Columbia

TABLE OF CONTENTS

K-12 EDUCATION

• Bridging the Gap: Linking Southwest Native American Culture with the Teaching of Astronomy and Space Science
  • Horton Newsom, University of New Mexico and Jerry Cronin, University of New Mexico -Gallup
• Education Videos and Curriculum: What's Up in the Universe?
  • Brent Tully, University of Hawaii and Susan Friedman, University of California-Santa Cruz
• Empowering Visually-Impaired Students Through ACE Science Inquiry Materials
  • Donna Bogner, McREL and Gilbert Yanow, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• Explore and Discover Observing
  • Kyle Cudworth, The University of Chicago and Vivian Hoette, The University of Chicago
• Exploring Our Solar Neighborhood: Bringing Astronomy and Space Science to Teachers and Students
  • Charles Chappell, Vanderbilt University and Judy Butler, Tennessee State University
• How Old Is Your Universe?: Workshop for Middle Grade Science Teachers
  • Richard Gelderman, Western Kentucky University and Julia Roberts, Western Kentucky University
• OBSERVE: Observation-Based Student Experience in Research Via Exploration
  • Denise Young, Morehead Planetarium and Science Center and Dan Reichart, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Rare Events: Aurora and the Venus Transit
  • Sten Odenwald, The Astronomy Cafe and Susan Higley, Cherry Hill Middle School
• Space Vision
  • Judit Ries, University of Texas - Center for Space Research and Wallace Fowler, University of Texas - Texas Space Grant Consortium
• The Origins of the Elements and Stories of Their Discovery
  • Donald G. York, The University of Chicago and Jacqueline Barge, Chicago Public Schools Payton High School
• We've Always Looked Up - Ethnoastronomy and the Hubble Space Telescope
  • Jayne Marley, Oklahoma Alliance for Geographic Education and Kirk Borne, Raytheon ITTS
    

INFORMAL SCIENCE EDUCATION

• Observing the Sky: Personal Exploration of the Night Sky Tied to NASA Discoveries
  • Charles A. Wood, Planetary Science Institute and Vera Uyehara, Quantum-Itch, Inc.
• The Space Weather Research Explorer Project
  • Robert Semper, The Exploratorium and Janet Luhmann, University of California-Berkeley
    

BOTH

• Oregon Teachers Touching The Sky
  • Kevin Carr, George Fox University and Greg Bothun, University of Oregon
• The Space Exploration Experience Project for the Blind and Visually Impaired (SEE Project)
  • Bernhard Beck-Winchatz, DePaul University and Noreen Grice, youcandoastronomy.com
    

Abstracts

Education Videos and Curriculum: What's Up in the Universe?
Brent Tully, University of Hawaii-Institute for Astronomy
Susan Friedman, University of California-Santa Cruz
K-14 Formal Education Curriculum Development
$50,000.00

The members of this collaboration are involved in the production of documentary specials for broadcast on public television. The project was conceived from the outset to have a dual facet. Elements from the TV special are to be used to create 20-minute, self-contained segments that would conform to a curriculum appropriate for a middle school science class. At present, enough material has been filmed to develop 6 programs. An award from IDEAS would enable the development of a well-specified curriculum, the production of the first episode, as a pilot, and testing.

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The Space Exploration Experience Project for the Blind and Visually Impaired (SEE Project)
Bernhard Beck-Winchatz, DePaul University
Noreen Grice, youcandoastronomy.com
K-14 Formal & Informal Science Education Other
$39,413

The first goal of The Space Exploration Experience Project for the Blind and Visually Impaired (SEE Project) is to develop and test Braille/tactile inquiry-based hands-on space science activities and observing programs that "actively" engage blind and visually impaired students from elementary grades through introductory college-level space science. The second goal is to explore how tactile images can be used effectively with the sighted public at observatory open nights. During the first year of the project, we will develop an activity kit centered around tactile space science images, and pilot-test it at the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind (CSDB) and the Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired (WCBVI). During year two, we will develop and pilot test a second tactile kit based on current space science images from web archives. We will organize two three-day summer programs at Yerkes Observatory at the ends of year one and two, in which blind and visually impaired students will engage in tactile observational astronomy with the Yerkes telescopes. In the year between the two summer programs, we will hold remote observing events at the WCBVI and CSDB. Students will operate telescopes over the Internet, convert their images into tactile format, and use them for their research projects. We will explore the best use of tactile space science images for sighted people with certain learning disabilities, young children, senior citizens, and people with different learning styles during public observing night at the Western Connecticut State University Observatory.

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Oregon Teachers Touching The Sky
Kevin Carr, George Fox University
Greg Bothun, University of Oregon
K-14 Formal & Informal Science Education Training Workshop
$40,880

Oregon Teachers Touching the Sky (OTTS) is a new, start-up program for immersing newly licensed elementary teachers in the knowledge, practices, and culture of astronomy. For one week in early August 2003, a cohort of 20 OTTS workshop participants will live and work in the field with a group of highly dedicated professional and amateur astronomers based at University of Oregon's Pine Mountain Observatory (PMO). OTTS teachers will implement, in their classrooms during the 2003-2004 school years, inquiry-based space science curricula learned during their week at PMO. The implementation will be aided by the support and guidance of the OTTS team. Each participant will also host form the for their local school community in 2003-2004 an "Astronomy Open House" evening event, featuring NASA/STScI resources, student presentations, a star party, and remote observing session using PMO equipment and facilities.

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Bridging the Gap: Linking SW Native American Culture with the Teaching of Astronomy and Space Science
Horton Newsom, University of New Mexico
Jerry Cronin, University of New Mexico
K-14 Formal Education Training Workshop
$49,983

This project proposes to impact the teaching of and learning of the space sciences in the schools with highest numbers of Native American Indian students in remote portions of New Mexico. It is expected that by providing high-quality training utilizing a mix of modern technology with culturally-based materials, teachers will gain tools that can be used in the teaching of the space sciences. Training will focus on hands-on activities that promote interdisciplinary learning bridging modern astronomy with more traditional native American views of the sky that are grounded in the students' culture. The proposal maintains that by eliminating the disconnect between Native culture views and what is being taught in the classroom, an impact can be made on student academic performance.

The following objectives will guide the project:

• To integrate space science into the school curriculum by training participants and providing kits and materials that teachers can use with their students.
• To develop lesson plans and unit plans that teachers can apply in their teaching situations with reservation students.
• To incorporate culturally relevant materials as well as community resources so that the innovation can be sustained.
• To address the current and ongoing shortage of qualified science teachers being hired in the region's schools by providing some level of training and equipment to adequately teach space science concepts to students.
• To promote best practices in pedagogy and assessment, and disseminate quality activities and curriculum to other teachers working with similar populations of students via web-based resources.

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How Old Is Your Universe?: Workshop for Middle Grade Science Teachers
Richard Gelderman, Western Kentucky University
Julia Roberts, Western Kentucky University
K-14 Formal Education Training Workshop
$49,894

Recent attempts to revise how evolution is taught in US schools have found fault not just with Darwin's theory of biological evolution but with current scientific theories about the age and evolution of the cosmos. We shall initiate a workshop which will provide clear, easy to implement curriculum material to help middle grade science teachers explain to their students how we know the ages of the solar system and the entire universe. The nature of science will be explained, with special attention paid to acquisition of knowledge through scientific inquiry. In-service and pre-service teachers will work together as a team to master content behind the hands-on inquiry-based activities and develop the best strategies for integrating the unit of study into the classroom. Research scientists will collaborate with educators to present the workshop, and after the workshop will travel to the classrooms to work with the teachers to assist in the implementation of the material. We have designed the workshop to be an annual event, led in subsequent years by teachers-leaders and supported by the commonwealth of Kentucky. The initial cohort of in-service middle grade science teachers will be carefully selected to ensure the majority are capable of returning to lead the following year's workshop.

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Empowering Visually-Impaired Students Through ACE Science Inquiry Materials
Donna Bogner, McREL
Gilbert Yanow, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
K-14 Formal Education Curriculum Development
$50,000

Observing physical properties of natural objects and phenomenon is critical to scientific inquiry. Inquiry-based science curriculum materials, however, seldom accommodate the observational limitations of visually impaired students. In order to appropriate address the needs of physically impaired students in a variety of classroom settings, Mid-continent Research for Education and Leaning (McREL) has conceptualized the Adaptive Curriculum Enhancement (ACE) program. Through ACE, McREL is adapting science education materials for use by teachers of both visually impaired and hearing-impaired students. McREL requests funds to work with NASA space scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and education consultants from the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind (CSDB) to adapt, produce, pilot test, disseminate, field test, and evaluate a science inquiry module titled Evolving Universe for visually impaired students. A newly developed ACE website on the McREL server will deliver these materials free-of-charge for educators and/or parent working with visually impaired students. The Evolving Universe is an ACE prototype module of inquiry experiences. It will be based on space science materials developed by McREL as part of its education and public outreach (E/PO) role in NASA's Discoveries missions, which include Genesis, Deep Impact, and Dawn. Selected materials from Genesis Cosmic Chemistry: Cosmogony, which are aligned to national science Education Standards (NSES), will be adapted for visually impaired students and their teachers, and reorganized into the Evolving Universe ACE module. The module will contain a learning cycle involving exploration, concept invention, and expansion.

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The Origins of the Elements and Stories of Their Discovery
Donald G., York, University of Chicago
Jacqueline Barge, CPS Payton High School
K-14 Formal Education Curriculum Development
Budget: $43,196

The Origins of the Elements and Stories of Their Discovery will be an Internet-based curriculum module for 7th and 8th grade students published on the Chicago WebDocent website. This module will present the history of the elements and the stories of the discovery through three historical eras and through multiple modes of learning experiences. Students will learn theories about the elements from ancient times to modern; understand the conceptual and procedural organization of the elements; identify the characteristic properties of all matter; and apply this knowledge to explain theories about the origins of the universe. Through online lessons, technology-based interactives, inquiry-based activities, and offline experiences students will gain understanding about fundamental concepts about scientific systems, the nature of scientific inquiry, and discoveries that bring the universe closer to home. A teaching guide presenting models for instructional use in independent, teacher-directed, and group study in different school settings will be included. The Origins Module will provide a foundation for understanding theories of the origins of the universe and prepare students for future science study in high school and beyond. Professor Donald G. York, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, and Jacqueline Barge, a high school science teacher in the Chicago Public Schools Walter Payton College Prepatory High School, will collaborate to develop lessons, activities, and the teaching guide for the Origins Module. This module will be the first to be included in IPTISS, the Interactive Periodic Table for Interdisciplinary Science Study (IPTISS), a website currently in development by CWD.

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Rare Events: Aurora and the Venus Transit
Sten Odenwald, The Astronomy Cafe
Susan Higley, Cherry Hill Middle School
K-14 Formal Education Research Opportunity
$29,711

The goal of this proposal is to establish a working partnership between schools in Alaska and Maryland to investigate two 'rare' phenomena; Aurora and the Venus Transit. Alaskan students will serve as mentors to Maryland students in studying the Aurora in 2003, while Maryland students will serve as mentors to the Alaskan students in studying the Venus Transit in 2004. Five schools from each state have been identified as partners, and will be collaborating in the scientific investigation of these phenomena using activities developed by the NASA IMAGE satellite. The total population of these schools is 8,725. We expect that 20% will be directly involved in this project. Participating schools will work together to study space weather events, forecast when the next aurora will occur, and study the aurora through reading, arts, math and science activities. The Venus Transit will focus on the scale of the universe, scale model solar systems, and the history of previous transit observations.

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Space Vision
Judit Ries, University of Texas-Center for Space Research
Wallace Fowler, University of Texas - Texas Space Grant Consortium
K-14 Formal Education Training Workshop
$9,360

We propose to educate and stimulate the interest of visually impaired students at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI), their teachers,4-H youth, and the general public about astronomy and the solar system through a series of classroom enrichment activities, workshops, and Science Fun Day. The teachers and the teens will participate in a multi-day workshop at the University of Texas to introduce them to the activities from the book, Touch the Universe: A NASA Braille Book of Astronomy which features plastic, molded pages overlaying color photographs that allow reading fingers to feel the details of planets, nebulae, and galaxies as seen by Hubble Space Telescope, in addition to phases of the moon, comets, and meteorite activities adapted for the visually impaired students. Upon receiving training, teachers and teens will actively engage students at the TSBVI, in astronomy and solar system activities. Utilizing teens involved in a country wide 4-H Teens Leading with Character (TLC) program as facilitators, students will engage in inquiry-based, hands-on astronomy activities in classrooms for the visually impaired and during summer camp programs. During Science Fun Day, a program to make science accessible, meaningful, and important to everyone - especially children-an interactive tactile exhibit about astronomy and the solar system will be prepared by the TSBVI students in partnership with the program collaborators including the University of Texas Astronomy Department, Texas Cooperative Extension Service, and the Texas Space Grant Consortium, but the TSBVI students will become the experts, sharing their knowledge with other students and the public, who is invited and encouraged to attend.

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The Space Weather Research Explorer Project
Robert Semper, Exploratorium
Janet Luhmann, University of California-Berkeley
Informal Science Education Internet Development
$49,997

The Exploratorium, in collaboration with space scientists from UC Berkeley, the NASA Sun-Earth Connection Education Forum, and the Stanford Solar Center, will conduct a two-year education and public outreach program to increase the general public's understanding of space weather research. The Space Weather Research Explorer project will include the development of resources that help the public interpret current space weather research data, including interactive Internet content, live and archived Webcasts of space scientists explaining space weather concepts and research, and workshops for space scientists and media professionals to build skills in communicating space science research for public audiences. The project will include an iterative evaluation process to conduct formative and summative evaluation, and the project results will be disseminated online, through presentations at professional meetings, and in published articles. The project will result in a methodology that can serve as a model for other NASA missions and research programs, enabling them to share their research discoveries in authentic ways with the general public.

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Explore and Discover Observing
Kyle Cudworth, The University of Chicago
Vivian Hoette, The University of Chicago
K-14 Formal Education Curriculum Development
$50,000

The University of Chicago Yerkes Observatory will create "Explore and Discover Observing" projects and guides to be used in conjunction with our remotely operable rooftop telescope systems, our 24-inch telescope, and the Kitamaru Internet Telescope in Japan. Project design will match interests and needs of the educators, students and astronomers, and lead to successful experiences for teachers and students. Our astronomers will assist in creating project science guides. The guides will apply the science principles, necessary calibration references, and methodologies appropriate to the goals of each project. The guides will engage NASA resources relevant to the projects. The projects will be case studies of various astronomy phenomenon, often the same phenomena as the science objectives of NASA missions. Projects will archive images taken over time by various teachers and classes, both to enhance current investigations and to track celestial changes interesting to the participants. Projects, guides and archives will be available on line.

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Exploring Our Solar Neighborhood: Bringing Astronomy and Space Science to Teachers and Students
Charles Chappell, Vanderbilt University
Judy Butler, Tennessee State University
K-14 Formal Education Training Workshop
$19,976

Exploring Our Solar Neighborhood is a yearlong joint project between Vanderbilt and Tennessee State University designed to provide high quality professional development to middle school teachers (grades 5-8) and their students in a way that engages their interest and sparks their imagination. The professional development will focus on integrating life concepts with astronomy, Earth and space science content in an inquiry-based curriculum and will occur at the Dyer Observatory with follow up visits to the classroom. The staff will include practicing astronomers, master teachers, and university professors. Specifically, this project consists of four major activities:

1. A week long Summer Institute for 15 middle school teachers;
2. A Mobile Solar Observatory that will visit classrooms and schools;
3. Virtual follow-up activities including remote on line access to the Observatory's telescopes and on-line forum/web-based video conferencing with Observatory staff and university professors; and
4. Activities for a newly created after-school group of middle school students, the Corps of Exploration.

This partnership brings the strength of a large research institution and its observatory together with the unique outreach capabilities of a historically black university. This collaboration will enhance the possibility of recruitment of typically underrepresented populations in the area of astronomy and space science education.

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OBSERVE: Observation-Based Student Experience in Research Via Exploration
Denise Young, Morehead Planetarium and Science Center
Dan Reichart, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Physics and Astronomy Department
K-14 Formal Education Curriculum Development
$49,949

We request funding to support OBSERVE, a multi-wavelength robotic telescope program that will be used to support high school Earth/Environmental Science students and their teachers in North Carolina's public schools. The primary goal of this highly leveraged program is for high school Earth Science students to be astronomers by: planning a multi-wavelength observation, submitting the observing program via the internet, allowing a state-of-the-art robotic telescope to conduct the observation, retrieving and analyzing their data, writing-up their results, and finally, submitting their paper for "publication" on the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center web site. In the first year, OBSERVE will support the development of astronomical scheduling and image processing software. Beginning in the second year, OBSERVE will bring together thirty Earth/Environmental Science teachers from North Carolina's public high schools, professional astronomers, and curriculum developers, to develop this Earth/Environmental Science course taught to all high school students in North Carolina. The Earth/Environmental Science teachers will have access to multi-wavelength robotic telescopes as a major tool of inquiry for their students and themselves. This proposal is highly leveraged including: sharing of telescope observing time with gamma ray burst follow-up telescopes, PARI's "Smiley" radio telescope which is accessible to teachers and student through the internet. Additionally, The Morehead Planetarium and Science Center has experience supporting teachers and will provide OBSERVE access to, and credibility with, the education community. Also, OBSERVE will build upon the data visualization work of Bob Gotwals. Finally, OBSERVE intends a large-scale distribution of these curricular materials and data analysis software, through astrophysics curriculum materials currently being developed for a new earth science textbook.

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Observing the Sky: Personal Exploration of the Night Sky Tied to NASA Discoveries
Charles A. Wood, Planetary Science Institute
Vera Uyehara, Quantum-Itch, Inc.
Informal Science Education Outreach
$50,000

Observing the Sky (OTS) is an innovative approach to enhancing the general public's understanding and involvement in NASA's space and astronomy research. OTS will make NASA's current science results more meaningful to the general public by encouraging personal observations of objects where there are new discoveries. OTS has three unique design features:
· First, it will be the only website featuring real-time nightly observations and guidance by a skilled observer. Visitors to OTS will learn what objects are observable, where to find them and what they look like to the eye or with binoculars or small telescopes. Near real-time digital images, descriptive reports and an opportunity to chat with the observer will make OTS the focal point for observers of the sky.
· Second, the sky objects selected for observation will be drawn from recent NASA press releases. Thus, OTS will concentrate on guiding observers to objects of current interest, and then directing them to a NASA website that explains the science.
· Third, sky observations and discovery comments by distinguished observers and astronomers will provide extra excitement and expertise to OTS. World famous observers David and Wendee Levy will contribute observations and encouragements to OTS visitors. Similarly, Mars expert Bill Hartmann, outer solar system guru Don Davis and other Planetary Science Institute scientists will provide guest commentaries on NASA discoveries.

Observing the Sky will provide a visceral experience for the interested public, uniting the romantic notion of cosmic photons impinging on the observer's eye with NASA's scientific understanding of the photon's source.

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We've Always Looked Up - Ethno-astronomy and the Hubble Space Telescope
Jayne Marley, Oklahoma Alliance for Geographic Education
Kirk Borne, Raytheon ITTS
K-14 Formal Education Training Workshop
$24,200

This project will train eight to ten teachers in the field of ethno-astronomy. The teachers will also receive instruction in astronomy, elementary astrophysics, and image interpretation as well as the use of astronomy in ancient Native American cultures. By using a combination of storytelling, art, and writing techniques, teachers will learn how to tap into the visual learning styles of their Native American students. The project will use Native American star stories as a springboard for writing star stories of the future based on the Hubble Space Telescope images. This approach will create interest and awareness by Native American students, a traditionally underrepresented group, in the career opportunities that exist in astronomy, space science, and related technical fields.

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