The excitement of astrophysical research and discovery is brought into the high school science and mathematics classes through a flexible set of student activities and projects on variable stars. The project includes a computerized database, of 400,000 measurements of brightness of 150 variable stars in five constellations over 25 years, from which students can deduce properties, processes, and evolution of these stars. Students can make additional measurements and discoveries from carefully selected time sequences of 125 35mm slides or from actual measurements from the night sky. A comprehensive student manual and instructional videos make the materials self-contained and easy to use. The teacher manual enables the instructor to adapt the materials to skills, objectives and local curricula. The material can be used in a variety of contexts: traditional mathematics and science classes at both the high school and college level, independent projects, summer institutes, and community science clubs. The material will be field tested in classes and refined through workshops with teachers. A newsletter and a video about amateur astronomers is planned.
Voyage of Discovery is a comprehensive and innovative project designed to provide K-12 youth in Baltimore City with an introduction to mathematics, engineering, technology, environmental science, and computer and information science, as it relates to the maritime and aerospace industries. The Sankofa Institute, in partnership with the Living Classrooms Foundation and a host of marine, informal science, community, and educational organizations, collaborate to make science relevant for inner-city youth by infusing science across the curriculum and by addressing aspects of history and culture. Youth are introduced to historical, current, and future innovations in shipbuilding as a means to learn the science, mathematics, and history associated with navigation, transportation, environmental science, and shipping. Activities will take place at the Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park and Museum where students participate in intensive afterschool, Saturday, and summer sessions. Families are invited for pre-session orientation meetings and again at the end of each session to observe student progress. This project will provide over 3,900 K-12 youth with the opportunity to learn mathematics (algebra, geometry, and trigonometry), physics (gravity, density, mechanics), design, and estuarine biology while participating in hands-on sessions. Project deliverables include a 26-foot wooden boat, a working model of a dirigible, a submarine model, and pilot control panel models, all constructed by students and subsequently incorporated into exhibits at the USS Constellation Museum. The project also results in the production of two curricula--one each on celestial navigation and propulsion. Voyage of Discovery informs the literature on inquiry-based informal science education programs and strategies to engage minority and low-income youth in learning science and technology.
The Challenger Center for Space Science Education located in Alexandria, Virginia, a nonprofit organization with a mission to increase the number of youth interested in science and space, is requesting $303,170 over two years from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop a new scenario for its Challenger Learning Centers. Located in science centers. museums and schools around the country. Learning Centers house equipment and educational programming for hands-on training during a simulated mission. Scenarios use mathematics, science and problem-solving skills to provide participants with simulated experiences of working in a space laboratory and a "Mission control" laboratory. Challenger Center requests assistance and partnership from NSF to develop, field test, implement and evaluate a new scenario on the environment, "Mission to Planet Earth" scenario. This project will involve collaboration of expert scientists, educators, Challenger staff, and science museum professionals. Annually more than 180,000 students and between 10,000 and 15,000 adults will participate in the scenario at Learning Centers, using space as a format for learning about environmental issues. Challenger is working on the preliminary planning stage between June and December 1991. Two years of funding are requested from NSF beginning in January 1992.
George Awad, an artisan noted for his superb architectural models turned his talent to pursue his personal fascination with science and astronomy. The results was a preliminary prototype of a stunningly detailed and beautiful exhibit called "Model of the Universe by Powers of Ten". A special showing of the exhibit by the Planetary Society drew rave reviews from an audience of noted scientists and science educators. Preliminary showings at the Montshire Museum of Science and at the Smithsonian's Experimental Gallery demonstrated its unusual appeal withthe general public, and a second modified and larger version has been created by Mr. Awad. Montshire Museum of Science proposes to collaborate with the Maryland Science Center and with Mr. Awad to 1) further refine the two existing prototype exhibits, 2) develop companion interpretive materials to more fully convey the astronomical and mathematical concepts implicit in the exhibits, and 3) display the two prototypes at the two collaborating museum sites and evaluate their effective with the public. This work is intended to guide the proposed creation (not part of this proposal) of a permanent and much larger-scale "Universe" exhibit designed to be circulated among major science museums.
The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago is producing a large format film that examines the sun and the relationship between the earth, its inhabitants, and our mother star. SOLARMAX will present some of the newest discoveries about the sun and will place special emphasis on the defining impact of the sun on human life and culture. The influence of solar cycles on global warming will be explored and new, unprecedented high-definition images of the sun will be included for the first time in a large format film. The film will examine how multiple scientific disciplines interact to build a complete picture of the universe by delving into the history and philosophy of science, astronomy, astrophysics, solar physics, helioseismology, meteorology, spectrography, mathematics, and biology. The Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, will serve as Executive Producer and distributor of SOLARMAX. The film will be produced by Robert Eather, an expert in magnetospheric physics and a science filmmaker. The Co-Producer, Writer, and Director will be John Weiley who previously served in these roles for the large format film, Antarctica. Advisors in the fields of space weather, solar physics, and archaeoastronomy include Louis Lanzerotte, Paul Dusenbery, Gaerhardt Haerendell, George Siscoe, and Edwin Krupp.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Robert EatherJohn WeileyJohn WickstromMuseum of Science and Industry
Ohio's Center of Science and Industry (COSI) in Columbus, Ohio, in association with the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, WA. and the Battelle Memorial Institute will create and circulate a 4,000 square foot traveling exhibition, "Mission to Mars." Interactive exhibit units will be organized into a spacecraft mission simulator. Visitors in teams will run a scientific mission to the planet Mars. Exhibits and simulation activities will cover basic and applied science and mathematics topics appropriate for middle to high school students and family audiences. Educational materials for school use will accompany the exhibition. COSI has a strong reputation for interactive science exhibitions. Their widely acclaimed "Science of Sports" exhibition will be seen in more than 15 cities. The Pacific Science Center has a similar reputation for educational exhibitions and related materials development. Their educational materials on dinosaurs have been widely used by other museums. The Battelle Memorial Institute is a world- renowned research and applied science organization. "Mission to Mars" is supported by commitments from thirteen of America's leading science museums and a major award from Apple Computer Company. The project team will deliver a timely exhibition that will be both engaging and challenging, rich with scientific detail while still appealing to family audiences. "Mission to Mars" will travel to 13 cities on a three year tour, reaching an estimated three to five million people. NSF's 43% of the project cost will be leveraged by more than $878,000 in contributions from the originating institutions, from the displaying museums and from Apple.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Charles O'ConnorJoseph WisneMichael Stanley
Research shows that participation and interest in science starts to drop as youth enter high school. This is also the point when science becomes more complex and there is increased need for content knowledge, mathematics capability, and computer or computational knowledge. Evidence suggests that youth who participate in original scientific research are more likely to enter and maintain a career in science as compared to students who do not have these experiences. We know young people get excited by space science. This project (STEM-ID) is informed by previous work in which high school students were introduced to scientific research and contributed to the search for pulsars. Students were able to develop the required science and math knowledge and computer skills that enabled them to successfully participate. STEM-ID builds on this previous work with two primary goals: the replication of the local program into a distributed program model and an investigation of the degree to which authentic research experiences build strong science identities and research self-efficacies. More specifically the project will support (a) significant geographic expansion to institutions situated in communities with diverse populations allowing substantial inclusion of under-served groups, (b) an online learning and discovery environment that will support the participation of youth throughout the country via online activities, and (c) opportunities for deeper participation in research and advancement within the research community. This project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program which seeks to advance new approaches to, and understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. STEM-ID will serve 2000 high school youth and 200 high school teachers in afterschool clubs with support from 30 undergraduate and graduate students and 10 college/university faculty. Exploratory educational research will determine the broad mechanisms by which online activities and in-person and online peer-mentor teacher-scientist interactions influence science identity, self-efficacy, motivation, and career intentions, as well as a focused understanding of the mechanisms that influence patterns of participation. Youth will be monitored longitudinally through the first two years of college to provide an understanding of the long-term effects of out-of-class science enrichment programs on STEM career decisions. These studies will build an understanding of the best practices for enhancing STEM persistence in college through engagement in authentic STEM programs before youth get to college. In addition to the benefits of the education research, this program may lead participants to discover dozens of new pulsars. These pulsars will be used for fundamental advances such as for testing of general relativity, constraining neutron star masses, or detecting gravitational waves. The resulting survey will also be sensitive to transient signals such as sporadic pulsars and extragalactic bursts. This project provides a potential model for youth from geographical disparate places to participate in authentic research experiences. For providers, it will offer a model for program delivery with lower costs. Findings will support greater understanding of the mechanisms for participation in STEM. This work is being led by West Virginia University and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Participating sites include California Institute of Technology, Cornell University, El Paso Community College, Howard University, Montana State University, Penn State University, Texas Tech University, University of Vermont, University of Washington, and Vanderbilt University.
As a part of the strategy to reach the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Science Education and Public Outreach Forum Objective 1.2: Provide resources and opportunities to enable sharing of best practices relevant to SMD education and public outreach (E/PO), the Informal Education Working Group members designed a nationally-distributed online survey to answer the following questions: 1. How, when, where, and for how long do informal educators prefer to receive science, mathematics, engineering, and/or technology content professional development? 2. What are the professional development and
STARBASE Minnesota strives to increase the knowledge, skills, and interest of inner-city elementary school youth in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) for greater academic and lifelong success. This study examines the potential long-term impacts of participation, including interest and engagement in STEM, academic achievement, high school graduation, and college enrollment.
The Chester County intermediate Unit developed strong collaborations between school districts and informal education providers across Pennsylvania to engage thousands of students in high quality learning experiences. NASA will support these partnering institutions as they engage local teachers in professional development in high quality instruction during the school year. Requirements for both summer activities and school year activities necessitates cooperative agreements with secondary education partners to ensure fulfilling participation requirements such as reaching a large number of middle school students and teachers. The CCIU has many potential partners in the PA SoI project who have expressed interest in participating; including Carnegie-Mellon Robotics Academy, Cheyney University, Widener University, the Philadelphia School District, the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the NASTAR flight facility. With a renewed effort by the CCIU the PA Summer of Innovation Program will be implemented through the PAIU NET to provide quality STEM programming to students and STEM training to teachers while monitoring student outcomes. In Eastern PA camps will be held August 1-5 at 36 sites in the 20 participating school districts statewide. In Chester County, camp sites include Gordon Elementary School and Pope John Paul II Regional Catholic School. Additionally several NASA SoI Mini-Camps were held increasing the breath and depth of the program's impact.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Chester County Intermediate UnitJohn Hall
The University of Arkansas Center for Math and Science Education (CMASE), one of eleven mathematics and science centers on university and college campuses around the state, provides quality resources and materials to the home, private and public education community. The Arkansas NASA Educator Resource Center, located within CMASE, is the state's dissemination point for education materials provided by NASA. Resources and school/classroom presentations are free of charge. The main objectives of both centers are to provide: (1) K-16 education outreach to the home, private and public Northwest Arkansas education community; (2) quality professional development for pre-service and in-service teachers at local, regional, state and national levels; (3) access points for dissemination of educational materials, resources and information; and (4) links to common education allies throughout the state and nation.
This award-winning website includes a comprehensive collection of standards-based, space science education materials. Site visitors can explore a variety of resources such as A Hubble Gallery, Online Explorations, Tonight’s Sky, and Star Witness News science content readings. The “For Educators” side of site includes support materials such as science background information and overview pages that provide strategies for using Amazing Space activities in educational settings.
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Space Telescope Science InstituteBonnie Eisenhamer