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**Invitation to Participate in NASA's Deep Impact**

**Education Materials Evaluation**

You are invited to review the following information about an exciting
study on the Deep Impact Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) learning
materials. We are looking for [formal and informal
educators]{.underline} who would be willing to use the Deep Impact
materials with students during a one-to-three-week period in Spring and
Summer 2005.

**What is Deep Impact Education and Public Outreach?**

Deep Impact is a NASA Discovery mission which launched in January 2005
and will crash into comet 9P/Tempel 1 in July 2005. For this mission, a
team of highly-qualified Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) providers
have developed a variety of informational and learning materials for the
general public as well as formal and informal education audiences based
on the science of this mission.

**Who is conducting the Deep Impact study and why?**

In order to determine the effectiveness of its education materials, the
Deep Impact E/PO team has contracted with Magnolia Consulting, LLC, an
external, independent, and experienced consulting firm in education and
public outreach evaluation (for more information visit
www.magnoliaconsulting.org).

The purpose of the study is to address the following key evaluation
questions:

1.  To what extent do target audiences access the Deep Impact education
    materials?

2.  What are effective dissemination mechanisms for the Deep Impact
    materials?

3.  How do formal and informal educators use the materials in their
    respective settings?

4.  What are teacher/facilitator and student perceptions of and
    experiences with using the materials?

The lead evaluator for this study is Dr. Stephanie Baird Wilkerson of
Magnolia Consulting. If you are interested in participating in the
study, please contact Tracy Herman, Magnolia Consulting Evaluation
Associate, by email at <tracy@magnoliaconsulting.org> or by sending the
enclosed FAX form.

**What can you tell me about the Deep Impact materials being
evaluated?**

The Deep Impact E/PO team offers a variety of online supplementary
science resources for formal and informal education audiences that are
aligned to national standards and allow students of all ages to engage
in inquiry-based, hands-on learning activities. Educators and students
can access the Deep Impact modules and other learning resources via the
Deep Impact Web site. There are three remaining modules to be evaluated
in this study:

**Exploring Comets & Modeling for Mission Success**

<http://deepimpact.umd.edu/educ/ExploringComets.html>

+--------------------+-------------------------------------------------+
| Activity purpose   | The purpose of this workshop activity is to     |
|                    | give educators information and activities       |
|                    | surrounding the **basics of comet science**.    |
|                    | Students get the opportunity to follow the path |
|                    | science has taken throughout history to explore |
|                    | comets. They\'ll also learn about how we are    |
|                    | currently **exploring comets** and why projects |
|                    | perform **modeling exercises** **on Earth** in  |
|                    | order to assure mission success in space.       |
|                    | Students will understand the physical and       |
|                    | chemical **properties of comets** as we         |
|                    | presently understand them.                      |
+--------------------+-------------------------------------------------+
| Student grade      | Ideal for grades 6-8, but can be modified for   |
| level              | 2-12.                                           |
+--------------------+-------------------------------------------------+
| Implementation     | 3-5 days                                        |
| duration           |                                                 |
+--------------------+-------------------------------------------------+
| Necessary          | The following workshop materials are provided:  |
| materials          |                                                 |
|                    | For Educators:                                  |
|                    |                                                 |
|                    | -   ["Exploring Comets - Activity Purpose and   |
|                    |     Goals"](http://                             |
|                    | deepimpact.umd.edu/educ/ExploringComets01.html) |
|                    |                                                 |
|                    | -   ["Comet Activity                            |
|                    |     Overview"](http://                          |
|                    | deepimpact.umd.edu/educ/ExploringComets02.html) |
|                    |     (activity outline, order of activity)       |
|                    |                                                 |
|                    | -   ["Make a Comet Model and Eat                |
|                    |     it!"](                                      |
|                    | http://deepimpact.umd.edu/educ/IceCream01.html) |
|                    |     -- Educator page                            |
|                    |                                                 |
|                    | -   ["Deep Impact's Comet on a                  |
|                    |     Stick!"](ht                                 |
|                    | tp://deepimpact.umd.edu/educ/CometStick01.html) |
|                    |     -- Educator page                            |
|                    |                                                 |
|                    | -   ["Questions from Past                       |
|                    |     Workshops"](h                               |
|                    | ttp://deepimpact.umd.edu/educ/DIQuestions.html) |
|                    |     -- Discussion or student test               |
|                    |                                                 |
|                    | For Students/Educators:                         |
|                    |                                                 |
|                    | -   ["Consider                                  |
|                    |     this"](http://                              |
|                    | deepimpact.umd.edu/educ/ExploringComets03.html) |
|                    |     history page                                |
|                    |                                                 |
|                    | -   ["A Comet's Place in the Solar              |
|                    |     System"](http://                            |
|                    | deepimpact.umd.edu/educ/ExploringComets04.html) |
|                    |                                                 |
|                    | -   ["Exploring                                 |
|                    |     Comets\"](http://                           |
|                    | deepimpact.umd.edu/educ/ExploringComets05.html) |
|                    |     -- Student reflection page                  |
|                    |                                                 |
|                    | -   ["Make a comet model and eat                |
|                    |     it"](                                       |
|                    | http://deepimpact.umd.edu/educ/IceCream02.html) |
|                    |     Activity                                    |
|                    |                                                 |
|                    | -   ["Make a comet model and eat                |
|                    |     it\"](                                      |
|                    | http://deepimpact.umd.edu/educ/IceCream03.html) |
|                    |     -- Student Data Sheet                       |
|                    |                                                 |
|                    | -   ["Chemistry of Ice Cream                    |
|                    |     Activity"](                                 |
|                    | http://deepimpact.umd.edu/educ/IceCream04.html) |
|                    |                                                 |
|                    | -   ["Ten Important Comet                       |
|                    |     Facts"](                                    |
|                    | http://deepimpact.umd.edu/educ/CometFacts.html) |
|                    |     -- Facts about comets                       |
|                    |                                                 |
|                    | -   ["C-O-M-E-T-S --                            |
|                    |     Acrostic"](htt                              |
|                    | p://deepimpact.umd.edu/educ/CometAcrostic.html) |
|                    |     -- Facts about comets                       |
|                    |                                                 |
|                    | -   ["Deep Impact's Comet on a                  |
|                    |     Stick"](ht                                  |
|                    | tp://deepimpact.umd.edu/educ/CometStick03.html) |
|                    |     Activity                                    |
|                    |                                                 |
|                    | -   ["Paper Comet with a Deep                   |
|                    |     Impact"](ht                                 |
|                    | tp://deepimpact.umd.edu/educ/CometStick04.html) |
|                    |     -- Optional Activity                        |
|                    |                                                 |
|                    | -   ["Comet Models based on the Deep Impact     |
|                    |     Mission"](ht                                |
|                    | tp://deepimpact.umd.edu/educ/CometStick02.html) |
|                    |     Activity                                    |
|                    |                                                 |
|                    | -   ["Deep Impact -- Interesting                |
|                    |     Facts                                       |
|                    | "](http://deepimpact.umd.edu/educ/DIFacts.html) |
|                    |     -- mission background                       |
|                    |                                                 |
|                    | -   Optional Extension activities from the      |
|                    |     Stardust comet mission are found at         |
|                    |     <http                                       |
|                    | ://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/classroom/guides.html> |
|                    |                                                 |
|                    | You will need to provide:                       |
|                    |                                                 |
|                    | -   Materials for the ["Make a comet and eat    |
|                    |     it"](h                                      |
|                    | ttp://deepimpact.umd.edu/educ/IceCream01.html), |
|                    |     ["Comet on a                                |
|                    |     Stick!"](htt                                |
|                    | p://deepimpact.umd.edu/educ/CometStick01.html), |
|                    |     or other activities you choose from this    |
|                    |     package                                     |
|                    |                                                 |
|                    | -   Household or arts and crafts items to make  |
|                    |     comet models                                |
|                    |                                                 |
|                    | -   Poster board and pens or enough blackboard  |
|                    |     space to retain several class discussion    |
|                    |     lists                                       |
|                    |                                                 |
|                    | -   (Optional) Computer to look up mission web  |
|                    |     sites for research                          |
+--------------------+-------------------------------------------------+

**Designing Craters**

<http://deepimpact.umd.edu/designing_craters/index.html>

<http://spacelink.nasa.gov/products>

+---------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| Activity purpose    | This lesson addresses student inquiry into the |
|                     | question: \"How do you make a 7-15 stories     |
|                     | deep, football stadium-sized crater in a       |
|                     | comet?\" The lessons are designed to provide   |
|                     | students with experience in **conducting       |
|                     | scientific inquiries**, gain a greater         |
|                     | understanding of **scientific modeling**, and  |
|                     | get the students involved with the             |
|                     | **excitement of a NASA mission** in            |
|                     | development. This module is designed to give   |
|                     | students and teachers a structure for          |
|                     | investigating one of the questions facing Deep |
|                     | Impact\'s mission design team: \"**How do you  |
|                     | make a crater on a comet?**\"                  |
+---------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| Student grade level | 7-12                                           |
+---------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| Implementation      | 2-3 weeks                                      |
| duration            |                                                |
+---------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| Necessary materials | Teacher guides, student handouts, and student  |
|                     | activities for the following subjects 1)       |
|                     | Thinking about cratering,                      |
|                     |                                                |
|                     | 2\) Design, evaluate, and present (crater      |
|                     | diameter and depth), 3) Predicting crater      |
|                     | size, 4) Compare (classroom experiments,       |
|                     | professional lab cratering experiments, and    |
|                     | cratering on a Solar System scale), 5) Model   |
|                     | and Report, 6) Support materials               |
+---------------------+------------------------------------------------+

**Observing Tempel 1**

<http://deepimpact.umd.edu/amateur/>

  ---------------------- ------------------------------------------------
  Activity purpose       This is an activity for planning and conducting
                         a guided inquiry that involves an **observation
                         of a faint comet over time**. Learners will be
                         guided to consider the comet's physical
                         appearance and how that physical characteristic
                         changes over time, culminating with the impact
                         of comet 9P/ Tempel 1 by the Deep Impact
                         impactor in July of 2005. The activity involves
                         the use of **telescope** or remote telescope.

  Student grade level    9-12

  Implementation         1-2 weeks for parts I-IV, additional time if
  duration               implementing optional parts V-VI.

  Necessary materials    Telescope, teacher guides, student handouts, and
                         student activities for the following subjects 1)
                         Deep Impact mission, 2) Comet perceptions, 3)
                         Comet observations, 4) Planning the
                         investigation, 5) Conducting the investigation
                         (optional), 6) Communicating findings
                         (optional).
  ---------------------- ------------------------------------------------

**How long is the study and when will it be conducted?**

The length of your participation in the study will depend on which
module you choose to evaluate. Therefore, implementation and study
duration will vary from one-to-three weeks. It will be conducted during
Spring and Summer 2005 and with consideration of your current curriculum
and testing schedule.

**What will be expected of participants?**

Educators will be expected to participate in three data-collection
efforts that include implementation journals, site visit observations
and interviews, and an educator feedback survey. We will ask that you
administer an interest and feedback survey to your students. We would
also like to collect basic demographic information about you and your
students. All data collected from this study will be kept confidential
and no identifying information will be reported.

**What are the benefits of participating in the Deep Impact study?**

The Deep Impact study is an exciting opportunity for educators and
students to participate in timely, relevant, and engaging supplemental
science activities. Participating educators will receive a \$50 stipend
for their time and contributions to the study.

**Who do I contact if I want to participate or if I have any
questions?**

Please submit the following FAX form, if you would like to be considered
for participation. You may also contact Tracy Herman by phone at
585.461.3651 or by email at <tracy@magnoliaconsulting.org>. Interested
individuals need to respond to this invitation in order to coordinate
your participation and involvement in the study. If you have any
questions, please contact Dr. Stephanie Baird Wilkerson by phone at
540.967.5540 or by email at
[stephanie@magnoliaconsulting.org](mailto:sbaird-wilkerson@mcrel.org).

**We look forward to hearing from you!**

[FAX]{.underline}

LETTER OF INTEREST

FOR THE DEEP IMPACT STUDY

TO: [Tracy Herman, M.A.]{.underline}

FAX #: [585-461-3651]{.underline}

DATE:

FROM:

ORGANIZATION:

PHONE:

ADDRESS:

EMAIL:

![](media/image2.png){width="6.0in" height="0.1in"}

Ms. Herman:

I am very interested in participating in a study on the effectiveness of
the Deep Impact learning materials. I look forward to working closely
with Magnolia Consulting and the Deep Impact E/PO team to coordinate my
participation in this study.

Sincerely,

![](media/image2.png){width="6.0in" height="0.1in"}

**ADDITIONAL INFORMATION**

1\. What is the best way to contact you? Phone Email

2a. If you work in formal education, what grade do you teach?
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ grade

b\. If you work in informal education, with what age students do you
work? \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

3\. Which Deep Impact module are you interested in using?

Designing Craters Observing Tempel 1

Exploring Comets and Modeling for Mission Success

4\. What month would be the best time for you to implement this module?

April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005

5\. How many students would you involve in using this module?
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_students