Atacama Experience 2006

Personal Narrative

Cherlyn Anderson

As I prepare for the first day of school, my mind is racing with
anticipation of sharing my experiences of the Atacama expedition. I am
so eager to be returning to school so that my excitement can be related
to my fellow teachers and most importantly, my students. There have been
other experiences I've enjoyed that has increased my enthusiasm for
teaching science, but never anything of the magnitude of this summer's
expedition.

There are so many activities and opportunities that I want to bring to
my students that will enhance my curriculum and build upon other
resources that I already use. For example, the rovers that Corey worked
with will be an excellent addition to my robotics class I will be
teaching, as well as supplement my space exploration activities used
during my space science unit. I plan to arrange a video-conference with
Corey so that my students will see a young scientist at work. I would
also like to incorporate the radio controlled airplanes we utilized at
Goddard during the Remote Sensing Earth Science Teachers' Project. I
developed a remote-sensing unit around the equipment used on the planes.
I feel that I could incorporate Jim Ninow and Linda Powers's research
into this unit in regards to spectroscopy and bio-signatures. I also
plan to stay in touch with Penny Boston. She will be a tremendous asset
during my Earth Science unit, having volunteered to share her collection
of photos of rocks and minerals. I am also extremely interested in
developing a unit of activities involving caves.

One of the events witnessed on the transect, and during the work with
the scientists, is the importance of journaling. I have stressed with my
students for years (and other science teachers) that a scientist's
journal means everything to their research. I have often used the
example of Sean Connery in the movie "Medicine Man." He had found a cure
for cancer, but didn't have the formula because he had lost his
journals. It was awesome to see the scientists on the expedition writing
in their journals. Penny Boston also related the importance of her
journals. She mentioned that although she has transcripts saved on
computers, she has had to go back into her actual journals to verify
data for colleagues working on similar projects. I also liked to see the
scientists collaborating and asking each other questions about their
specific work. Science needs more of this! This also supports my
persistence of having my students continually ask questions about the
activities and research they are doing in class.

The most effective part of the expedition was the transect from
Santiago. Although after two days of driving, I questioned the idea. It
would have been much easier for us to fly to Antofagasto. I also
questioned why Chris assigned us to cars at first. However, in both
cases, that would have defeated the purpose of the entire expedition. It
was necessary to collect samples along the 800+km route. More
importantly, we would not have had time to bond with our fellow
travelers (you learn a lot about someone after driving two days + in a
car) and would not have been able to see the changes in landscapes along
the way. How awesome it was to actually see plate tectonics in action!
Also, the San Pedro trip (an expedition in itself) was another
opportunity to bond with not only the researchers and grad students, but
with our Chilean friends.

As for a future expedition, especially to Yungay, a work schedule needs
to be developed. There were several of us that constantly pitched in to
wash dishes and clean. To avoid late dinners, it would be nice to have a
schedule in which everyone has a responsibility, based on their
effectiveness, for cooking, cleaning, etc. Although I know the
scientists did a lot of their work before or after dinner, they should
also be involved in a rotational schedule.

Interacting with the Chilean teachers was an integral part of the
expedition. I plan to stay involved with some of them and share data
collected on field expeditions with our students, via e-mail, or even
more effectively video-conferencing. We could discuss field research
logistics prior to the study. We could establish a "pen-pal student
scientists" web-site, allowing our students to post and share data, and
most importantly interact socially.

As an Atacama veteran and mentor, I believe our knowledge and experience
could be used during the video-conferences and also as "team" leaders
for homework assignments. There were several times during our homework
assignments, that we were unclear as to the expectations. There were
tons of emails flying through cyberspace! If each of us were assigned to
a "team", the participants could have a more in-depth knowledge of the
analog sites and the research that goes on there, the work of the
scientists involved, and life at Yungay. As mentors, we could actually
take on more of the work and preparation for the expedition. We would
also be able to share what we know about exploring for life on other
planets. I feel I had a great advantage over some of the other teachers
because I had just participated in the JASON Project's "Mysteries of
Earth and Mars." I had a tremendous amount of background knowledge,
especially since meeting many of the scientists involved in looking for
life on Mars, such as Jack Farmer. I knew what "blueberries" were! Also,
my background in Geology helped tremendously, as well as my knowledge of
spectroscopy, and life science. As mentors, we could develop
presentations to bring the participants "up-to-speed" in areas they are
not familiar with. As Cathy said, she learned a rock is not just a rock!
I also feel strongly that we should be developing activities and lessons
based on the scientist's research.

I personally have no idea how many people have gone to the archived
webcast. We had students in summer school that day, but they were
released at 11:50.

Being from an Explorer School, I found out about this opportunity. Since
our involvement with the NES program, I have tended to let my younger
science teachers apply for opportunities. However, when this was
announced, I made sure they all knew I was going to apply! With all of
the teachers on the expedition being from NES, we did share a common
bond. Also, being from a NES school we have students that are in dire
need of the experiences we can bring back to them. We can use our
enthusiasm gained from these experiences to motivate our students to
perhaps achieve a better life for themselves, following their passions
for the love of science, math, or technology. Is it fair to non NES
schools? Probably not. I personally do not have an issue with opening up
the recruitment from non NES schools. However, our students are the ones
that most need experiences such as this.

My vision for Spaceward Bound in five years is to actually have the
participating teachers (American and foreign) establish a partnership
with each other, the scientists, and among their students where the
lessons, activities developed, and research could be discussed via
video-conference, e-mail, or even an interactive website. (It would be
advantageous for the teachers to go to other Mars/Moon analog sites to
build comparative studies.  )

With the anticipated emerging technologies and continued research, our
students will be prepared to be among the future space explorers!