Report of
JAXASpace Education Center
On Its Activities in 2010-2011

Report of
JAXA Space Education Center
On Its Activities in 2010-2011

REPORT OF JAXA SPACE EDUCATION CENTERON ITS ACTIVITIES IN 2010 - 2011
(Information as of February 2011)

I.

INTRODUCTION ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ 05

TABLE OF CONTENTS

II.

BASIC FACTS ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ 06
A. Establishment of the Center ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ 06
B. Goals and principles ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ 06

V.

IV.

III.

SUPPORT FOR EDUCATION AT HOME ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ 30
A. Background and strategies ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ 30
B. Achievements ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ 30

SUPPORT FOR INFORMAL EDUCATION ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥A. Objectives and strategies ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥
B. Programme structure ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥
C. Achievements ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥SUPPORT FOR FORMAL EDUCATION ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥A. Objectives and strategies ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥
B. Achievements ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥
C. Establishing strategic footholds ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥
22
22
23
28

12
12
15
20

C. Organizational structure and major activities ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ 09
D. Collaborations for space education ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ 10

VI.

INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ 32
A. Objectives and strategies ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ 32
B. Focusing on children in Asia : Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum ‥ 33
C. Collaborations with advanced space-faring nations: International Space
Education Board ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ 36
D. Pursuing cooperation with developing countries outside Asia ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ 38
E. Other collaborations : providing education opportunities outside Asia forgraduate students ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ 41

VII. DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION AND PUBLICATIONS ‥ 42
A. Objectives and strategies ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ 42
B. Achievements ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ 43
VIII. STRATEGIC ALLIANCES AND ESTABLISHMENT OF FOOTHOLDS ‥ 44
IX. CONCLUDING REMARKS ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ 46

I. INTRODUCTION
As the Space Education Center of Japan Aerospace Exploration
Agency (JAXA) entered its sixth year of operation following its
establishment in May 2005, it continued to enhance its activities
both in terms of quantity and quality to ignite children’s curiosity
toward the nature, life and the universe and to inspire them toachieve higher goals. Recognizing “space” as the unique source ofinterest, imagination and inspiration, the Center has continued todemonstrate the effective use of space subjects, materials andresources at schools, in local communities and at home to stimulate
children’s interest in not only science and technology but also various human conducts and their surrounding environment.
A growing number of individuals, groups and organizations within
and outside Japan are now sharing the Center’s goals and principles
in carrying out space education activities, resulting in the increased
partnerships and strategic alliances with various entities to reach out
to more young people. The time between the year 2010 and the year
2011 could be marked as the period of strategic expansion of spaceeducation efforts based on the systematic support provided by theCenter to all stakeholders.
This report reflects the major developments in the activities of theSpace Education Center and its achievements in 2010 and 2011 andindicates directions to be pursued in the coming year.

5II. BASIC FACTS

work of the Center.

Education Center and, to some extent, laid the foundation for theprocess. This group served as the predecessor to the Space

lives and ultimately to have positive impact on their growing-up

ple’s interest in science and other subjects relevant to their daily

activities using attractive space materials to stimulate young peo-

Public Affairs Department, the space education group carried out

dedicated to space education activities. Originally located within thereach and education resulted in the establishment of a separate group

The recognition of the fundamental difference between public out-

gain public support for the activities of JAXA.

and highlighting societal benefits of space activities, with the aim toincreasing public awareness and understanding of the work of JAXA

public relations and outreach activities. Those activities focused on

October 20031, had carried out educational activities as part of the

JAXA, as well as its predecessors before its establishment in

May 2005 at JAXA Sagamihara Campus.

Exploration Agency (JAXA). The Center formally opened on 19

executive decision by the President of the Japan Aerospace

The Space Education Center was established on 1 May 2005 by an

A. Establishment of the Center

Opening of the Space Education
Center:Prof. Y. Matogawa, First Directorof the Center (left), and JAXA President K.
Tachikawa (right)

JAXA Sagamihara campus

B. Goals and principles
Space subjects, resources and materials inherently have uniquepower to attract young people’s attention and to encourage them totake on challenges and aim for higher goals. While the Space
Education Center considers it important to attract young people topursue career options in space-related areas, so as to expand the poolof future space scientists and engineers, the key mission of theCenter is to effectively use space materials to have positive impact
on the minds of young people in their development process, helping
them to expand their potential and to become socially responsible
individuals.
1 JAXA was established by merging the following three separate space-related entities: National Space Development Agency (NASDA),
Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) and National Aeronautics Laboratory (NAL).

6

There are a few principles that the Space Education Center follows
in its activities.
The Center considers it important that the young people understandthe thinking process behind what they acquire as knowledge. Taking
advantage of their simple curiosity toward the nature, life and environment that surrounds them, the Center offers them with opportunities to experience the joy of discovering something new and previously unknown to them and solving mysteries by themselves. In thisprocess, the Center also aims to increase young people’s appreciation of science and technology and to enhance their capacity for logical thinking.
“Preciousness of life” continues to be the most important message tobe conveyed to young people through all activities of the Center.
The abundance of goods and services that meet various needs ofpeople in Japan might indicate the richness of the society. However,that may not necessarily be true if one pays close attention to theminds of people, especially those of young people. An alarming
number of young people in Japan have been observed to have limited motivation to do anything, to be pessimistic about their own
future and even to treat people’s lives lightly, including their own
lives, and get involved in serious crimes. The people involved in theestablishment of the Space Education Center had become deeply
concerned about those young people, and they wanted to do something about it.
Space subjects and materials were found to offer an excellent tool toinspire and motivate young people, to start gaining self-confidence
and aiming for higher goals in their lives. It was observed that after
learning that there had been a lengthy chain of relays of one life toanother before a certain life was born and that the lives on the Earth
today had come a long way from pieces of galaxies and starts, manyof the young people started to think deeply about the origin and evolution of lives and gained appreciation of the importance of life.

7

By letting young people learn about the origin and evolution of theuniverse and life and showing how long we have been searching for
Earth-like planets without success, the Center aims to increase theirappreciation of all forms of lives on the Earth.
The spirit of “Never Give Up” is another important message always
emphasized in the activities of the Center, as this spirit is consideredessential for anybody who wants to achieve something significant inthis challenging world. The history of space exploration is full of
examples that show how important this is.
Through its activities, the Center also guides young people to understand how important and how rewarding it is to be part of the society
to build a better future together. No individual can carry out space
activities by themselves, but together, a large number of people withvarious backgrounds can even build global systems that could benefit large populations around the world. The Center aims to increase
young people’s appreciation of the power of collective efforts
toward common goals.
With the above goals and principles, the Center carries out its activities to help young people become full of curiosity, adventurous spirit
and craftsmanship, always aiming for the best in whatever they do.

8formal education support, to assist teachers and schools in carrying out classroom activities using space materials;
informal education support, to assist local communities in organizing educational events for young people on off school days
to learn about space-related subjects and to participate inhands-on activities;

tries and international organizations.

activities outside Japan through collaborations with other coun-iv) international activities, to promote and support space education

resources;

joint hands-on activities using space-related materials andcations and interactions with their children at home throughiii) home education support, to assist parents in enhancing communi-

ii)

i)

The Center carries out the following four major activities:

including 7 regular staff and 10 invited or contracted staff.

2011, the Space Education Office consists of 17 staff members,planning and execution of the Center’s activities. As of February

ments but have been appointed as technical advisers to assist in theexperts who administratively belong to other offices and depart-which serves as the implementing body of the Center, and a group of

The Space Education Center consists of the Space Education Office,

C. Organizational structure and major activities

Formal education support

Informal education support

Home education support

International activities: Space
Education Seminar in Bangladesh

9Houston as new approaches.

opportunity for Japanese teachers to make lectures at local school in

occasion of SEEC2011, in February 2011, JAXA have provided thefor language, arts, mathematics, history and other subjects. On thematerials to teach across the curricula, not only for science, but also

about and exchange information and experience on using space

America. The Conference offers opportunities for teachers to learn

held at Space Center Houston, in Houston, United States ofpate in the annual Space Exploration Educators Conference (SEEC),

and secondary schools as well as kindergartens in Japan to partici-

Center continues to provide opportunities for teachers of primaryand Utilization Mission Directory of JAXA, the Space Education

Resulting from the collaborations with the Human Space Systems

normal seeds on the Earth in the growing process.

schools to compare those seeds that have been flown on the ISS with

“Asagao”, or morning glories, this project allows the participating

plant named “Miyakogusa”, or Japanese lotus corniculatus, andticipate in “Seeds in Space” project. Using seeds of the flowering

Center has recently announced the opportunities for schools to par-use of the International Space Station (ISS). The Space Education

related activities in association with Space Shuttle flights and theSpace Environment Utilization Center, which carries out education-

The Space Education Center also works in cooperation with theto talk about space subjects.

Japan, on 12 September, a number of JAXA staff are sent to schools

Particularly during the one-month period celebrating Space Day inrange of space-related topics on various occasions upon request.

responsible for sending JAXA staff as lecturers to give talks on aoutreach group of the Public Affairs Department. This Department is

For example, the Center works in cooperation with the planning andwith those offices and departments.

have educational elements. The Space Education Center collaborates

Other offices and departments of JAXA also carry out activities that

D. Collaborations with other offices and departments within JAXA

Call for opportunities to participate in“Seeds in Space” project

Astronaut Doi and samples used foran educational experiment relating tospace and life

SEEC session with teaching demonstrations by Japanese teachers supported by the Space Education Center

Bamboo battery experiment demonstrated by a Japanese teacher at
Seabrook Intermediate School on theoccasion of SEEC

10

Supporting senior high school class inenvironmental study together with
Satellite Applications and Promotion
CenterThe Satellite Applications and Promotion Center produces useful
information materials with images taken by JAXA-operated satellites for distribution to the public. The Space Education Center
works in collaboration with the Satellite Applications and Promotion
Center to carry out educational activities that use images taken by
JAXA satellites.
The Space Education Center seeks for collaborations with various
entities outside JAXA that are engaged in education. Close collaborations with teachers and schools are considered most essential. The
Center has continued to explore opportunities for collaborations
with associations of teachers, boards of education as well as publishers of textbooks and companies of educational materials, in its
efforts to better integrate space subjects and materials into the existing curricula for formal education and to produce education materials that better meet needs of schools and teachers. Significant progress has been made in this area particularly in the past year. Detailsof collaborations with those entities are provided in Chapter VIII of
the present report.
In pursuing collaborations to expand space education activities, theCenter takes a comprehensive approach. The Center seeks for collaborations not only with those entities that are involved in spacescience and technology and their applications, life science and Earthscience, which have clear links with space activities, but also withothers that are engaged in studies on humanities and civilizations aswell as arts and philosophies.

11III. SUPPORT FOR FORMAL EDUCATION
A. Objectives and strategies
Space activities encompass the accumulation of human knowledge
and provide a common thread that links many different aspects ofhuman activities. Many materials that resulted from space activities
catch attention of young people and appeal to their curiosity. The
challenge is to find a best way to make those materials available foruse under most conducive learning environment for young people.
Through its formal education support, the Space Education Center
aims to expand and enhance the use of attractive space materials byschools and teachers to assist the students in learning various subjects according to the curriculum guidelines. The Center considers it
essential to work closely with school teachers as they are in a better
position to understand young people’s needs and feelings throughtheir daily interactions.
There are a several strategies pursued by the Center to achieve thatgoal.
One is to provide customized support to the teachers who have contacted the Center with request for support. After the initial contact,
the Center’s staff hold numerous consultations with those teachers toarticulate their needs and interest, identify goals and develop plans
for activities for their classes. Once the plan has been developedwith the teacher, the Center identifies appropriate experts of JAXA
from a range of space science and technology fields as well as experienced educators and pedagogy experts and calls upon them toprovide knowledge and expertise to develop teaching and learningmaterials. When the teacher carries out classroom activities according to the plan, the Center sends its staff and appropriate experts toprovide on-site support to the teacher. Upon request, the Center
assists the teacher in evaluating the results of the activities.
Depending on the interest and request by the teacher or the school,
the Center also assists in establishing partnerships with otherschools or promoting collaborations with relevant entities in thelocal community.

12

Supporting the class for environmental education, Kudan Junior HighSchool, Chiyoda, Tokyo

Supporting the Japanese language
classJunior High School attached toNagasaki University

Space foods produced by students of
Obama Fisheris High School, Obama,
Fukui

Through this entire process of support (see the chart for “School
Support: Process” below), the Center ensures that initiatives comefrom the teacher, and not the Center.

The Center’s support is not limited to science classes. It covers awide range of disciplinary fields taught at school, including social
science, Japanese language and the arts. Depending on the needs ofand objectives pursued by the teachers, the Center’s support covers
various types of classroom activities, ranging from normal classes
according to the curricula guidelines, integrated learning classes aswell as extracurricular activities. Following the expansion of its support to include kindergartens from 2007, the Center has been supporting an increasing number of kindergartens, elementary schools
and junior and senior high schools, as well as faculties of educationof universities.
In order to ensure that the efforts made by those teachers andschools that have received support from the Center to expand spaceeducation activities would not be isolated and that their efforts
would be supported by the supervisory bodies overseeing the school
management and activities, the Center has strengthened its efforts toestablish collaborations with boards of education in the local communities, to jointly provide training opportunities for teachers tolearn about space education and to acquire skills to bring space intoclassrooms.
Such training opportunities are also provided to potential candidates
for teachers who are studying in the faculties of education at universities. The Center pursues collaborations with faculties of education
13

Teachers training course

Collaborating with the Faculty of
Education, Nagasaki University, totrain future teachers

as it is considered more desirable that the school teachers alreadyknow about the benefits of space education and have basic skills to
conduct classroom activities using space materials before they
become too busy to meet regular teaching requirements and to deal
with administrative work required at their schools.
In light of the recently revised curriculum guidelines issued by the
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology(MEXT) in March 2008, for K-12 grades, the Center has been focusing its efforts to help teachers to follow the revised guidelines toadjust the contents of the classes as well as methods by using relevant space materials.
With the idea to foster “the strength to live”, the revised guidelines
aim to help the students develop independent minds to identify
issues, analyze, think, judge, and take appropriate actions while caring about and collaborating with others. In terms of substantive content, the revised guidelines have expanded the subjects relating toscience and mathematics.
For the Center, it presents an excellent opportunity to introduce its
space education materials for a wider use by school teachers. The
idea behind the revised guidelines resonates with the principles of
the Center, and it has developed a number of teaching materials,
methods and programmes through its support to teachers andschools in the past years particularly for science classes.
While some parts relate to mathematics and science had alreadybegun to be followed at schools from April 2009, the revised curriculum guidelines are to be implemented in elementary schools from2011 and for the junior high schools in 2012. Textbook companies
have begun to produce new textbooks and supplementary learningmaterials to follow the revised guidelines. This presents a good
opportunity for the Center to introduce space subjects and materials
into classroom teaching in a systematic manner. The Center has been
actively offering its support to textbook companies and those companies producing supplementary learning materials to use, for example, images taken by JAXA satellites and spacecraft or photographsof space activities of JAXA.

14

B. Achievements
1. Introducing space education at schools across the country
Providing customized support to teachers and schools consumes alarge amount of staff time and efforts. A classroom activity plan consists of normally more than one classes, and the period required to
implement the plan could last for one full academic year, requiring
at least a several visits by the Center’s staff and experts. The Center
has, nonetheless, continued this labour-intensive approach to support
school education with the team of 5 staff members.
The number of schools that received customized support from theCenter increased from 20 in the first fiscal year, May 2005 to March
2006, to 67 in the fifth fiscal year, April 2010 to March 2011.

FY 2005
Schools Schools
0
0
30
1
1,158
5
355
14
1,543
20

FY 2006
Schools Schools
112
1
337
8
457
3
898
15
1,804
27

FY 2007
Schools Schools
94
1
1,634
18
817
6
1,499
17
4,044
42

FY 2008
Schools Schools
150
2
1,177
14
1,088
14
594
20
3,009
50

FY 2009
Schools Schools
250
3
2,105
34
1,348
18
537
12
4,240
67

<Numbers of schools supported by the Center and the students benefited from the support>

Kindergarten
Elementary Schools
Junior High Schools
High Schools
TOTAL
NOTE: Japanese fiscal year starts from April 1 to next March 31.

It should be noted that in the past year, some schools that hadreceived support from the Center in the preceding years have continued classroom activities with the use of space materials without support from the Center. Through administered transfers from one
school to another, some of those teachers who had been supportedby the Center in the past have begun their classroom activities withthe use of space materials at their new schools by themselves. There
are apparently more schools that have started or that are carrying out
classroom activities using space materials than the above statistics
indicate.
Another major development is the increased opportunities for teachers training in space education through collaborations with, forexample, boards of education or faculties of education. The Center15

started its support for the faculty of education by organizing one
space education training session in 2007. During the fiscal year
2008, three such sessions were organized with the support of theCenter. As for the current fiscal year, two sessions have been organized, benefiting 265 students. In addition, the number of training
sessions for those teachers who are already teaching at school, hasalso increased in comparison to years past from one in the fiscal
year of 2005 to 39 in the fiscal year of 2008. It has already reached
36 as of January 2010.

<Number of teacher training sessions and participants>

For candidates forteachers
1
1

Nil
10
10

Nil
12
12

Nil
1,201
1,201

Nil
7
8

1
242
398

156
39
42

3
1,186
1,420

234
36
38

2
1,163
1,428

265

FY 2009
FY 2005
FY 2006
FY 2007
FY 2008
Sessions Students/ Sessions Students/ Sessions Students/ Sessions Students/ Sessions Students/
Teachers
Teachers
Teachers
Teachers
Teachers

For teachers
TOTAL

ter had designed with the hope that it would serve as the turning

The excitement prevailed throughout the programme, which the cen-of flight.

able materials around them while learning about the basics of scienceand launching straw rockets and unbrella rockets from readily avail-dren enjoyed the explanation of various type of rockets and making

parents and children at Kobe YMCA Chitose Kindergarten. The chil-

2011, the Center continuously support the joint learning exercise by

February 2007 to carry out space education activities. In January

The Space Education Center has been supporting kindergartens since

YMCA Chitose Kindergarten, Kobe, Hyogo

2. Creating a starting point for intellectual curiosity: Kobe

NOTE: Japanese fiscal year starts from April 1 to next March 31.

The joint learning exercise by parents
and children at Kobe YMCA

point for their growing curiosity.

16

Carrying out a vacuum test and making umbrella bag rockets.

Thinking about the global environment from a point of view from outerspace

3. Opening the door into outer space: Yokohama-City Idogaya
Elementary School, Yokohama Kanagawa
Starting from the academic year 2010, the Center has supported theintegrated interdisciplinary programme for the sixth-grade studentsof Idogaya Elementary School. Through this programme, the students learned about life in space, such as space food and space suit,after group research on the subject of “What is space like?”. They
also took part in hands-on activities, to carry out a vacuum test andto make umbrella bag rockets. They enjoyed unusual experiencestudying the environment in space and flight mechanism.
4. Protecting our environment and saving our planet: MinamiTane Junior High School on third grade selected class of science.
With the theme of “The global environment as seen from space”,
there will be talks about the Solar system, explanations of why
there is life on earth, and they will be made aware that the earth isa miracle planet. Also, as the global envionment as seen fromspace, they will use satellite imagery to see the envionmental problems such as global warming and desertification from the viewpoint of man-made satellites.
They will be given the understanding of the earth’s current situation as seen from space and the awareness of what they must dowith the problems about the global environment. After the lectureof JAXA, they researched the envionment of Kagoshima and otherregions using satellite data.

17

Experiments focused on foodSeminar for future school teachers

Science Academy

Teachers training for the renewal ofteaching licences

5. Learning science technology related to space explorationfrom experts: Tokai University Boyo High School
It was adopted as a Science Partnership Project(SPP) conducted by
Japan Science and Technology Agency(JST). As Tokai University
Boyo High School's continuing theme “Space”, they learned about
science technology related to space exploration. The specialist gavethe students lectures and experiments for several times focused onfood and environment. The students visited relative facilities andpresented their studies.

6. Strengthening partnerships with universities to support
teachers training: Faculty of Education, Shimane University
Having recognized the advantages of enhancing understanding ofspace education among the students who wish to become teachers,
the Space Education Center has pursued collaborations with interested universities with faculties of education. This is also part of theCenter’s efforts to contribute to enhancing education in the local
community.
One such example is its collaboration with the Faculty of Educationof Shimane University. The Center worked together with faculty
members of the University to organize a seminar on space educationas part of the teacher-training course for the students of the Facultyof Education. For the students of the elementary and junior highschools attached to the University, the Center supported the organization of special lectures by sending space experts. The Center also
provided education materials for the teacher training courses organized by the University and sent space experts as lecturers.

18

Image taken by National Astronomical
Observatory of Japan, with transmission supported by National Institute ofInformation and Communications
Technology (NICT) and JAXA

Observing solar radio by their own
parabora antenna

7. Advancing space education on the occasion of a rare celestialphenomenon: solar eclipse on 22 July 2009The Space Education Center took the advantage of the total solar
eclipse that occurred on 22 July 2009, the longest one during thetwenty-first century lasting a maximum of 6 minutes and 39 seconds
off Southeast Asia, to stimulate interest of children in learning more
about celestial bodies and their phenomena. On that day, the total
eclipse of the Sun was visible from within a narrow corridor that traversed half of the Earth, crossing also the Ryukyu Islands of Japan.
A partial eclipse was visible from the entire parts of Japan.
Besides carrying out its own special project to encourage the generalpublic to take photographs of pin-hole images of the total solar
eclipse, the Center provided support for the special classes that
addressed the solar eclipse on that day.
As part of the tele-education programme between Ogasawara
Village, located in the archipelago of “Ogasawa Group” at some
1,000 kilo-meters directly south of Tokyo, and Tamarokuto Science
Museum of Nishi-Tokyo City, participants on both sides observed
and took photographs of the pin-hole images of the solar eclipse.
With the high-definition images and video conference system provided by the Wideband Internetworking Engineering Test and
Demonstration Satellite of JAXA, known as “KIZUNA”, the participants then compared their photo-images of the solar eclipse.
At Chohshi High School of Chiba Prefecture, the students conductedsolar radio observation using the parabora antenna that they had
built together. By observing the solar eclipse using scientific methods, they could deepen their understanding of the phenomenon.

19

C. Establishing strategic footholds
As part of the executive directions set by the management of JAXA,
the Space Education Center has been tasked since the fiscal year
2008 to establish strategic footholds in all nine regional blocs ofJapan, i.e. Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kanto, Hokuriku and Shinetsu, Tokai,
Kinki, Chugoku, Shikoku, Kyushu and Okinawa, by March 2012.
This is to ensure that the kind of classroom support provided by theCenter continues to be expanded and further enhanced in an
effective manner to benefit all primary and secondary schools in the
country without requiring direct and intense support by the Center
itself. While it does not need to be a school, and it could well be ascience museum or a board of education in the local community, astrategic foothold should endorse the goals and principles of theCenter and should actively pursue the development of spaceeducation materials and teaching methods to be introduced toschools within the block under its responsibility. The Center was
also tasked to ensure the steady increase in the number of schoolsthat newly introduce aerospace subjects into their classroom
teaching by using the materials or teaching methods developed by
the strategic foothold in their bloc.
As of February 2011, the Center has concluded agreements withseventeen entities to serve as its strategic footholds, in Hokkaido,
Tohoku, Kanto, Hokuriku and Shinetsu, Tokai, Kinki, Chugoku,
Kyushu and Okinawa blocs.

20

Tohoku

Bloc
TohokuTohokuChugoku
Hokkaido
Hokuriku/Shinetsu
Kanto

Komatsu
Kagoshima
FukuokaTokyo
Tokyo
Shizuoka
Kurashiki
Kure
Wakayama
Osaka

AomoriArea
Akita
Miyagi
ShimaneKushiroShimosuwa
Tokyo

Komatsu-City Board of Education
Kagoshima-City
Kyusyu University
Tokyo-Gakugei University
Kokubunji-City Board of Education
Shizuoka Science Museum - RU・KU・RU
Kurashiki-City Board of Education
Kure-City Yamato Museum
Wakayama-Prefecture Board of Education
Osaka-Prefectural Education Center

Aomori-City Junior High Schools
Working Group on Science

EntityAkita University
Miyagi technical College／Sendai Technical College
Shimane University
NPO Kodomo Yugakukan Shimin Stage2
Shimosuwa-Town Board of Education
Waseda University

1-Dec-09
10-Jan-108-Mar-10
10-Mar-10
1-Apr-10
12-Jun-10
1-Jul-10
18-Aug-10
15-Nov-10
20-Dec-10

1-Aug-09

Date of Signature
21-Mar-08
19-Sep-08
27-Oct-08
2-Dec-08
2-Dec-08
29-May-09

List of strategic footholds (as of February 2011)

Hokuriku/Shinetsu
Kyusyu/Okinawa
Kyusyu/Okinawa
Kanto
Kanto
Tokai
Chugoku
Chugoku
Kinki
Kinki
2 Kodomo = Children, Yugakukan = Study House, Shimin = Civic/Citizen

21

IV. SUPPORT FOR INFORMAL EDUCATION
A. Objectives and strategies
Supporting informal education continues to be another pillar of theactivities of the Space Education Center. Using unique programmes
and materials that it has developed, the Center supports educational
activities carried out by other entities rather than schools outside theformal curricula, normally during off school days.
Through its informal education support, the Center aims tomaximize the synergies of space education efforts undertaken byvarious entities, including not only local governments but also
relevant non-governmental and non-profit entities. The center aims
to achieve this objective while ensuring that its goals and principles
continue to be followed by those entities involved in spaceeducation activities around the country and building upon what has
been achieved by its “Cosmic College”.
In the past year, the Center has followed a few strategies as
described below.
Based on its belief that the responsibilities of fostering local children
lie with the local communities, the Center encouraged more local
communities to take the lead in organizing space education eventsfor local children while the Center itself plays only a supportive andadvisory role. This is to allow for the massive expansion of spaceeducation activities to reach out to all parts of Japan without
increasing the level of resource requirements of the Center. By
ensuring that the local communities are involved from the beginningof the planning, the Center has made efforts to increase the sense ofownership and responsibilities among the local communities
organizing those events.
The Center has increased its efforts to establish partnerships withinterested industries to organize space education activities. Ways andmeans to establish partnerships have varied depending on theinterest of the industries and the circumstances of the activities
concerned.
The Center’s efforts have shifted from the planning, organizationand management of events to the enhancement of its support system
22

B. Programme structure

Kids Courses

for space education instructors and leaders, who play key roles inspace education events organized around the country. In addition toproviding training opportunities and technical advice, the Center has
begun to provide material support to those instructors and leaders
who are active in carrying out space education activities.

1. For young people: from kindergarten to high-school students
Most of the activities for young people that the Center supports continue to be carried out as part of “Cosmic College”, which aims toachieve the following objectives: i) to increase interest of young
people in science and technology; ii) to help establish voluntarygroups of young people that are fond of science and technology; iii)
to motivate young people to raise questions, think and find solutions
by themselves; iv) to encourage collaborations with others; v) tolead young people to appreciate the importance of life. The Cosmic
College offers three courses, covering from kindergarten to highschool students. In addition to those Cosmic College courses, theCenter also supports a few other recurrent space education eventsand non-recurrent special events for young people.
In supporting the organization of Cosmic College courses, theCenter has continued to work closely with the Young Astronaut Club
(YAC)-Japan, an incorporated foundation originally established in1986 and currently with 129 branches across the country and about
3,000 members to carry out educational activities addressing spaceand science.
a. Cosmic College: Kids Course
The “Kids Course” is for the children younger than the second year
in the elementary school students and their parents to participate.
The programme aims to increase interest of the participating children in and their familiarity of the surrounding nature. Throughhands-on activities involving observations, experiments and handicraft work, the programme is designed to cultivate young children’sscientific thinking and to build the basis for logical thinking process.

23

Fundamental Courses

Advanced Courses

Group discussions and presentations
during “Kimission”

b. Cosmic College: Fundamental Course
The “Fundamental Course” is for the school students between thethird-year in the elementary school and the third-year in the juniorhigh school. The programme aims to enhance the students’ interestin the surrounding natural objects and phenomena. Through handson activities involving scientific observations, experiments andhandicraft work designed for the study of nature, the programmeaims to enhance their scientific and logical thinking capabilities.

c. Cosmic College: Advanced Course
The “Advanced Course” is for the junior and senior high school students. The programme normally lasts for a few days. Throughhands-on activities involving scientific observations, experiments
and handicraft work, the programme leads the students to pose scientific questions and to come up with answers for those questions bythemselves. The programme aims to enhance their scientific andlogical thinking capabilities.
The High School Course, which used to be a separate programme of
the Cosmic College, has been integrated into the Advanced Course
since April 2009.
d. Other recurrent activities
At Sagamihara Campus, the Space Education Center organizes the
five-day training programme for high school students, during theirsummer vacation period, to learn how to design scientific missions
through team work and to experience the mission evaluation, requiring them to present their missions and respond to questions from theaudience, including leading space scientists and engineers of JAXA.
This programme is known as “Space Mission High School”, or“Kimission”, which is a combination of “Kimi”, or “you” inJapanese, and “mission”.

24Lecture of “School of Space facilitated”
by ISAS

Microgravity experiment by thestudents

Science CampAll Japan Water Rocket Contest 2010

CanSat Kohshien

As much as the circumstances allow and upon request, the Center
assists other departments and offices of JAXA in organizing, or coorganizing with other research entities, their educational activities
for young people. Such activities include Space Schools, organizedby the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), to provide the students with opportunities to interact with its leading spacescientists, Microgravity Experiment Contests, by the Space
Environment Utilization Center, to provide the selected students
with opportunities to conduct microgravity experiments during theparabolic flights, and Science Camps, hosted by Space Centers of
JAXA in Tsukuba, Tanegashima and Kakuta and organized by Japan
Science Foundation, for the students to visit space facilities, listen tolectures by the leading space engineers and to experience making
and launching of model rockets.

e. Special events
The Space Education Center collaborated with the local governmentof Aichi Prefecture, YAC and Kodomo-Uchu-Mirai Association(KU-MA)3 in organizing the Japan Water Rocket Contest 2010 atthe same venue as the Expo 2005 Aichi Japan. With the participationof about 500 primary and secondary school students, the students
who had been selected through the regional contests held in nine
regional blocs of Japan competed for the accuracy of launch andflight distance of the water rocket.
The Center supported the “CanSat Kohshien”4 by covering the event
live by the dedicated TV channel operated in collaboration with
YAC. Each participating high school student team built a “CanSat”,
nano-scale quasi-satellite model weighing 350 to 1050 grams with allbasic functions of a satellite fitted into a soda can of 350 ml, and its
carrier to be placed onboard the model rocket provide by the organizer. The six participating teams competed for the duration of the3 “Kodomo”, “Uchu” and ”Mirai” mean ”Children”, ”Space”, ”Future”, respectively, in Japanese.

held every summer with the participation of about 50 high school teams selected through the prefectural tournaments.

4 “Kohshien” is the name of the prestigious ballpark in Hyogo Prefecture where the traditional Japan High School Baseball Championship is25

Space Education Leaders Seminar

Space Education Leaders Skill-Up
Courseimage-capturing of the target marker on the ground after the releaseof the CanSat 300 meters above the ground until its landing.
2. For educators and instructors of space education
As for instructors of space education activities, the Center has beenoffering Space Education Leaders Seminars since April 2008, following the restructuring and merging of the Educators Course of theCosmic College and the Leaders Seminar, which had been separatelyorganized to provide training opportunities for any individuals interested in carrying out space education activities. In 2009, the Center
began to offer training opportunities for those instructors with experience to further enhance their knowledge about space education andtheir skilks. The support system for the space education instructors
who have completed the Seminars has also been enhanced, to facilitate communications among them and to provide material support
for their space education activities.
a. Space Education Leaders Seminar
The Space Education Leaders Seminar is for any individual interested in carrying out space education activities with or without experience in informal education activities. The programme aims to transfer to the particidants basic knowledge and skills that are requiredfor instructors of space education activities. Among other things, theparticipants learn about the goals and principles of the Center, roleof leaders and understanding children’s needs, as well as crisis management and safety measures. The Center issues licenses for Space
Education Leader (SEL) to those individuals who have completed
the Seminar.
The Space Education Leaders Skill-Up Course is for those individuals who have completed the above Seminar and who wish to
improve their skills in conducting space education activities.
Through this Course, the participants obtain the latest news on thedevelopments with space activities, basic knowledge in the aerospace area required to carry out space education activities as well as
know-how and skills for activity management, teaching skills andmethods to develop educational materials.

26

Small wind tunnel for rent

Space suits for rent

Community site registration throughthe homepage of the Space Education
Centerb. Space Education Leaders Support System
As part of its support to the instructors and leaders who have completed the Space Education Leaders Seminar in the past four years,
the Space Education Center has a rental system for its educationmaterials and equipment for use during their space education activities. The rental period is up to one month, and the use of materials
and equipment of the Center requires the Center’s prior approval.
After the completion of the activities concerned, the users arerequested to provide feedback on the rented materials and equipment.

Starting from December 2009, the Center provides an on-line forum
to facilitate the communications among the space education instructors and leaders as well as with staff of the Center. The “Space
Education Community Site” allows the registered users to exchange
information, ideas and educational materials as well as to receive thelatest information on the Center’s materials produced and mostrecent and upcoming activities.
The Center has also started in the past year a new system of support
for the instructors and leaders. The Center now provides financial
support on a selective basis for those who carry out space education
hands-on activities for young people, at 18 years old or younger, or
activities in support of such activities for young people. Interested
instructors and leaders must have completed the Space Education
Leaders Seminar in the past three years and their activities to apply
for funding support must not be co-organized or co-sponsored by
JAXA. The expenditure items to be supported by this system include
those relating to travel, educational materials, expendable items,
rental of the meeting rooms and facilities, communications, transportation and insurance for the participants. An application submitted by an individual is eligible for funding support up to 50,000
Japanese yen, and a group of two or more individuals is eligible up
to 200,000 Japanese yen, and the amount will depend on the sizeand quality of the proposal.
27

C. Achievements
Reflecting the success of the Center’s strategy to transfer the central
responsibilities as the organizers to the local communities, the number of space education events organized around the country continued to increase while the level of financial resources remained the

FY 2006
Events Participants
1,318
14
505
10
61
1
35
1
1,919
26

FY 2007
Events Participants
3,068
26
2,278
34
63
2
Nil
Nil
5,409
62

FY 2008
Events Participants
2,048
39
2,257
61
Nil
Nil
Nil
Nil
4,305
100

FY 2009
Events Participants
3,217
46
4,965
81
92
3
Nil
Nil
8,274
130

same and the number of staff increased from 4 to 11 in FY2010.

FY 2005
Events Participants
600
6
565
10
65
1
43
1
1,273
18

<Number of events and participants of Cosmic College courses>

Kids Course
Fundamental Course
Advanced Course
High School Course*
TOTAL
NOTE: Japanese Fiscal year starts from April 1 to next March 31.
* High School Course was merged with Advance Course from April 2008 and reorganized.

The pool of space educators and instructors who have newly
received training from the Center through the Cosmic College
Educators Course until February 2011 and through the Space
Education Leaders Seminar continued to expand. As for the current
fiscal year, FY2010, the number of participants of the Space
Education Leaders Seminars as well as its Skill-Up Courses thathave been organized to date is 557 in total as of February 2011.

Space Education
Leaders Seminars**Cosmic College:

Cosmic College:
Educators Courses*

562

Nil

213

349

FY 2005

425

Nil

233

192

FY 2006

744

Nil

600

174

FY 2007

388

388

Nil

Nil

FY 2008

538

538

Nil

Nil

FY 2009<Number of space education instructors and leaders>

TOTAL* Cosmic College Educators Course and Leaders Seminar were reorganized and merged to become
Space Education Leaders Seminar from April 2008.
** Space Education Leaders Seminars include those organized for the purpose of training instructorsof the Seminars.

28

As the number of space education events continues to increase, thedemand for use of the teaching materials developed by the Center
also increased. In the past year, the Center reorganized its system ofmanaging its numerous learning and teaching materials, packaging
some materials for ready-use and immediate rental for selected
activities and monitoring the frequency of use. The packaged materials include those activities to make and fly water rockets, syringe
rockets, umbrella-bag rockets and hot-air balloons, conducting
micro-gravity experiments and experiments with atmospheric pressure and comparing models of the Moon and the Earth, to name afew examples.

29

V. SUPPORT FOR EDUCATION AT HOME

for learning at home.

parent-child relationships and to help create conducive environment

Through “Space School for Families”, the Center aims to enhancespace-related topics and to conduct experiments as homework.

parents and their children to share time together at home to discussschools, this programme is unique in providing opportunities for theduring the schooling. While similar to the programme of regulardone between the schooling, using the learning materials distributed

ed subjects and conduct basic experiments, and the homework to be

ipating parents and children learn together about various space-relat-

gatherings throughout the year, called “schooling”, where the partic-

The programme of “Space School for Families” consists of a several

children together.

ing “Space Schools for Families”, for participation by parents andtions with Kodomo-Uchu-Mirai Association (KU-MA) in organiz-

port for home education is provided mainly through its collabora-

has increased its efforts to bring space home in the past year. Its sup-collaborations with local communities, the Space Education CenterAs natural evolution of its support for informal education throughA. Background and objectives

B. Achievements
The series of “Space School for Families” in collaboration with
KU-MA began as a separate and distinctive programme since thelast fiscal year, starting from April 2009. During the last fiscal year,
fifteen courses were organised totaling 2,000 participants. For thecurrent fiscal year, from April 2010 to March 2011, 20 courses havealready been organized totaling 3,187 participants.
The success of this new programme is reflected not only in terms of
the quantity of the courses and participants, but also in the feedback
from the parents who participated in this programme. The Centerhas received positive comments from a number of parents who

30

appreciated the opportunities to do something to think, to conduct
simple experiments and to discuss with their children at schoolingsessions and at home. Through the programme offered by the Space
School for Families, some parents discovered and treasured what
their children really enjoy doing.
For the Space School for Families, series of teaching guides on typical hands-on activities continue to be produced, covering various
scientific topics under the following 12 themes: i) flight and floating; ii) light; iii) soil and sand; iv) water; v) air (atmosphere); vi)heat, temperature and combustion; vii) electricity and magnetism;viii) force and motion; ix) breeding of animals and cultivation of
flower and plants; x) field observations; xi) sound; and xii) Sun and

FY 2008
3
1,037

FY 200915
2,000

its companions. As of February 2011, about 20 kinds of teachingguides have been developed.

FY 2007
Nil
Nil<Number of Course and Participants of Space School for Families >CourseParticipants

31VI. INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIESA. Objectives and strategies
The Space Education Center continues to expand collaborations
with entities of other countries and international organizations topromote space education. In this effort, the Center uses as much as
possible the existing frameworks for cooperation in space activities
and endeavours to create synergies of efforts made through different
frameworks.
Through its international activities, the Center places emphasis onenhancing benefits for primary and secondary school teachers andchildren through space education, particularly in Asia and thePacific. The space education initiatives taken within the frameworkof the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF) for
primary and secondary school teachers and students, therefore, aregiven high priority.
While recognizing benefits of introducing programs and materials
developed by other space agencies with established education
programs for use by Japanese teachers and schools, the Center also
makes efforts to share its space education principles and approaches
as well as materials particularly with developing countries that are
increasingly interested in and capable of carrying out space
activities.
As for developing countries in other regions, the Center supports
their space education activities through initiatives taken by theUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO) and other entities of the United Nations system as well
as development agencies, such as Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA).
Cooperation with space-faring nations in space education activities
is pursued mainly through the framework for cooperation provided
by the International Space Education Board (ISEB).

32

2010, two APRSAF Water Rocket Events were held. The fifth

ship beyond national borders based on common interest in space. In

learn about other countries and their cultures, to build lasting friend-

basics of rocket science and space activities in general, but also toyoung people between 12 and 16 years old not only to learn about

sion. This annual regional Event has provided opportunities forRocket Event each year, immediately following the APRSAF ses-

Starting from 2005, the Working Group has organized the Water

space education initiatives.

making it possible for countries of other regions to benefit from its

and iii) contributing to enhancing inter-regional cooperation byof the United Nations system and other international organizations;tion efforts with global educational initiatives taken by the entities

materials available in local languages; ii) aligning its space educa-

strengthened efforts toward: i) making more teaching and learning

secondary school teachers and students, the Working Group has

In addition to organizing space education events for primary andawareness of the societal benefits and importance of space activities.

exchange opportunities for young people; and iv) increasing public

ing mutual understanding among countries in the region throughpeople in space science and technology; iii) contributing to enhanc-

people; ii) providing education and training opportunities for young

effectively using space materials to enhance education for young

become increasingly active in the past few years with the aim of: i)

one associate member organization 5 , the Working Group has

members from 17 countries and 3 international organizations andAwareness Working Group since 2006. Currently consisting ofand has served as the Secretariat of APRSAF Space Education andAsia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF) since 2005

The Space Education Center has supported educational activities of

B. Focusing on children in Asia: Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum

Working Group members during
APRSAF-17, held in Melbourne,
Victoria, Australia, November 2010APRSAF-17 Water Rocket Event,M e l b o u r n e , Vi c t o r i a , A u s t r a l i a ,November 2010APRSAF Water Rocket Event had been held in Khlong Luang,
Pathum Thani, Thailand, on 23 and 24 January 2010, immediately
preceding the APRSAF-16, with the participation of 53 students and5 Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic ofKorea, Singapore Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Asian Institute of Technology, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUOS) and its secretariat, the United
Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), are currently members of the Working Group.

33

APRSAF-16 Water Rocket Event,
Khlong Luang, Pathum Thani,
Thailand, January 2010

Poster by an Indonesian student who
won APRSAF-17 Best Poster Award

alendar for 2011-12, with posters submitted to ARPSAF-17 Poster Contest

23 teachers and leaders from 15 countries, and the sixth APRSAF
Water Rocket Event was held in is Melbourne, Victoria, Australia,
on 20 and 21 November 2010, immediately preceding the
APRSAF-17, with the participation of 33 students from 12 countries
with 34 teachers/leaders from 13 countries. The seventh APRSAF
Water Rocket Event is planned to be held in Singapore, on 3 and 4

APRSAF-12 Water Rocket Event,Kitakyushu, Japan, 2005

APRSAF-15 Water Rocket Event,Hanoi, Vietnam, 2008

APRSAF-13 Water Rocket Event,Jakarta, Indonesia, 2006

December 2011, immediately preceding the APRSAF-18.

APRSAF-14 Water Rocket Event,Bangalore, India, 2007

The Working Group has organized the Poster Contest under a selected theme each year since 2006 during the APRSAF session, for children of the age between 8 and 11 years old. From among those posters submitted by the participating countries, the participants of the
APRSAF session vote to select the best poster, for APRSAF Best
Poster Award, and the second and third best posters for APRSAF
Special Poster Awards.
In 2010, two APRSAF Poster Contests were held. On the occasionof APRSAF-16, to contribute to the celebration of Iternational Yearof Astronomy in 2009, the Working Group had produced a calendar
for April 2010 – March 2011 using the posters submitted for the
APRSAf-16 Poster Contest, held under “Our Universe – Great
Discoveries”.
On the occasionof APRSAF-17, to contribute to the celebration oflife on earth and of the value of biodiversity for our lives on theoccasion of International Year of Biodiversity in 2010, the Working
34

Studying Flight mechanism of flying
seeds in the simple window tunnel during hands-on session of the Space
Education Seminar, Dhaka, BangladeshGroup produced a calendar for April 2011 – March 2012 using theposters submitted for the last Contest, held under “Space technology
to Help the Earth”.
28 posters had been submitted from 10 countries, and winners of theAwards have been announced during the APRSAF-16, Bangkok,
Thailand from 26 to 29 January 2010. 23 posters had been sumitted
from 9 countries, and winners of the Awards have been announced
during the APRSAF-17, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from 23 to
26 November 2010.
The theme for the next Poster Contest is "The next 50 years inSpace", and it is planned during the APRSAF-18, Singapore, from 6

Poster Contest in Bangalore, India,
2007 under the theme “50 Years inSpace”

Poster Contest in Melbourne, Victoria,
Australia November 2010 under thetheme “Space Technology to Help the
Earth”

Poster Contest in Ha Noi, Vietnam,
2008 under the theme “Wonders of the
Universe”

to 9 December 2011.

Poster Contest in Bangkok, Thailand,
January 2010 under the theme “Our
Universe – Great Discoveries

Recognising the need for providing opportunities for students andteachers of primary and secondary schools particularly in developing countries to enhance their understanding of space science andtechnology and their applications and to participate in hands-on
space education activities, the Working Group convened space education forums and seminars in Vietnam and Indonesia in 2006 andSri Lanka in 2009. The last seminar was held in Dhaka andEnayetpur, Bangladesh on 17-19 January, co-organized by
Bangladesh Astronomical Society (BAS) and JAXA .

35

Flight testing various types of water
rockets

Brochure on Water Rocket Activities
for Educational Purposes

In order to expand the pool of skilled and informed educators
who can effectively use water rockets to enhance education foryoung people and to establish a network of those educators,
the International Water Rocket Education Workshop was hosted by Victorian Space Science Centre (VSSEC) in Melbourne,
Australia, from 30 June to 3 July 2008. Teachers, educatorsand space experts from 12 countries in Asia and the Pacific aswell as Latin America participated in the Workshop, which
resulted in establishing an Internet-based Wiki site to serve as
an on-line forum for any interested teachers and educators to
exchange information, views and education materials relating
to water rockets.
(See Wiki site: http://wiki.vssec.vic.edu.au/waterrockets/index.
php?title=Main_Page).
With a look back over the years, the Working Group has created a report on water rocket activities for educational purposes
to seek for sponsorship by not only space-related public entities, but also commercial entities in September 2010.

during the annual IAC, the activities of ISEB are being carried out

with the participation of heads of education of its member agencies

workforce needs of space programs. While ISEB meets once a year

achievement in connection with space; and ii) to support the future

increase science, technology, engineering and mathematics literacy

Member from October 2010. The objectives of ISEB are: i) to

Victorian Space Science Education Centre (VSSEC) as an Associate

French space agency, as a Member from October 2006, andnow includes Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), theUnited States (NASA) and JAXA as its Founding Members, ISEB

(ESA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of theby the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the European Space Agency

members to promote space education. Established in October 2005

Space Education Board (ISEB) and collaborates with other ISEBThe Space Education Center represents JAXA in the International

C. Collaborations with advanced space-faring nations: International Space Education Board

Establishing ISEB in October 2005

ISEB members during IAC2010, heldin Prague, Czech Republic in
September/October 2010

and coordinated by its Representative Working Group, consisting of
one officer each from the ISEB member agencies. The membership
36

JAXA Student Presentation, at COSPAR
2010, Bremen, Germany

GENSO Project concept

Interactions with Heads of Agencies,
IAC 2010, Prague, Czech Republic.

Lunch time event at International
Student Zone, IAC 2010, Prague,
Czech Republic.

is open to any public organization carrying out space activities andpursuing education programmes.
In 2010 and 2011, the following projects were carried out within theframework of ISEB: i) international student programmes at theInternational Astronautical Congresses (IAC’s) held in Prague,
Czech Republic in September/October 2010 and at the Scientific
Assembly of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) in
Bremen, Germany in July 2010; ii) international participation inNASA Academy; iii) “Global Educational Network for Satellite
Operations” (GENSO) project; and v) CanSat activities. The use of
the International Space Station for educational purposes is also recognised as an important initiative that needs to be undertaken.
The term of the chairmanship is one year, and it rotates among theFounding members. Following its successful initial year under thechairmanship of ESA, ISEB was chaired by NASA from October
2006, by CSA from September 2007 and by JAXA from October
2008, by ESA from October 2009, NASA is currently serving as thechair again.
The Space Education Center continued to support the activities of
ISEB by participating in the organization of IAC and COSPAR
Student Programmes, and sending Japanese students for those
Programmes and supporting the participation of Japanese graduate
students in GENSO project workshops and NASA Academies, held
at Goddard Space Flight Center in summer 2008, 2009 and 2010,
and Ames Research Center in summer 2009.

Particularly during the chairmanship of JAXA, the Center contributed to advancing the objectives of ISEB by establishing the Task
Group for Student Programmes, reorienting the work of theRepresentative Working Group to focus on policy and coordination
issues, coordinating the IAC Student Programme and ensuring theparticipation of a large number of Japanese students. The total of 43
students participated in the Programme. Recognizing that the activities of ISEB had been carried out predominantly for university andgraduate students, the Center proposed to initiate a joint activity forthe benefit of primary and secondary school teachers and students.
37

JAXA Student Hands-on Session at
local Japanese School during
IAC2010 , Prague, Czech Republic.

The Center suggested the exchange of education materials as an
example in this regard, as it did with ESA by translating into
Japanese the set of educational DVDs of ESA on the scientificexperiments on the International Space Station for use by schools inJapan.
During IAC 2009, the Japanese students worked with the Korean
Local Organizing Committee to carry out hands-on activities for
local Korean children as part of the Space Festival, which took placein parallel to IAC 2009. The Japanese students also worked with
Korean students supported by the Korea Aerospace ResearchInstitute (KARI) to organize a joint KARI-JAXA Student Session,
introducing each other’s space projects undertaken by university andgraduate students, including CanSat experiments.
During IAC2010, the Japanese students carried out hands-on outreach activities for local Japanese Elementary School in Prague as a
new approach.

Ecuador, Peru, Tanzania and Vietnam.

participated to date in those workshops held in multiple cities inColombia in November and December 2005, the Center has

the UNESCO workshops when they were held in multiple cities ofdeveloping countries. Following its participation for the first time inparticipated in the workshops organized by UNESCO in and for theUpon invitation by UNESCO, the Space Education Center

1. Supporting UNESCO efforts

D. Pursuing cooperation with developing countries outside Asia

Participants of the workshop with the
Deputy Minister of Education and
Vocational Training (center), Dar-esSalaam, Tanzania

From 2008 to 2010, the Center introduced water rockets as
educational activities and supported hands-on session for school
children to experience the launch of water rockets at the workshops
38

Head of the space agency of Peru
conducting the first water rocket
launch, Lima, Peru

Mayor of Ibarra opening the water
rocket competition

held in Dar-es-Salaam and Arusha, Tanzania, in May 2008, Lima,
Peru, in June 2009, and the Philippines in February 2010.
At the regional space camp held in Ibarra, Ecuador, in May 2008 forteachers and students from five Latin American countries, i.e.
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Peru, the Center also helped
organize the session to build water rockets and the water rocket
launch competition. Lectures on water rocket theory at an advanced
level were also offered at the space camps held in Salinas and Puerto....and in Puerto Ayora, St. Cruz,
Galapagos, Ecuador

Aroyo, Galapagos, Ecuador in June 2009, where college students
participated.

Water rocket lecture and launch in
Salinas, Ecuador

2. Supporting water rocket activities around the world
The partnership with UNESCO has turned out to be effective inpromoting water rocket activities for educational purposes, using thematerials provided by the Space Education Center. It has opened thedoor for collaborations with those other developing countries
including those outside the region of Asia and the Pacific withemerging space capabilities with willingness to initiate spaceeducation activities to reach out to a large number of school
teachers. As part of such collaborations, the Center has continued tosupport water rocket events as well as associated teachers seminars
held in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Nigeria,
Philippines and Vietnam.

39

Teaching physics in Argentina using
water rockets

Teachers training in Brazil

Water rocket workshop in Chile

Water rocket competition during “Space
Adventure”, Baranquilla, Colombia

While the Center has introduced its teaching methods and materials
in developing countries, it has also benefited from inputs provided
by enthusiastic teachers and educators in developing countries.
Building upon the Educator’s Manual for Water Rockets developedby the Center and translated into Spanish in cooperation with
UNESCO, teachers in some countries, such as Argentina, havedeveloped advanced teaching materials to meet the needs of theirclasses.
The map below shows the countries to which the Center provided
technical and materials support for their water rocket activities. The
Center continues to receive various ideas from teachers andeducators in those countries.

40

Welcoming the group of scienceteachers from African countries, 2008

3. Supporting Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
as part of its training programme
In response to requests by Japan International Cooperation Agency(JICA), the Center received groups of African science teachers in
September in 2006, 2007 and 2008 to introduce space education.
The Center provided short hands-on sessions for those teachers to
use space materials and resources to stimulate interest of students inscience classes. In total, the Center provided such opportunities to
24 science teachers from nine African countries, i.e. Kenya, Gambia,
Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania andUganda.
In addition, liaison council of JAXA-JICA has been started since
January 2008, and regarding Space Education for developing countries has been come up for discussion in the 3rd meeting in February
2011.

programmes that are international, interdisciplinary and inter-cultur-

ty and lecturers drawn from around the world, ISU offers uniqueWith more than 3,000 alumni worldwide and several hundred facul-

sium organized by ISU in February.

university and graduate students to participate in the annual sympo-

from 2008, the Center also provides funding support for Japanese

course held at ISU main campus in Strasbourg, France. Starting

Master of Science in Space Management (MSS/MSM), one-year

and the degree programs for Master of Science in Space Studies andAugust by ISU at a different location each year around the globe,

Studies Program (SSP), nine-week course held between June andJapanese university and graduate students to participate in the SpaceSpace Education Center continues to provide scholarships for

In cooperation with the International Space University (ISU), theE. Other collaborations: providing education opportunities outside Japan for graduate students

ISU Campus in Illkirsch, France(Photographs: Courtesy of ISU)ISU SSP in 2010
(Photographs: Courtesy of ISU)

al in nature. Based on the Memorandum of Understanding concluded between JAXA and ISU in December 2003, JAXA supports
activities of ISU by receiving MSS/MSM students as interns at
JAXA research facilities, sending JAXA staff as lecturers for SSP
and MSM/MSM and participating in the Board of Trustees of ISU.
41

explanatory notes on various space-related topics are also available

on-line education materials and programmes. Information andcampaigns, and reports on the past activities, and distributes updateon its activities, including announcements for upcoming events,

As for the Internet-based services, the Center provides information

cations as the main tools to disseminate information.

The Space Education Center uses Internet-based services and publi-VII. DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION AND PUBLICATIONS
A. Objectives and strategies

Web site of the Space Education Center:
http://edu.jaxa.jp

through the Space Information Center, an on-line information service that can be accessed through the Center’s web site.
The web site of the Center (http://www.edu.jaxa/jp) aims to achieve
the following objectives: i) to serve as the focal point to disseminate
information on space education activities and to provide a forum forexchanging ideas and information among educators; ii) to provide
education materials, images and pictures that can be easily downloaded for use by educators in classroom teaching; iii) to makeavailable in a most efficient manner the teaching and learning materials developed through the Center’s support to schools as well asreports on the classroom activities supported by the Center. Its web
site continues to be upgraded, and it now contains movie files andvideo clips.
In the past year, the Center focused on the following strategies: i) tocreate conducive environment for any school teachers, leaders andinstructors of space education activities as well as any individuals
interested in space education to communicate and interact with eachother and to exchange ideas and education materials; ii) to actively
pursue other means of disseminating information rather than on-line
services; iii) to use movie clips to report on the activities so as tomake the users of the web site feel as if they were at the venues of
those activities; iv) to reorganize the Space Information Center tomake it more user-friendly and to make the content easier to understand by the general public.

42

B. Achievements

Campaign named “Let's observe a total
lunar eclipse!” through Website

Campaign named “I found that the first
twinkle star (Venus) in the dark morningsky.” through Website

School Wall Newspaper

Quarterly magazine, “Sora e no
Tobira”(“Door toward Space”)

Space Education TV Channel

The Space Education Center continues to upgrade its web site, andthe next upgrade is planned for release in next spring 2011. One of
the major achievements in the past year is the establishment of the“Space Education Community Site”, in support of those who havecompleted the Space Education Leaders Seminar as well as thoseteachers interested in introducing space materials into their classrooms. In addition, the number of astronomy observation campaign
through web site continues to increase since the first campaign on
Solar eclipse in 2009.
The Center has continued to issue short journals via Email, or “MailMagazine”, once or twice a month, taking up a space-related topic
that may be of interest to young people and disseminating the latest
news on the Center’s activities. As of February 2011, 78 issues havebeen disseminated since the first issue in June 2006. The number ofsubscribers more than doubled in the past four years, from about
1,000 to 3166 as of the end February 2011.
As alternative means to Internet-based services, the Center has continued to issue paper-based publications on a regular basis. The
Center has continued to distribute news letters called School Wall
Newspapers, to about 15,000 elementary and junior high schools in
the country. For “Science for Kids”, a monthly journal for children,
the Center has continued to contribute articles on its activities. The
fifteenth issue of the quarterly journal, “Sora e no Tobira” (“Doortoward Space” in Japanese), has been issued by March 2011.
Starting from April 2009, the Center significantly increased the frequency of the real-time television broadcasting to provide live coverage of not only the rocket launches but also space education events
organized by the Center. The Center aims to provide such live coverage through “Space Education TV Channel” twice a month on average. From April 2010 to February 2011, 34 programmes were broadcasted through the “Space Education TV Channel”, attracting the
maximum of 99,735 viewers per programme. All these broadcasted
programmes have been archived and made available on-line.

43Tanegashima Space Center and Tsukuba Space Center.

Colleges were organized during the Space Camp programme incourses has been organized together. With Family Mart, Cosmic

which broadcasted advertisements of the Cosmic College course, ten

nihon Living Shimbun Co., Ltd.. In the case of the Discovery Channel,

with Discovery Channel, Denshi Kaihatsu Gakuen and The Minami-

tries, some of the courses of the Cosmic College were co-organized

As a result of its increased efforts to collaborate with interested indus-

tion activities.

non-governmental, non-profit organizations engaged in space educa-

national research institutes while continuing its collaborations with thetions with other offices and departments of JAXA, industries andplaces and on occasions, the Center further strengthened its collabora-

activities at various levels of school education and many different

would be the key of success in further expanding space education

Reaffirming its conviction that the collaborations with all stakeholders

VIII. STRATEGIC ALLIANCES AND ESTABLISHMENT OF FOOTHOLDS

Collaborations with Discovery Channe

Collaborations with Family Mart inTanegashima Space CenterIn the past year, the Center began to vigorously pursue collaborations with national research institutes, such as Japan Agency for
Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), National
Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) and RIKEN, to havetheir researchers and experts involved in not only co-organizing educational events but also in the development of programme contents
and planning for future activities.
Significant progress has been made in the collaborations with publishing companies producing textbooks and supplementary learningmaterials in the past year. In response to 127 requests from 45 suchcompanies, the Center has provided images and data resulting fromspace activities and projects of JAXA for use in the textbooks andsupplementary learning materials for not only science but also otherclasses, including those for Japanese and English languages, geography, agriculture and homemaking.
To provide a systematic framework of support by leading researchers and experts from various disciplinary areas who are committed
to space education efforts, the Center is establishing Space
Education Advisory Board. The Advisory Board would provide
advice on the overall executive directions to be pursued by the44

Center as well as its major policies concerning the implementationof its programmes, support for space education leaders and development of educational materials. Under this Advisory Board, the establishment of two working groups, one on space education materials
and the other on space education activities, is also envisaged.

45

IX. CONCLUDING REMARKS
Asteroid Explorer "Hayabusa" overcame many difficulties, andsuccessfully returned to the Earth on June 13, 2010 after a grandjourney that lasted seven years.
Hayabusa has met and overcome a series of technical glitches, suchas reaction wheels failure, onboard RCS (Reaction Control System)
fuel leak accident, communication blackout, and Ion engine failures.
Many people have been encouraged by the journey which was amiraculous achievement made possible by leading-edge technologies,
teamwork and excellent ideas among engineers. The mission of
Hayabusa was to return samples from asteroid ‘Itokawa’ to the Earthwith clues that would reveal some of the mysteries of the origin of oursolar system. It also impressed us with a “never-give-up attitude”.
It has enormous influence on the school scene.
Towards enforcement of the Japanese government's new teachingguidelines, which are completely revised every 10 years, from theJapanese fiscal year 2011, JAXA has been collaborating withpublishing companies producing national school textbooks andsupplementary learning materials, and providing images and data
resulting from JAXA space activities for use in the textbooks andmaterials not only for science but also other school subjects, such as
Japanese, English, Homemaking, Agriculture, and Geography and etc.
JAXA has actively continued to conduct Space Education Leaders
Seminars for school teachers and volunteer social educators.
We in the Center are, of course, aware of the need to increasechildren's interest in space-related science and engineering.
By making full use of attractive space materials in Japan andoverseas, we hope to actively promote space education activities inorder to spark a bright flame in children's hearts and minds for years
to come.

46

Japan Aerospace Exlopration Agency (JAXA)Space Education Center
3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Chuo-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, 252-5210, Japan
Tel: +81-50-3362-7590 Fax:+81-42-759-8612
http://edu.jaxa.jp

Photo/Illustrat ion Courtesy
ISS and KIBO (c) NASA/JAXA, SRMS and OBSS (c) NASA/JAXA, After Hayabusa Swing-by (c)Akihiro Ikeshita, Towards Asteroid Itokawa (c) Akihiro Ikeshita