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Voyages in Education and Public Outreach

An Office of Space Science Newsletter

May 2002 Issue 5

On the Inside

Updates

 2001 E/PO Annual Report 2

 E/PO Product Review 3

 Solar Sytem Ambassadors 3

 Touch the Universe 4

 Space Place en Español 4

Education Products

 Mars Activities 4

 Galaxy Hunter 5

 Planet Quest 6

 XMM-Newton Web Center 6

 Space Mysteries 7

Education Programs

 Connecting Sun City: Sun-Earth Connections 8

 OSS E/PO Products Training Workshop 9

 Chicago Space Science Symposium 10

Scientists in Education & Public Outreach 10

On the Horizon 12

Techbridge Girls Take a Virtual Field Trip

to NASA JPL

Etta Heber and Linda Kekelis , Chabot Space & Science

Center

How do you bring together a group of girls

from Oakland, California that are interested in

technology and female scientists from the Jet

Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena? With

technology, of course. What began as a dream,

culminated in a satellite broadcast via NASA

Select Television on January 13, 2002.

Approximately four hundred young women and

their families participated in the live event in the

Tien MegaDome Theater at Chabot Space &

Science Center and the von Karman Auditorium

at NASA JPL, listening to presentations from

women scientists and asking questions of the

panelists.

This event supported Chabot Space & Science

Center Techbridge program to inspire girls’ interest

in technology areas. Stephenie Lievense,

Educational Outreach Coordinator at JPL,

comments that, “NASA has a unique

opportunity—and I think responsibility—to

provide role models to young women in math,

science, and technology. The Women in Technology

and Science broadcast was one way to do that. The

relaxed format allowed us to dispel the myth that

scientists are nerds with lab coats and pocket

protectors, and to present women engineers and

scientists as the interesting and approachable

people they are.”

NASA JPL is not lacking for women scientists

and engineers who wish to reach out to young

girls. Panelists Jo Anne Alano, Andrea Donnellan,

Ayanna Howard, Jennifer Mindock, Tracy

Williams, and Shonte Wright enjoy their work and

are committed to making careers in science and

technology a more realistic pursuit for young

women. These women were as moved by the

event as were the girls they inspired. “It is an

incredible feeling to know that I am helping to

open a girl’s mind to the true possibility of a career

in technology and science,” says Jennifer Mindock.
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Techbridge students, Alice Li and N’Gala

McCoy, were invited to JPL for the satellite

broadcast and to job shadow the role models. Both

students returned with career aspirations

influenced by their meetings with the JPL

scientists. Techbridge teacher, Judy McGinty,

chaperoned these students and shared that, “I was

reminded of the powerful influence a teacher can

have as these role models at JPL frequently cited

their teachers as the persons who inspired them

in the direction of their careers.”

The impact of the broadcast did not stop the

night of the event. Teachers and students have

asked to show the videotaped broadcast to

audiences at their schools so that they can get the

message out to many more students. Etta Heber,

Principal Investigator of Techbridge and Director

of Exhibits, Media, and Technology at Chabot, is

looking ahead, “We’re already discussing how

Techbridge and NASA JPL can build upon this

success and follow up with an event next year.”

Techbridge programs are hosted at middle

schools and high schools in Oakland, California

and at the California School for the Blind.

Designing web pages, making movies, publishing

a school newsletter, programming, and building

robots are just some of the projects underway this

year. In addition, the program offers training and

resources for teachers, counselors, and parents.

Techbridge is funded by the National Science

Foundation. If you are interested in learning more

about Techbridge, please visit the Web site at http:/

/www.chabotspace.org/visit/programs/

techbridge.asp or contact Dr. Linda Kekelis at

(510) 336-7332. Learn more about JPL’s outreach

program by contacting Stephenie Lievense at (818)

393-6729, http://www.jpl.nasa.gov .

Updates

FY 2001 Annual Report Exceeds Expectations

The FY 2001 OSS E/PO Annual Report

summarizes more than 400 Office of Space Science

(OSS) education and public outreach (E/PO)

activities carried out and new products

developed in FY 2001. Taking into account that

many of the reported activities involved multiple

events that took place in a variety of venues, the

total number of E/PO events reported was nearly

3,000. Events took place in all 50 States, the District

of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

These efforts were made possible by the direct

participation of more 100 OSS missions and

programs and nearly 900 OSS-affiliated scientists,

technologists, and support staff. They relied

heavily on high-leverage partnerships with nearly

500 institutions and organizations, including

science museums, precollege educational

organizations, research laboratories, professional

societies, libraries, and community organizations.

Public recognition of the quality of these efforts

was shown by the more than 50 awards and other

forms of recognition that they received. The

Annual Report is available online at http://

spacescience.nasa.gov/education . Inquiries

about this report may be directed to Dr. Philip

Sakimoto at phil.sakimoto@hq.nasa.gov .

Nearly 3,000 E/PO events took place under OSS

sponsorship in FY 2001, encompassing all 50 States, the

District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Alice Li and N’Gala McCoy at NASA JPL.
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NASA OSS Education Product Review

Elaine Lewis, NASA GSFC

Developers submitted fifty four education

products and resources for K-12 audiences to the

2001 NASA OSS Education Product Review.

Panels of educators, curriculum and instructional

design specialists, teacher trainers, and space

scientists reviewed these newly developed or

updated space science education products which

had been developed or funded by NASA OSS. The

recommendations were as follows:

• 8 were ready for broad distribution

• 8 were ready for broad distribution and

 use in educator workshops

• 8 were ready for broad distribution with

 revisions in the next printing

• 3 were ready for educator workshops with

 revisions in the next printing

• 19 needed minor to moderate revisions

• 5 needed major revisions

• 1 was not recommended

• 2 were products for informal education

 venues

Solar System Ambassadors

Kay Ferrari, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

The NASA Solar System Ambassadors

program has inducted its 2002 class of 278

Ambassadors, representing all 50 states and

Puerto Rico. The Solar System Ambassadors

Program is a public outreach program using

motivated volunteers across the nation to organize

and conduct public events communicating

exciting discoveries and plans in Solar System

research, exploration and technology at

nontraditional venues, e.g. community service

club meetings, libraries, museums, planetariums,

star parties, mall displays, etc. Last year,

Ambassadors conducted about 960 events directly

reaching 2.6 million people in communities across

the country. There are 124 new Ambassadors and

154 are continuing from the 2001 program. This

is the first year since the formation of the Solar

System Ambassadors Program in 1999 that all 50

states will be served by these enthusiastic

volunteers. Their success has been noted by

frequent press coverage of their events, offers of

support by private companies, and increasing

numbers of requests for ambassadorships from

volunteers inside and outside the United States.

The Ambassadors program was featured in

Voyages, January 2001,

http://spacescience.nasa.gov/education/news .

Having products reviewed has several

benefits for the developers, including official

endorsement and national recognition. Products

recommended for national distribution are

considered for printing and distribution by

NASA at national conferences. Products

recommended for distribution through teacher

workshops are included in the annual OSS

Education Products workshop for NASA

educators (see article on page 9). Recommended

products are listed in the OSS Space Science

Education Resource Directory (http://

teachspacescience.stsci.edu) as having achieved

exemplary status through the review process.

Web sites are reviewed in a separate process

through SciLinks (http://www.scilinks.org), a

joint effort between NASA and the National

Science Teacher Association (NSTA) and may be

submitted at any time. SciLinks is an online

supplement to textbooks with links to the latest

information related to textbook topics. The web

sites that pass the review are listed in the OSS

Education Resource Directory and also become

SciLinks sites.

The products for the 2002 Review are being

submitted in May 2002 and the results of the

review will be released in September. Product

developers should contact the OSS Forum Review

Leads for information on submitting for next

year’s review.

OSS Forum Product Review Leads

Sun Earth Connection

Elaine Lewis: (lewis@mail630.gsfc.nasa.gov)

(301) 286-3337

Solar System Exploration

Rosalie Betrue: (Rosalie.Betrue@jpl.nasa.gov)

(818) 393-5388

Structure and Evolution of the Universe

Sandra Daly: (sdaly@cfa.harvard.edu)

(617) 496-4784

Astronomical Search for Origins

Carole Rest: (crest@stsci.edu)

(410) 338-4590
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NASA Targets Kids en Español

Nancy Leon, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

NASA’s popular educational Web site, The

Space Place, has launched a new Spanish language

version for children, their families, and their

teachers. The Web site at http://

spaceplace.nasa.gov and its new Spanish language

companion at http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/

espanol target children from 8 to 13 years of age.

Each site currently includes about 50 activities,

including projects, interactive demonstrations and

games, and “amazing facts” about space, Earth,

and NASA.

 Educational Products

Mars Activities: Space Exploration in the

Classroom

Keith Watt, Arizona State University

Teachers across the country have discovered

that the excitement NASA’s exploration brings to

their students can also serve as a very effective

motivator and springboard for learning. However,

teachers often have difficulty finding a motivating

hands-on resource to use – particularly one that is

aligned with science education standards.

To address this need, the Mars Education

Program at Arizona State University in Tempe,

Arizona, has produced a book entitled, Mars

Touch the Universe published by the Joseph

Henry Press

Bernhard Beck-Winchatz, DePaul University

Touch the Universe - A NASA Braille Book of

Astronomy (see Voyages, September 2001) is now

available through the Joseph Henry Press, which

is a division of the National Academy of Sciences.

Orders can be placed on the National Academy

Press web site - http://www.nap.edu/catalog/

10307.html. The book was developed with

funding from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST)

Guest Observer Program. It contains tactile

representations of twelve HST images, and two

images of the telescope itself, supplemented by

explanatory text in Braille and large print. For

more information regarding Touch the Universe,

please contact Bernhard Beck-Winchatz,

bbeck@condor.depaul.edu .

The Spanish version of the site was developed

to respond to the over 27 million people living in

the US for whom Spanish is the primary

language. What is more, of those, nearly 13

million do not feel very comfortable with English.

Dr. Jeffrey Rosendhal, Education and Public

Outreach Director for NASA’s Office of Space

Science, Washington, D.C., says, “This Web site

is dedicated to reaching that audience. NASA is

committed to explaining the results of its

programs to the entire American public in all its

diversity.”

The Space Place Web site launched in early 1998

and continues to be enhanced and adds new

activities each month. Its educational value has

been recognized and commended by several

organizations, including the National Science

Teachers Association and the International

Technology Education Association, and has

received more than a dozen children’s educational

Web site awards.

The Space Place is an outreach effort of the New

Millennium Program, but is open to participation

by all NASA missions. Currently, 36 missions are

represented. The New Millennium Program is

managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion

Laboratory, Pasadena, California.

The Space Place outreach program, which

includes other educational products in addition

to the Web site and has a wide network of

dissemination partnerships, was featured in

Voyages, January 2001, http://

spacescience.nasa.gov/education/news.
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Activities: Teacher Resources and Classroom Activities.

This 128 page document assembles a collection of

over twenty-five standards-aligned, hands-on

activities for teachers of students in kindergarten

through twelfth grade. Each activity has been

extensively field tested by master teachers across

the United States and in a wide range of

educational settings. In addition to being available

on CD-ROM, this activity book can be

downloaded from the Mars Student Imaging

Project Web site (http://msip.asu.edu/pages/

pdfs/MSIP-MarsActivities.pdf) in Adobe’s

Portable Document Format (PDF).

Each activity follows a similar format. An

introductory section provides the background and

context for the activity and often provides tips for

implementing it in the classroom. The standards

(National Science Education Standards [NRC,

1996]) met by the activities are identified. A

materials list is included with every activity. The

materials required are generally very common,

low-cost, and easy to find. The activity procedure

itself is designed to be very teacher-friendly,

further enhancing the appeal for the collection to

the classroom teacher. Activities range in topic

from standard science topics such as lava layering

and the relative sizes of the moon and planets, to

current topics in space exploration, such as the

current generation of Mars spacecraft and the

search for life on Mars. All of these topics and

activities can be readily integrated into the science

curriculum of any K-12 classroom.

Test Your Skills as a “Galaxy Hunter”

Space Telescope Science Institute

In Galaxy Hunter, a new, online educational lesson,

ninth through twelfth-grade students can use

actual data from the Hubble Space Telescope to

study galaxies in deep space. They can journey to

the deepest regions of space to wrestle with the

cosmic giants called galaxies and learn

mathematical skills scientists have used to unlock

many galactic secrets. The galaxies they study

are part of the Hubble North and Hubble South

Deep Fields, the clearest, most distant views of the

universe ever obtained.

The interdisciplinary lesson blends astronomy

and math skills and was produced by the Office

of Public Outreach at the Space Telescope Science

Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. A team of

scientists, teachers, artists, and web programmers

developed interactive activities to bring the

results of cutting-edge astronomical observations

into the classroom. Students can now analyze the

same faraway galaxies that dazzled astronomers

and sample the types of galaxies found in the early

universe. Then they can compare their samples

with those of astronomers to determine whether

the galaxies in the two deep fields are similar.

Along the way, they’ll learn about bias in sampling

techniques and the role of sample variability in

determining the optimal sample size. Based on

their sample analysis, students will try to answer

the same question as the astronomers who

observed the deep fields: “Does the universe look

the same in all directions?”

Released in January 2002, Galaxy Hunter also

includes a teacher guide that helps prepare

educators to present the lesson in the classroom.

In the guide, teachers can find science background

information, which explains the galaxy types, the

galaxy classification system, and how astronomers

selected the Hubble Deep Fields. The lesson also

adheres to national education standards for grades

9 to 12. When students are finished hunting for

galaxies, they can try unscrambling the schedule

for a Hubble telescope servicing mission. In Be

the Mastermind Behind the Mission, another online,

interactive activity, students can play the role of

NASA scientist by attempting to fix a mixed up

order of events for the Hubble servicing mission.

Their job is to place, in proper order, the schedule

of servicing mission events, which includes

spacewalks and the launch of the space shuttle.

The interdisciplinary lesson tests reading and

technology skills, and is aimed at sixth- through

eighth-graders. The lesson was released in

February 2002 to coincide with Servicing Mission

3B to upgrade the Hubble telescope.

Both lessons can be found on the Amazing

Space Web site:

http://amazing-space.stsci.edu .
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Navigator Program debuts Planet Quest

Randal Jackson, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

The Navigator Program has launched a

comprehensive Web site for news about extrasolar

planets and the missions that study them. The

site is called Planet Quest: the Search for Another

Earth and the URL is http://

planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov.

The Navigator program brings together the

Keck Interferometer, the Space Interferometry

Mission (SIM), Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF),

StarLight and related projects as part of the longrange quest to find habitable planets outside our

solar system.

The Planet Quest Web site is for nontechnical

audiences who may have heard about the

discovery of new planets and want more

information. At the same time, Planet Quest

includes technical sections targeted toward

engineers and scientists. The site has articles that

cover the history of planet searches, current

theories about planet formation, the science of

interferometry, and the various methods used to

detect unseen planets located light-years away, as

well as detailed descriptions of the Navigator

program missions. For educators, there is an

extensive catalog of online resources related to

planet searches. The site also includes several

interactive modules:

• A virtual-reality tour of the Keck

Interferometer, located at 4,150 meters (13,600 feet)

on an extinct volcano in Hawaii. More than 200

digital images were stitched together to create a

seamless virtual walk through of this remote

location, which few get to visit in person.

Clickable “hotspots” provide descriptions of what

viewers are seeing.

• A 3-D model of Upsilon Andromedae, the

first multiple-planet system discovered around

another star. This simulation allows users to select

various viewpoints from which to explore a distant

planetary system.

• The New Worlds Atlas provides a complete

database of all extrasolar planets that have been

discovered thus far. Users can sort the information

by method of detection, type of planet, visibility

of the host star to the naked eye, and other search

criteria.

Those who are really keen to keep up with the

latest developments can sign up for membership

in the Planet Finder Club for special news alerts and

opportunities for direct participation in projects.

Response to the site has been enthusiastic and

has drawn widespread media coverage, with

articles by CNN.com, Space News, Yahoo!, the

Christian Science Monitor, and Science magazine.

The ultimate goal is to provide a definitive news

and information portal on planet hunting for both

the public and technical communities.

XMM-Newton Web Center: Lesson Plans

and Activities on Chemistry and

Spectroscopy of Stars and Supernova

Remnants

Ilana Harrus, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

When and where are the chemical elements

created? How do gases get heated to X-ray

emitting temperatures? How far back in time can

we detect X-ray emission from quasars? These are

some of the questions that XMM-Newton, an Xray satellite put into orbit by the European Space

Agency will help us answer.

The XMM-Newton E/PO effort is being led

by the University of California at Santa Barbara

and the XMM-Newton Guest Observer Facility at

the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).

A Web site has been established with a simple

introduction to spectroscopy, which is the primary

Life Cycles

Credit: Alfred Kamajian
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Space Mysteries: A Fun, Interactive Way to

Teach Physical Science, Mathematics and

Astronomy

Lynn Cominsky and Philip Plait, Sonoma State

University

 Are the

strange sounds

heard by the

recording

executive really

coming from

aliens? What is

causing the star

O2.2 to emit a

tongue of flame?

And does it have

anything to do

with what is

causing the earthquakes on the planet 2-Alpha?

The answers to these questions and many more

can be uncovered as part of an interactive learning

environment called Space Mysteries.

Developed by Professor Lynn Cominsky’s

team at Sonoma State University and funded by

NASA through the LEARNERS project, Space

Mysteries are inquiry-driven, interactive, Web

investigations aimed at high school and college

students. The student plays the part of a “Space

Sleuth” who is given an assignment to solve an

astronomy-related Whodunit. Played

individually or in teams, a series of clues must be

deciphered to solve the mystery. Each mystery

has been constructed to teach at least one of the

important physical science standards (e.g.

interactions of energy and matter, structure and

properties of matter, energy, motion, or forces), and

is accompanied by materials to be used by the

classroom teachers.

Two of three planned mysteries have been

completed and are now available online. In the

first, Alien Bandstand, strange signals have been

detected coming from space. The student’s job is

to determine if the signals are from aliens, or have

a natural cause. The second mystery, Live! From

2-Alpha, takes place in the future when Ace

Reporter Parnell lands on an alien planet as part

of an exploration team. When the planet’s star

and then the planet itself begin to act strangely,

it’s up to the students to save Parnell before things

get out of control.

One of the key aspects of the game is the use

of an encyclopedia where terms and concepts are

defined. A major portion of the encyclopedia is a

series of video interviews with research scientists

who are leaders in their respective fields. These

scientists include the following:

• Jill Tarter, from the SETI Institute, who

talks about how SETI searches for alien signals,

and how they can be distinguished from natural

causes;

• Dale Frail, from the National Radio

Astronomy Observatory, who takes the student on

a video tour of the Very Large Array in New

Mexico;

• Gibor Basri, from UC Berkeley, who

discusses stellar evolution;

• Geoff Marcy, also from UC Berkeley, who

talks about the search for extrasolar planets;

• Jocelyn Bell-Burnell, from The Open

University in the United Kingdom, on how she

discovered pulsars;

• Craig DeForest, from the Southwest

technique used by the XMM-Newton mission, and

lesson plans for teachers. The lessons plans were

designed by curriculum resource developers, Allie

Hajian and Maggie Masetti in collaboration with

teacher interns. Each section of the lesson plan

has several pages of background material relevant

to the associated activities and the lesson plan as

a whole. The background sections include short

exercises or questions developed to help students

reach a better understanding of the material

presented. Each section also has activities

designed to bring important concepts in

astronomy into the classroom. Each activity is

correlated to national science and math standards

for grades 9-12. For the younger audience, the

XMM-Newton Learning Center offers a variety

of games from puzzles to drawing-by-numbers.

Children use the puzzle to recreate images from

XMM-Newton and in the process learn about the

satellite and X-ray pictures of the universe.

The XMM-Newton Learning Center also has

a press center where all the discoveries and

important results are posted within a day or two

of their release. The Web site of the XMM-Newton

Learning Center is http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/

docs/xmm_lc/. A mirror site is at Santa-Barbara

http://outreach.ucsb.edu/xmm/.
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Research Institute, on how the Sun’s emissions can

be translated into sound; and

• Susan Sakimoto, from NASA Goddard

Space Flight Center, about the interior structures

of planets and how planets form.

In addition, different scientific instruments are

available in each mystery to gather data that the

students use to understand what is happening.

The mysteries also include actors who set up the

story line and provide clues, as well as plenty of

red herrings! To test the knowledge acquired by

the students, two different assessment strategies

have been implemented. In Alien Bandstand, a quiz

is given to test the student’s mastery of the

properties of waves and reading graphs, part of

 Educational Programs

Connecting Sun City with Sun-Earth

Connections

Ramon Lopez, University of Texas at El Paso

Connecting Sun City with Sun-Earth Connections

is a program focused on bringing the richness of

space science to students and teachers in El Paso,

Texas. El Paso is often called the “Sun City”

because of its mild, nearly cloudless climate. The

program is led by Dr. Ramon Lopez of the

University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and involves

faculty from every department in the College of

Science. A key goal is to use the natural interest

that students have about space to get them

interested in pursuing science majors in college.

Program components include the following:

• Visits to high schools

• Special events and a one-week summer

science camp at UTEP for high school students

• A one-week summer program for teachers

at UTEP, with focus on the Texas Essential

Knowledge and Skills, plus school-year follow-up

• Integration of space science content into

UTEP undergraduate courses

The program was one of 15 selected by NASA

OSS to participate in a major effort to develop

space science capabilities at minority universities.

(For in-depth coverage see Voyages, May 2001,

http://spacescience.nasa.gov/education/news).

El Paso students, many of whom are Hispanic,

often have negative attitudes about science. To

interest students in science majors, UTEP now

hosts a series of visits by high school science

classes. A typical visit begins with a brief

introduction, followed by a hands-on activity that

has a space science connection. For example,

students have learned about the phases of the

Moon, and calculated the speed of a Coronal Mass

Ejection using a series of images from the SOHO

spacecraft. Next there is a tour of UTEP research

facilities and an opportunity to speak with

undergraduate students, and finally pizza for

lunch.

One thing that stands out from data collected

before and after these visits is the initially negative

attitudes that students have toward science

careers. When asked the question, “ What would

your friends say if you told them that you were

going to major in science in college?” - all too often

the answer is something like - “They would say I

was crazy. My friends don’t like science.”

Fortunately, the post-visit surveys show

considerable change in attitudes. A common

comment is “I did not know that science is so cool,

especially the space stuff.” Those changed

attitudes can produce surprising results. After

one visit, the teacher sent a thank you note to

UTEP. He noted that the day after their visit, 22

out the 25 participating students signed up for prethe deductive process needed to decipher the

strange signals. In Live! From 2-Alpha, a series of

challenges is presented, each of which must be

passed in turn in order for the mystery to progress.

Teachers’ guides for each game are available,

with suggestions for additional activities and

enhancements, as well as providing sample

worksheets for the class. To find out all about the

mysteries, the available resources, and of course

to try to solve them yourself, see http://

mystery.sonoma.edu. For more information

regarding the mysteries, please contact Dr. Lynn

Cominsky (lynnc@charmian.sonoma.edu) or Dr.

Phil Plait (phil@universe.sonoma.edu).
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AP physics, and credited the visit for sparking that

level of interest in the students.

The program also has an extensive effort to

provide professional development and space

science materials to teachers. The NASA OSS

E/PO program has developed a variety of

materials that can be used in classrooms in many

different settings. However, teachers need

professional development to use them. Last

summer UTEP conducted a week-long program,

in which space science content was presented in

an inquiry-centered learning environment. Using

a research-based approach to professional

development (Mestre, 1994; Loucks-Horsley et.

al., 1998) provided both pedagogical and scientific

content knowledge. Teacher response to the

program and follow-up workshops was

enthusiastic and teachers showed considerable

growth in understanding of NASA Space Science

education resources. The participating university

faculty also felt that they had gained valuable

information they could use in their own classes.

In addition to these teacher programs, another

set of activities was undertaken with the Insights

Science Museum which is located in El Paso.

Insights Science Museum was exhibiting the Space

Weather Center, a small traveling exhibit about

space weather and its effects on Earth (Space

Weather Center was featured in Voyages, January

2001, http://spacescience.nasa.gov/education/

news.) Cheri Morrow, from the Space Science

Institute, in Boulder, Colorado, came to El Paso

and helped conduct a teacher workshop. By again

providing effective models of science teaching

with significant science topics, the evaluation

showed considerable gains by the teachers, as well

as a very positive response to the workshop as a

whole. Most importantly, the workshops are

building a sense of partnership with area teachers.

Connecting Sun City with Sun-Earth Connections

is off to a good start. We are engaging students,

teachers, and university faculty and expect the

links we build with K-12 educators through this

project will long outlast the project itself.

References:

Loucks-Horsley, S., Hewson, P., Love, N., and

Stiles, K., Designing Professional Development for

Teachers of Science and Mathematics. Thousand

Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 1998.

Mestre, J. P., Cognitive Aspects of Learning

Science, Chapter 3 in Teacher Enhancement for

Elementary and Secondary Science and

Mathematics: Status, Issues, and Problems, eds.

S. J. Fitzsimmons and L. C. Kerpelman, Abt

Associates, Inc., Cambridge MA, 1994.

The first NASA OSS E/PO Products Training

Workshop was held November 15-17, 2001 at

Goddard Space Flight Center. The participants

included representatives from the NASA

Aerospace Education Specialist Program, the

NASA OSS E/PO Support Network, the NASA

Educator Resource Centers and NASA CORE. The

three main goals of the workshop were to :

• train trainers in the use of E/PO products

 which required additional training in space

 science content

• establish a national network of qualified

 persons who can present the content through

 the educational products

• further develop the resources within the

 NASA Centers and OSS E/PO Support

 Network

NASA OSS E/PO Products Training

Workshop

Elaine Lewis, NASA GSFC

Four E/PO products were presented by the

product developers from each of the four OSS

Cheri Morrow, from the Space Science Institute leads

workshop.
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In January 2002, DePaul University hosted the

third annual Chicago Space Science Symposium

which brought together one hundred and twenty

teachers from the Chicago area. The focus of the

Symposium was on integrating space science with

reading, writing, and the arts. Lynn Moroney, a

Native American storyteller and Dr. Jim Kaler, a

university astronomer, gave truly complementary

plenary addresses which showed how much a

storyteller and astronomer actually have in

common – both held the teachers spellbound with

talks that reminded everyone of the mystery and

wonder that drive our inquiry into the nature of

the universe, and the beauty we find which we

celebrate in art and literature.

The symposium was a product of the Chicago

Teachers’ Advisory, a partnership between the

DePaul Broker/Facilitators and Chicago teachers.

Their goal is to develop ways to bring space

science to the school children of Chicago.

Space Science in Chicago

Carolyn Narasimhan, DePaul University

Members of the Advisory planned the

symposium, led several breakout sessions, and are

now taking the lead in developing follow-up

activities. A team of ten teachers is building on

literacy and science ideas to develop a thematic

unit that incorporates story-telling and reading

strategies, big ideas in science, and NASA space

science discoveries. Another group of teachers

will get the opportunity to become certified in the

use of the portable planetarium known as StarLab,

which was demonstrated at the symposium. A

third group will explore ways to work with the

Solar System Educators Program (See Voyages,

May 2001, http://spacescience.nasa.gov/

education/news)

Next on the agenda is a Space Science

Symposium for teachers from rural Illinois and

Indiana at Angel Mounds State Memorial Park,

which is near Evansville, Indiana. This event will

give the Chicago-area teachers a chance to share

their excitement about space science with teachers

in a brand new setting.

Profiles Of Scientists In

Education & Public Outreach

This profile is based on excerpts of an

interview with Dr. Mark Voit about his

involvement in

Education & Public

Outreach,

specifically his

participation in the

traveling

exhibition, Hubble

Space Telescope: New

Views of the

Universe. The

profile was jointly

created by Cheri

Morrow of the

Space Science

Institute (SSI),

Wendy Pollock of

the Association of

Science and

Technology Centers

(ASTC), Christy Edwards of SSI, and Mark Voit,

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI).

E/PO Theme Forums. The participants will be

using these new products in workshops

supporting the educational requirements of the

regions which they serve. The first national

review and training workshop was an

overwhelming success and is expected to facilitate

increased use of Space Science Educational

Products.

Dr. Jim Kaler (Left) and Lynn Moroney (Right)

share ideas.

Dr. Mark Voit
11

Current Professional position:

I am an Associate Astronomer and Lead

Outreach Scientist at NASA’s Space Telescope

Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland.

I came to STScI six and a half years ago, after a

two-year appointment as a Hubble Fellow at

Johns Hopkins University.

Description of Mark’s featured E/PO role:

Beginning in 1998, I helped to develop Hubble

Space Telescope: New Views of the Universe, a

traveling exhibition produced jointly by STScI and

the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition

Service (SITES). Two versions of the exhibition—

one totaling 5,000 square feet and the other, 2,000

square feet—began their tours at the Adler

Planetarium in June 2000. I have also made public

appearances and been a guest on radio programs,

talking about the importance of the Hubble

mission. For information on the exhibition Hubble

Space Telescope: New Views of the Universe, please

go to http://hstexhibit.stsci.edu .

How he got involved with this program:

Actually my involvement with SITES started

when I attended an early concept development

meeting in place of another scientist who couldn’t

make it. The people who were at that meeting

responded very positively to some of my

suggestions and requested that I stay involved

with the project.

How he balances E/PO with research activities:

Here at STScI, I’m privileged to have a position

that allows me to spend half my time on outreach

and the other half on my own research. Our Office

of Public Outreach believes that it’s very

important to involve active scientists in the

creation of outreach materials.

Challenges to his E/PO involvement:

There’s so much great content in astronomy

that I want people to appreciate. Sometimes it’s

difficult not to overwhelm people with too much

information. Paring down the content we’re

trying to deliver to the essentials needed to

communicate a fundamental understanding can

sometimes be painful, but it’s all the more

rewarding when people really get the message

and respond with heightened curiosity.

What he got out of his participation:

It was great fun to see many hours of hard

work take physical and permanent form.

Attending the opening with my kids was a

particular treat, because they were truly excited

by the exhibition. In the long run, though, I think

the most lasting rewards came from the

opportunity to reexperience the excitement of

learning astronomy through the exhibit

development team. They never let me get away

with a shoddy explanation and forced me to

rethink how I go about sharing astronomy with

others. The hours I spent in exhibit development

have paid off in all my other outreach endeavors.

Mark’s words of wisdom about E/PO:

I have discovered two things in my work that

may help others. The first is about the need to

adjust scientific content for different audiences. I

think a scientist’s natural inclination is to present

material that is intellectually challenging and

cutting edge. That’s the stuff we find most

interesting, and we want to share our excitement

with others. We need to recognize, however, that

some people are approaching this material with

little or no background.

The second is about learning to listen. I

realized that there were many more aspects to

designing an exhibition than I had previously

perceived. It was very rewarding to see the skills

of museum professionals in action. Things went

most smoothly when team members took the time

to understand each other’s point of view before

offering criticism. A little respect goes a long way.
12

On the Horizon

If you would like to receive an electronic copy

of future newsletters, contribute an article or just

have questions about getting involved with the

NASA OSS Education and Public Outreach

Program, contact Larry Cooper, Editor, at

lcooper1@hq.nasa.gov . Prior issues of Voyages

are online at http://spacescience.nasa.gov/

education/news .

Science Museum Visitors to Explore Cosmic

Questions

Mary Dussault, Harvard University

Debuting in September 2002, a major new

traveling exhibition and education project called

“Cosmic Questions: Our Place in Space and Time”

will enable millions of Americans to learn how

recent discoveries have shed light on and raised

new questions about our place in the cosmos.

Created by the Smithsonian Astrophysical

Observatory with funding from the National

Science Foundation and NASA’s Office of Space

Science, the exhibition will have its premiere

opening at Boston’s Museum of Science. In

February 2003, it will begin a 3-year national tour

under the management of the Association of

Science-Technology Centers. The “Cosmic

Questions” project also includes a comprehensive

program of educational activities and events for

museum staff, teachers, students, and the public.

Dozens of scientists and space science E/PO

programs have contributed to the project design

and development, and will continue to participate

as the exhibition tours the county. For more

information on the content and future itinerary of

the exhibition, visit http://www.astc.org or email

project director, Mary Dussault at

mdussault@cfa.harvard.edu.

Exceptional Needs Workshop

Cass Runyon, SERCH

The SouthEast Regional ClearingHouse

(SERCH) will be holding a second Exceptional

Needs workshop June 2-5 in Huntsville, Alabama.

This workshop is being co-sponsored by NASA

Marshall Space Flight Center, the University of

Alabama, Huntsville, the National Space Science

and Technology Center, the NASA Space Grant

Consortium program, and U.S. Space Camp. The

purpose of this workshop is to:

• familiarize developers of NASA OSS

education materials with the diversity of

exceptional classroom and audience needs

• familiarize educators of exceptional

students with the wide variety of standardsbased space science educational support

materials available from NASA

• evaluate several popular classroom

materials from the different OSS themes for use

in exceptional classrooms

• build a communication and support

network of exceptional teachers and NASA

mission-related personnel

The specific goals of the workshop are to:

• provide teachers of exceptional students

with new resources to use in classrooms and

some experience in using them

• provide recommendations for

modifications and future design issues to

developers of NASA mission-related

educational products so that they are readily

usable by exceptional audiences

• begin developing a handbook of “best

practices” for use in other workshops and

educational settings for members of the

NASA OSS Education Support Network

In addition to evaluating the products to be

presented, participants will also be discussing

some of the technology available that can help

make some of these products more accessible, such

as a laser tracking mouse, special printing

equipment, scanners and other tools. Attendance

is limited. Contact Ms. Kathryn Guimond at

serch@cofc.edu or call (888) 873-9475.

Visitors at Boston’s Museum of Science test prototype

version of an interactive “Multi-Wavelength Sky” display.