Table of Contents
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1. ABSTRACTS DUE 7/17/01! NASA Office of Space Science
Education and Public Outreach Conference - Chicago, September 12-14
2. We Had A Solar Blast: The First Annual Sun-Earth Day, 2001
3. OSS/Minority Professional Societies Meeting
4. SEC Products Corner: Eye on The Sky: Our Star the Sun
See End for Sponsor Information, How to Contribute or Contact Us,
or Find Back Issues
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1. NASA Office of Space Science Education and Public Outreach
Conference - Chicago, September 12-14.
ABSTRACT SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE TUESDAY, JULY 17, BY 6 p.m. EST.
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION IS DUE AUGUST 1.
http://analyzer.depaul.edu/ossconference/
You are invited to attend the NASA Office of Space Science
Education and Public Outreach Conference in Chicago, Illinois,
from September 12-14, 2001. The Conference will be held at the
historic Union League Club of Chicago in the Chicago Loop.
Conference Goals and Purpose
The goals of the conference are to strengthen and deepen the
education and public outreach efforts of the Office of Space
Science and to enhance the ability of the space science community
to contribute to these efforts. To achieve these goals, the
conference will bring together scientists and educators with an
interest in space science education and outreach to hear
presentations and engage in discussions in the following areas:
* Ways in which scientists can participate in education and
outreach.
* Issues and challenges faced by educators in formal and informal
venues to incorporate results from space science research in
exhibits, the classroom, and other venues.
* Ways in which science education research can help us in our efforts.
* Examples of a broad range of initiatives, including those that
exemplify the participation of scientists, outreach to
underutilized and underserved communities, and the effective use
of technology.
* The conference will be a mixture of plenary sessions, panels,
breakout sessions, poster sessions, and unstructured time. The
ideas generated from the conference will be captured in a
proceedings volume.
For more information and registration, please see
http://analyzer.depaul.edu/ossconference/
Note: Due to hotel space limitations, anyone interested in going
should also make reservations with one of the three hotels listed
on the site.
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2. We Had A Solar Blast: The First Annual Sun-Earth Day
Sun-Earth Day: Have a Solar Blast, an education and public
outreach event held on April 27 and 28, was a national
celebration of the active Sun and its effects on our planet.
NASA’s Sun-Earth Connection Education Forum (SECEF) developed and
supported Sun-Earth Day to share solar science and Sun-Earth
Connection (SEC) discoveries in classrooms, museums, planetaria,
NASA centers, and hundreds of National Astronomy Day celebrations
throughout the country. Many events were linked with National
Astronomy Week or the 5th Anniversary of SOHO (Solar and
Heliospheric Observatory). SECEF partnered with the European
Space Agency (ESA) who focused their efforts in 40 locations
throughout Europe.
Over 65 K-12 education events took place in NASA centers.
Educators attended workshops on Sun-Earth Connection science and
participated in numerous hands-on activities, which they could in
turn share with their students. Many NASA mission scientists
donated time and expertise in these workshops and in the actual
classrooms. A Sun-Earth Day webcast hosted by Paul Mortfield of
Stanford University drew approximately 10,000 students.
SECEF and SEC missions developed support materials for Sun-Earth
Day in a resource kit that reached 9,000 educators. A colorful
space weather folder offered background information, activities,
a lithograph set, and CD-ROMs. SECEF also developed a
comprehensive support website. Heavily visited in March and
April, the website allowed scientists and educators to register
to participate in events. Total website registrations included 87
scientists and 267 educators who requested materials to support
their efforts.
Sun-Earth Day 2001 was a resounding success!
For more information on future Sun-Earth Days, keep your eyes on:
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/SECEF_SunEarthDay
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3. OSS/Minority Professional Societies Meeting Spearheads
New Collaborations
The first Office of Space Science/Minority Professional Societies
meeting, hosted by the Diversity Working Group of OSS and Charles
McGruder, in Bowling Green, KY, May 9-10, 2001. Charles is a
professor of physics and astronomy, the head of the department at
Western Kentucky University, and the president of the National
Society of Black Physicists (NSBP). Nine professional societies
(just about all minorities and subjects represented) attended, as
did many members of the OSS Support Network, and headquarters
folks as well. The meeting consisted of information exchange and
a showcase of SECEF Eclipse '01 event as an example of an
OSS/NSBP collaboration, followed by small group discussions to
identify clear opportunities for partnership and collaborations.
Plans were made with Black, Hispanic, and Native American
scientists, engineers, and mathematicians for cooperative
programs in:
* Science research
* Post-doctoral, summer fellowships and student internships
* Evaluating proposals
* Using information technologies to enhance OSS education and
outreach projects
* Reviewing education products for science accuracy and diverse
appeal
* Promoting NASA science and math materials in workshops and
school visits
Follow-up telecons and meetings are being used to carry out the plans.
* SECEF is working with Darrell Davis of the National
Organization of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE)
about supporting teacher-training workshops in their 2002
conference.
* SECEF hosted Jim Stith of NSBP and AIP at Goddard on July 3.
Information on the Minority Professional Societies collaborations
can be found at http://oss-ecosystem.stsci.edu/ under the
"Meeting of Professional Societies of Minority Scientists" link.
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4. SEC Products Corner - Eye on the Sky: Our Star the Sun
Science Activities for the Elementary Classroom
Our Star the Sun, a suite of science lessons for students in
grades 1-3, is now available on the Web at www.eyeonthesky.org.
Developed and tested by UC Berkeley educators and NASA scientists
in partnership with teachers, Our Star the Sun, brings the
excitement of space science to elementary school teachers and
their students everywhere.
Our Star the Sun contains 15 lessons aligned with the National
Science Education Standards for the primary grades. The lessons
are well integrated and, when taught together, allow students to
maximize their understanding of the Sun-Earth system. Student
learning begins with concrete experiences of the world and then
moves toward more abstract science concepts. Each lesson contains
a summary and learning objectives along with student
prerequisites and a listing of materials. Assessment
and extension activities are also included.
Our Star the Sun contains an easy pre- and post-assessment of the
entire unit. This makes it possible for students, teachers, and
parents to see how much students have learned about the Sun-Earth
system, the Day and Night Cycle, Solar Eclipses and other wonders
of our Universe!
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Newsletter Sponsor Information:
Sun-Earth Connection Education Forum
An integral element of the Office of Space Science (OSS)
education and public outreach strategy is the establishment of a
network for space science to foster a wide variety of education
and public outreach activities. This network of institutions
include (1) four Education Forums that serve as major centers for
space science education and public outreach in each of the four
OSS Themes, and (2) a set of regional Broker/Facilitators who,
for example, help arrange collaborations between scientists and
the education community. The Sun-Earth Connection Education Forum
(SECEF) is a partnership led by Goddard Space Flight Center and
UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory. To learn more about
SECEF and the Office of Space Science Education and Public
Outreach program, go to
http://spacescience.nasa.gov/education/ecosystem/index.htm
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How to Contact Us:
The Sun-Earth CONNECTION Education and Public Outreach Newsletter
is issued approximately monthly. Back issues can be found at
<http://sunearth.ssl.berkeley.edu/SECNews/>
The Newsletter is sponsored by the NASA Sun-Earth Connection
Education Forum (Goddard Space Flight Center and UC Berkeley;
Rich Vondrak and Isabel Hawkins, Co-Directors) Sun-Earth
Connection Education Forum Web Site:
<http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov> and
http://sunearth.ssl.berkeley.edu
Please direct all submissions to the newsletter to:
Karin Hauck (Editor) - E-mail: editor@sunearth.ssl.berkeley.edu
Phone: (510) 642-2343 Fax: (510) 643-5660
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