From: jwee@mail.arc.nasa.gov (Jan Wee)
Subject: Re: Science Fiction, Resources, etc.
Date: Thu, 12 Sep 1996 20:30:20 -0500
Dear Mike and all,
Mike Deane of Florida asked me about my opinion of
a book I had mentioned earlier in the PTK Advocate
forum.....
(By the way, PTK Advocates are the 100 plus educators
from around the US who attended the July 18-20th
Live From Mars Teacher Workshop sponsored by Passport
to Knowledge and NASA JPL in Washington, DC this past
summer. This energetic and talented group of educators
serve as the key Passport to Knowledge contacts in
each state. Many of them belong to this forum and have
been sharing online over the past several weeks. Our
PTK Advocates have been busy presenting workshops and
presentations 21 states already since July. The Live From Mars
web site will have information about the Advocates
and how you can interact with them very soon.)
Back to Winds of Mars by H.M. Hoover --- a new FICTION
book for middle schoolers that raised by curiosity, so
I bought it and have read 3/4ths of it so far...
My opinion is that this book starts out slowly but
improves as the plot thickens. It is would appeal
to 9-13 year olds. The book is about teenager
Annalyn Reynolds, who finds her comfortable existence
turned upside down and her life threatened. Ethical issues
arise when she discovers the use of MT's --- mind transfer
chips, which allow some people to live forever as androids.
Have you read....the SCI-FI books by Kim Stanley
Robinson entitled *Mars Red* *Mars Blue* and *Mars
Green*? They are for the older reader (middle school
and older) and have won some awards. I saw them at
Barnes and Noble and would like to hear opinions
if you have read them.
By the way.... I am in the process of compiling a Live
>From Mars resource list and would love to have contributions
from this forum. I have all the resources archived that
have already been shared in this forum, but if there is any Mars
related resource that you have used and especially like,
please share this with me.
IF YOU HAVE A RESOURCE THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO RECOMMEND AND
COULD SEND A DESCRIPTION (title, author, publisher, place
of publication, copyright, ISBN number, phys. description,
and source), I WOULD GREATLY appreciate your input! :-)
I hope everyone has seen the great newsletter Marc Siegel,
NASA K-12 Internet Initiative, has put together and distributed
today. Packed full of great info! Nice job, Marc!!!
If anyone has questions about ordering the Teacher's Guide
or the Teacher's Kit for Live From Mars, please email
me and I will be glad to respond.
Another book to consider...
A resource that I would like to mention is a book called
*Turn Left At Orion: A Hundred Night Sky Objects To See In A
Small Telescope* by Guy Consolmagno and Dan M. Davis. (revised
edition) Cambridge University Press, c1995.
This is a guidebook for beginning astronomers and provides all
the information you need to find over a hundred deep
sky objects in the Northern Hemisphere. I found it excellent
as I consider myself strictly an amateur observer of the
night sky. I especially appreciated the information on observing
Mars!
I also like Arthur C. Clarke's *The Snows of Olympus: A Garden on Mars --
the Illustrated Story of Man's Colonization of Mars*
WW Norton & Company, c1994. This book considers how human beings
might become the first Martians of science fact, not fiction, by
"terraforming" the desert landscape of Mars into our first settlement
in space. Some great futuristic color images!! I think kids will find
this book and the concepts behind it fascinating, and maybe a bit
disturbing!
Guess you can tell that I am a former Library Media Director...
love those books! :-)
Jan Wee
Jan Wee, Education Outreach Coordinator
Passport to Knowledge
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/interactive
Voice: 608-786-2767 (8am-4pm Central time) Fax: 608-786-1819
Email: jwee@mail.arc.nasa.gov