From: Jan Wee <jwee@mail.arc.nasa.gov>
Subject: ANNOUNCING... *Where in the World Are These P.E.T. Mystery
Date: Wed, 23 Apr 1997 22:18:15 -0500
Dear discuss-lfm members,
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ACTIVITY OVERVIEW
BACKGROUND
This fun and challenging activity is an "enrichment" activity
developed in association with the Live From Mars Planet
Explorer Toolkit online collaborative activity. Students
and their sponsoring educators submitted over 80 proposals for
their "best *Planet Explorer Toolkit*" which contains instruments
and tools that would uniquely describe their planet -- Earth.
Their work parallels that of the Mars Mission scientists and
engineers who planned the instrument payload for Mars Pathfinder.
For more information about the P.E.T. Activity, see:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/pet.html
The 84 proposals presented over 350 distinct "tools" which,
through online discussion/debate, were reduced to fourteen
tools including a Celsius thermometer, windsock and compass,
disposable camera, sample collection tools and other items.
Each class used the same TOOLKIT for data collection at their
unique site.
Classes around the nation scheduled their "Launch Phase" data
collection field trips to a local Planetary Data Input Site
and collected data that uniquely describes the area. The data
and images collected were submitted online and are accessible via
the Live From Mars web site. You will find the PDI forms submitted
by classes at:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/pdi/index.html
Collectively, these PDI forms provide base data for this
activity enabling students to identify weather patterns,
biomes, and other characteristics of participating sites.
BRIEF OVERVIEW
Just as participating P.E.T. classes collected data and images from
their unique Planetary Data Input Site, Mystery Site Hosts have
collected DATA and IMAGES from sites around the US and international
locales. Students of grade levels 3 through 12 may participate in
solving "Where In the World Are These P.E.T. Mystery Sites?
Different levels of participation are offered for Elementary students
(Gr. 3-5), Middle School students (Gr. 6-8) and High School students
(Gr. 9-12).
Students will access the Mystery Site PDI data via the LFM web site
through links provided at:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/shoebox.html
Each Mystery Site has a PDI (Planetary Data Input) Form and
accompanying images taken "on location" which uniquely describes
the site. The data does NOT include the Latitude and Longitude
of the location or the Time Zone. The GOAL will be to determine
the LOCATION of the Mystery Site.
Elementary and Middle School students have a >range< of choices
(given in latitude and longitude) from which to select their answers.
Elementary students have THREE choices, whereas Middle School students
have FIVE choices. High School students will be given a range of
Latitude and Longitude within which the Mystery Sites are located.
High School students will not have specific choices, but instead, will
submit their best answer citing the Latitude and Longitude for each
of the five Mystery Sites.
In the case of the High School level: The class(es)/student(s)
submitting the closest answers for the Mystery Sites will be
the winner(s).
In the case of the Elementary and Middle School participants: The
winners will be selected from those entries with the highest number
of correct answers (five maximum).
OBJECTIVES --- "WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE THESE P.E.T. MYSTERY SITES?"
1) Students will analyze Planetary Data Input data and images
in order to identify clues to the location of the mystery
site.
2) Students will demonstrate how to use Latitude and Longitude to
locate a specific point on Earth, properly noting the
coordinates in degrees and minutes along with the compass
direction (N or S for latitude and E or W for longitude).
3) Students will effectively utilize multiple reference sources
including online resources, compare Mystery Site weather
and biome data, and geography/geology with possible locations.
4) Students will demonstrate teamwork, task delegation, and
cooperative discussion techniques.
5) Using deductive reasoning, students will narrow the
possibilities of Mystery Site locations selecting
the *best possible choice* on the basis of their data
analysis.
6) Students will justify/defend their Mystery Site locations based
on evidence collected during their research.
STEP-BY-STEP PROCEDURE
1) Introduce the "Where In the World Are These P.E.T. Mystery
Sites?" activity. Explain the activity (based on the
above Background and Brief Overview) and inform the
students of *your* timeline. Suggestion: Group students
into collaborative teams. Each team will attempt to identify
all five Mystery Sites *or* have each team select one site to
solve.
You may want to access the Mystery Site Data *in advance*
and download and print copies for each group! There are
SEVEN Mystery Site in all, each grade level will use *five*
of the seven sites.
Elementary Students use SITES # 2,3,5, 6, & 7
Middle School Students use SITES # 1-5
High School Students use SITES #1-5
2) Review the P.E.T, Data Collection Form with students found
online at:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/pdi.html
making sure that students understand the different types
of data included in the PDI Form. Having an overhead copy
of the form on hand will help with this process.
3) REVIEW latitude/longitude and mapping skills.
Since all students must utilize latitude and longitude
coordinates, it is important to review how to use lat/long
coordinates to locate a specific point on earth. It is
also important that students understand that noting
N or S latitude and E or W longitude is essential.
A possible review could incorporate plotting the latitude/
longitude location for each participating class who submitted
PDI (Planetary Data Input) forms accessible via the LFM web
site at:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/pdi/index.html
4) Have the students get into their small groups to brainstorm
what they feel is the *BEST PLAN of ACTION* -- the process they
feel will work most effectively --- which will enable them to
solve the Mystery Sites. Have students share their plans with the
large group. Discuss the use of critical thinking skills. Point
out how >subtle< clues contained within the PDI data forms and images
can help eliminate certain Mystery Site possibilities.
5) Provide the students with a variety of reference materials including
online access to archives of Weather Maps, back issues of newspaper
weather reports for late March and April, atlases, geographical
reference books, materials on biomes and environment, guide books
on plants, trees, animals, world and US maps.
6) Schedule time for each group to present their findings
and conclusions to the rest of the class. Survey
the group for final "nod of approval"/feedback.
Suggestion: Classroom teachers are encouraged to require
that students "justify" their Mystery Site locations with
evidence supporting their decisions. Having to defend their
choices will prevent "guesswork" and develop higher level
thinking skills! Have the students share their justifications
during the group discussions.
7) REGISTRATION DIRECTIONS -- YOU *MUST* REGISTER YOUR
PARTICIPATION!
All classes are required to register their participation
by sending email to jwee@mail.arc.nasa.gov In the subject
write: Mystery Site Activity Registration Please
register EARLY so we may plan accordingly. Registration
opens April 28th! Your ANSWER FORMS will be sent to your
attention as soon as you register!
Include the following information in your email registration
message*:
1) Name of sponsoring educator
2) Name and location of school/homeschool, etc.(Give
full mailing address)
3) Number of students participating, age and *grade level*
4) Email address of sponsoring educator
NOTE: *If you are the coordinator registering for >>several<<
classes, you may send >>ONE email<< with a list of the classes,
grade level/age, number of students, and sponsoring educator.
>>>>>>>>>>IMPORTANT<<<<<<<
* Registered classes will EACH receive an ANSWER FORM to use.
In the case of multiple classes registered under one
coordinator's email address, please make COPIES of
the ANSWER FORM for each class.
* Elementary and Middle School Classes/Students will receive
their UNIQUE set of MULTIPLE CHOICE ANSWERS from which
to select the Mystery Sites. High School Classes will
receive an ANSWER FORM with blanks to input the latitude
and longitude for each Mystery Site.
8) RULES
* One entry per participating class is allowed. If you
have more than one class involved, please indicate
a "unique name", period, hour, etc. for each group
on your ANSWER FORM.
* Once an entry is submitted it is >>final<<< and may not be
"revised". NO EXCEPTIONS!
* All entries are due by >>>>> Tuesday May 20, 1997 <<<<< at
midnight PST. If you are having electronic mail problems,
be sure to call Jan Wee at 608-786-2767 to inform her of
your situation.
* All entries must be submitted to Jan Wee, Education Outreach
Coordinator, at jwee@mail.arc.nasa.gov via email *or* answers
can be faxed (using a print copy of the answer form) to:
608-786-1819. Please call Jan (above number) to let her
know you are faxing answers in advance.
9) SELECTION OF WINNERS
Winning entries from each grade level range will
be selected based on random drawing from CORRECT entries.
Special prizes and a certificates will be awarded to the
winning classes. All participating classes will be recognized
online and with a recognition certificate. Determination
and announcement of winners will take place by May 27, 1997.
>>>>>>> GOOD LUCK and HAVE FUN SOLVING THE P.E.T. MYSTERY SITES! <<<<<<<
This document is available online at the LFM web site at:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/pdi/mystery.html
Jan Wee, moderator