From: Sandy Dueck 2nd account <sandy@quest.arc.nasa.gov>
Subject: Re: PTK Open House & 96/97 Wrap-up
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 1997 13:18:37 -0700 (PDT)
Tim, I enjoyed and appreciated hearing about your kids' responses to the three questions you posed. I was especially interested in the first question as I spent significant time getting Mars folks to write bios and journals about themselves. As I begin yet another push to get new names and faces on "The Team" page, I will use your kids' quotes to inspire potential volunteers. Have a great summer! Sandy On Sun, 25 May 1997, Tim McCollum wrote: > Hi Fellow PTK'ers, > > Two more weeks and it's summer vacation......yea! > > Hope your 96/97 PTK involvement has been an enjoyable, rewarding > and positive experience for both you and your students. I'm looking very > forward to the continuation of LFM in the fall and focusing on the tropical > rain forest in the spring. As classroom teachers collaborating with the PTK > initiative we certainly aim to model the goal of being lifelong learners. > > On Monday evening, May 12th, we held a Passport to Knowledge Open > House. During the event, students and parents drove our Lego Dacta rover - > M.A.R.I.O ( Manually Activated Rover for Investigation and > Observation.....named by the kids! ), shared their own contributions to the > LFM and LFAII web sites, and were treated to a wonderful slide presentation > on Antarctica by a husband/wife team of retired professors from our local > university. The couple had been to the Palmer Station area two years ago > and their program related very well to our LFAII experience. > > Now that the PTK initiatives for this school year are winding down, > I'd like to offer some words of insight ( and humor ). In attempting to > gather some narrative feedback from my students ( 190 - 7th & 8th graders > ), I asked three questions. Perhaps some of their responses could be of use > in planning your next PTK involvement. > > 1. Both LFM and LFAII involved following the work of real scientists. What > new insights and understandings have you gained about their actual work, > their tools, and how they communicate their discoveries to others? > > * I learned that scientists work hard, not only with their hands but with > their minds. > * Scientists don't just sit in the lab all day. > * When they plan to put a spacecraft on another planet, they must think of > everything! > * These projects made me realize that scientists are more than the Far Side > "white lab coats and beakers" stereotype. > * They have to learn to work together as a team. > * I learned that sometimes it is hard to get information to other people. > * It has opened a whole new door of science that I might like to pursue. > * I learned how they use their tools and knowledge to overcome their problems. > * I have a greater respect for those who give up portions of their lives to > live in desolate places to do research. > * I thought it was neat how they shared their work with us. > * They have to organize a lot of data so it can be accurately used for > reference. > * I learned that they don't always get the recognition they deserve. > * Oil isn't as easy to clean up as I thought. > * A scientists's work is never done. > > > 2. What lessons, activities, and/or topics did you find most interesting > and enjoyable? > > > * The study of penguins because I think animals of remote places are interesting > * Listening to our PTK Open House speakers > * The live broadcasts because they were really happening as we were watching > * We got to ask questions about what we wanted to know and got answers > * By participating we got to find out what was really happening instead of > being left out > * Driving the rover, shrimp & krill labs, the oil spill lab, the PET > project, the CFC lab > * The chat sessions because we got to ask questions to REAL scientists ( > and they got me out of math ) > * All the interaction helped give a better idea of what we were learning > * Journal writing for the web site > * By getting to experience some of the same things as real-life scientists > so you can see if you want to go into that kind of profession > * The blubber glove, it was fun, cold and wet! > * The web site because you could go at a pace you liked and you learned > more that way > * Red Rover, being able to drive something hundreds of miles away > * The challenge questions, they made us think > * The MOLA project and converting our paper models into 3-D on the computers > > > 3. What suggestions can you make about student participation in future PTK > projects? > > > * More "hands-on" activities > * More chat sessions > * More MOLA type projects to show how things work > * Stopping the video tape at times for discussion > * More time to browse the web sites > > > Hope these few bits of insight offer some food for thought in > planning for your future PTK involvement. Happy summer.....on to Mars! > > Tim > > .............................................................................. > > Tim McCollum 217-345-2193 (school) > Charleston Jr. High School 217-345-8121 (fax) > 920 Smith Dr. cxtdm@eiu.edu > Charleston, IL 61920 > http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cxtdm/macsci.html > http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/edu/nie/summer/tmccollum/ > > > > > > >