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N E W S L E T T E R # 9 N O V E M B E R 2 6, 1 9 9 5
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******* F I N A L E D I T I O N ******
** Exploring Space and Cyberspace **
Passport to Knowledge is sponsoring two electronic field trips for the 1995-96 school year. While this is the final edition of LIVE FROM THE STRATOSPHERE Newsletter, it will soon be followed by the first edition of the LIVE FROM THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE Newsletter.
What makes Passport to Knowledge projects unique is the integration of activities, collaboration and resources provided by
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|ELEVISION,
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|ELECOMPUTING, &
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|EACHERS
which together create a field trip to the frontiers of science. While this field trip has been completed, all of the resources will continue to be available to classrooms throughout the world. This newsletter will summarize these resources.
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There were a total of five "Live From the Stratosphere" PROGRAMS which provide for many hours of real-time exploration of astronomy.
* Science in the Stratosphere (1/2 hour)
A teacher resource tape introducing the Kuiper Airborne Obseratory
and infrared astronomy. Included demonstrations of the activities
in the teacher's guide
* The Pre-Flight Briefing (1 hour)
An introduction for students and teachers to the Live from the
Stratosphere crew who will be flying abroad the Kuiper. Students
are taken a tour similar to one available online.
* The Jupiter Mission (2 1/2 hours)
Students take a daytime flight to Jupiter. They join the crew flying
through the stratosphere and observing the planet Jupiter.
* Night Flight to the Stars (5 hours)
This time students are invited to spend the evening in space. They
were able to view star forming regions, the ring Nebula where a star has
died, Saturn, and its mysterious moon, Titan and the face on spiral
galaxy.
* Return to the Stratosphere (1 hour)
This was a videotaped summary of the high point of the electronic
field trip to the Stratosphere.
VIDEOTAPES are all available from NASA:
NASA CORE, Lorain County JVS
15181 Route 58 South, Oberlin, OH 44074
Phone: 216-774-1051, ext 293 or 294; Fax: 216-774-2144
Programs will be rebroadcast on NASA Television
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NASA's K-12 Internet Initiative has designed the online learning environment. It is a forum for interaction and collaboration as well as access to information. One of the goals was to make it possible for teachers with any level of network access (email only, gopher, limited and full access to the Web, video conferencing) to participate in the project activities taking full advantage of the specific level of access. (A service was even provided for teachers without online accounts so they could still access the online material by ordering computer disks.)
Here were the services that were provided through mail lists, gopher archives, web pages, and video reflectors.
Interactive Opportunities
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* Researchers Q&A (email exchange with scientists and crew aboard the Kuiper)
* Field Journals from crew and scientists
* Junior Journals (adapted field Journals for elementary students)
* Video conference meetings (CUSeeMe) between students and researchers
* Chat opportunities with other students while watching the televised
programs
* Library for showcasing student project work (We are still accepting
student work please send to Marc Siegel (marc@quest.arc.nasa.gov).
Online Collaborations
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* Discuss-LFS (A forum for teachers and students to share ideas and work
together on projects and activities, this included sharing
ideas and instruments for evaluation.)
* Star Census Project (A project in which students across the country worked
together to compare how many stars they each see in their
night sky.)
* MicoMuse Developments ( Students built a virtual Kuiper)
Information Sources:
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* Teacher's Guide (English and Spanish versions)
* Images and information on Astronomy
* Additional projects and classroom activities
* Weekly "Live from the Stratosphere" newsletter
* Online tour of the Kuiper Airborne Observatory with audiofiles
* A searchable library of the questions and answers that students
submit to the Researchers Q&A (see below)
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ASKING SCIENCE QUESTIONS /
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Occasionally we feature a question & answer that took place over the week in the newsletter. This was one will be found if you were to search for planet position, size or composition.
QUESTION
Why are the larger planets outside the asteroid belt and the small planets
close to the sun? Are the large planets solid or gas?
S. Edwards
Grade 5/6
ANSWER
Shortly after our sun turned into a star, the solar winds and solar
radiation is thought to have evaporated or pushed the lighter
materials (gases, water, and other ices) into the outer solar
system. This left heavier materials to collect and condensed
into the inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth Mars and the
asteroids). The light material further out condensed into
the gaseous planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus).
These gas giants do not have any solid surface like the inner
planets.
The material that the satellites of the outer planets are made
of were trapped by gravity to the gaseous planets. The leftover
ices and gas also formed the comets. There is thought to be a
halo of comets far outside the orbit of Pluto.
Now Pluto is an enigma. Pluto is a big rock. Why is it out with
the gaseous planets? No one really knows. Some scientist believe
that Pluto was wandering around the solar system, after having
been bumped out of orbit somewhere, and fell into its
present orbit.
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Tom McMahon
University of Chicago
Yerkes Observatory
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| | For information on all online features, send Email | |
_-==-_ | | To: info-lfs@quest.arc.nasa.gov | |
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/| `--' |___) | Gopher Server quest.arc.nasa.gov | |
|| | | | Live From the Stratosphere Web site | |
(___\/___) |___|http://passporttoknowledge.com/lfs.html |___|
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PLEASE COPY THIS DISK SERVICE is a service to help those
with minimal access to the Internet. Online materials are
copied to disks that can be received through postal mail:
B & R Samizdat Express
P.O. Box 161
West Roxbury, MA 02132
http://www.tiac.net/users/samizdat
seltzer@samizdat.com
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Each week we depend on teachers to tell us what is taking place in their classrooms. We know that teachers are the heart of this project and try to keep in close contact with them. Jan Wee, the moderator for the Discuss-LFS and all of the teachers who have participated have contributed many excellent
project ideas, resources and ideas for evaluation. These discussions are available on the web site.
We are receiving questionnaires back from the teachers and students who have participated in this project.
Here are some of the comments from an evaluation from a 7th grade teacher in Hawaii who was very enthusiastic about the effect of the project on her students:
Please describe the most important learning...
...From the Videos
"Videos are so important. They give the students a chance to see
what people look like and to feel more a part of the program. It
helped to generate a feeling of being there and knowing the
individuals to whom the students were directing questions.
It helped them to understand the astronomers aren't all starry
eyed and off into space. They also got a big kick out of seeing
other student peers and seeing what they were doing. It helped
to foster and feeling of togetherness in their quest for understanding
the stars."
...From Online
"There was someone there in cyberspace who cared. Someone who
answered their questions no matter how simple the questions were.
There is a wealth of information on line, and easily accessible."
...From the mini-kit and class activities
"When combined with spectroscopes and emission spectra tubes
of various gases, the students began to understand the relationship
between energy and light. Some teacher's did this, one teacher stuck
to just using the print and mini-kits in their intact state."
...Overall Learning
" A desire to go on-line and ask an expert. A willingness to do the
reading assignment before writing a question, recognizing that the
scientist's time is valuable and that the student should have a
question that they cannot find an answer to."
If you are just learning about this project, it is still possible to involve your students in many of the activities. The tapes, online resources and teacher's guide will continue to be available and can be used together to create a powerful learning environment. Some of the more interactive services (researcher Q&A and researcher logs) are not available but all of the information that was exchanged is posted and any teacher can use these resources to enrich classroom teaching and learning about the space that surrounds us.
To register, receive the printed Teacher's Guide, other NASA materials on astronomy, an original color poster, the "mini-kit," and to cover postage, and handling please send $10.00 to:
LIVE FROM THE STRATOSPHERE
P.O. Box 1502
Summit, New Jersey 07902-1502
the Information Infrastructure and Technology Applications program of NASA's Office of High Performance Computing and Communications, the NASA Astrophysics Division, NASA Ames Research Center, NASA Education, and PBS K-12 Learning Services. It is also supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation.
Live From the Stratosphere is a Passport to Knowledge project. The video programs are a co-production of GEOFF HAINES-STILES PRODUCTIONS and MARYLAND PUBLIC TELEVISION. "Night Flight to the Stars" is co-presented by WNET/New York.
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| Live from the | We need to hear back from you!!!!!
| Stratosphere | *)////////////X=====================------
| EVALUATION |
| FORMS |
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We are asking all participants to complete the evaluation
forms for this project. We will need *everyone's* comments.
Even if you did not use the program with students, we want to know how
you participated and your evaluation of the resources.
COME FLY WITH US, COME FLY, COME FLY THE INFORMATION HIGHWAY, INTO THE
STRATOSPHERE... INTO ORBIT, AND INTO THE FUTURE OF SCIENCE EDUCATION!
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. . . . -=<((__*@*_ ______|== Coming Soon Live from the
. +. + . \ \ | | Hubble Space Telescope Newsletter
. \ \ \
* \|
Note from the LFS Newsletter Editor:
I hope you have enjoyed this weekly newsletter describing the progress of
the electronic field trip. The Live from the Hubble Space Telescope Newsletter
will have a new editor. I hope you will enjoy this adventure.
Margaret Riel (mriel@weber.ucsd.edu)
