Any opinions,
findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are
those of the developer, PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE, and do not necessarily
reflect those of the National Science Foundation.
About PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE
ONLINE RESOURCES
PASSPORT'S
award-winning online resources provide opportunities impossible before
the Internet. Each Module has visually-rich web sites and simple e-mail discussion
groups for teachers and students.
"PASSPORT
TO THE RAINFOREST", for example, provides current and engaging
information not available in textbooks.
Its
4 main sections provide a comprehensive and engaging overview of rainforests
around the world, the plants and creatures who live there, and the researchers
who know them best.
Once
you've met the researchers online, "INTERACT" provides a chance to send
them questions, and receive back individual answers.
Each
Module also offers online collaborative projects in which students INTERACT
with world-class researchers.
Mail
lists and discussion forums invite teacher-to-teacher sharing-questions,
resources, examples of classroom success, resulting in a nationwide, virtual,
"Faculty Lounge"...
The
only requirement was to have students directly involved in decisions about
what planets to observe.
P2K
recruited 4 of America's leading astronomers as online mentors. Each of
them spoke up, on camera and online, for a particular planet-Jupiter, Pluto,
Neptune or Uranus.
Online,
students across America and around the world asked questions of these "PLANET
ADVOCATES", researched each option, and collaborated with each other. Eventually
P2K brokered a consensus to allocate one orbit to distant Pluto, and two
for Neptune.
ONLINE,
students followed the process of targeting the Hubble. ON CAMERA,
they and the "PLANET ADVOCATES" saw THEIR results for the first time.
