Science Mission Directorate Education and Public Outreach

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Science Mission Directorate Education and Public
Outreach

• Inspiring the Next Generation of Explorers . . .

. . . as only NASA can.
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Strategic Framework
Higher Education
Employ
Elementary/ Secondary Education
Educate
Engage
Informal Education
Inspire
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Strategic Framework
Higher Education
Employ
Outcome 1 Contribute to the development of the
STEM workforce in disciplines needed to achieve
NASAs strategic goals, through a portfolio of
investments.
Elementary/ Secondary Education
Educate
Outcome 2 Attract and retain students in STEM
disciplines through a progression of educational
opportunities for students, teachers and faculty.
Engage
Informal Education
Outcome 3 Build strategic partnerships and
linkages between STEM formal and informal
education providers that promote STEM literacy
and awareness of NASAs mission.
Inspire
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Strategic Framework
Higher Education
Employ
Outcome 1 Contribute to the development of the
STEM workforce in disciplines needed to achieve
NASAs strategic goals, through a portfolio of
investments.
Elementary/ Secondary Education
Educate
Cultivate Diversity
Outcome 2 Attract and retain students in STEM
disciplines through a progression of educational
opportunities for students, teachers and faculty.
Engage
Informal Education
Outcome 3 Build strategic partnerships and
linkages between STEM formal and informal
education providers that promote STEM literacy
and awareness of NASAs mission.
Inspire
Partnerships/ Sustainability
NASA Content
Relevance
Diversity
Evaluation
Continuity
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What Do Science Mission Directorate EPO Programs
Contribute ?
They proactively tell the stories of NASA
science missions and research to make our work
accessible to teachers, students, and the public.
NASAs Education and Outreach Goals
Inspire and motivate students to pursue careers
in science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics Engage the public in shaping and
sharing the experience of exploration and
discovery.
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SMD Approach to Education and Public Outreach

• Embed EPO programs into everything we do
• Involve scientists in high leverage partnerships
  with education (formal and informal)
  professionals and their institutions
• Focus on the unique contributions NASA science
  can make to education and to enhancing scientific
  and technological literacy
• Foster the participation of minority groups and
  individuals

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What Do We Do to Build In and Assess Quality?

• EPO proposal solicitation and peer review is an
  integral part of research and mission competitive
  selection
• EPO proposals are evaluated against the
  standardized NASA Education Evaluation Criteria.
• Extensive HQ review of EPO implementation plans
  (e.g., Mars Program, Living With a Star, Spitzer,
  Cassini, Navigator, Hubble,.)
• All EPO programs have an explicit evaluation
  component - Formative Evaluation during program
  development and implementation Summative
  Evaluation of results at completion.
• Ongoing oversight
• EPO Review Boards/Advisory Groups
• Education Materials go through formal Product
  Review Process
• Review of Web sites through SciLinks (NSTA
  partnership)
• Portfolio Assessment
• Lesley University Program Evaluation and Research
  Group

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Extent of FY 2004 Space Science EPO Program

• Over 500 EPO activities and new products.
• Nearly 5,000 discrete EPO events.
• Presence in all 50 states, DC, PR, and VI.
• Presence at over 30 national and nearly 70
  regional EPO conferences.
• More than 30 awards and other forms of public
  recognition received.

• Estimated participants
• Over 400,000 direct participants in workshops,
  community and school visits, and other
  interactive special events.
• Over 7 million Internet participants for web
  casts, web chats, and other web events.
• Potential audience of over 200 million for
  lectures, planetarium shows, museum exhibitions,
  conference exhibits, radio, television, and other
  forms of public media.

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Contributors to FY 2004 Space Science EPO
Program

• Over 115 Missions and Programs.
• Nearly 1,300 scientists, technologists, and
  support staff.
• More than 600 institutional partners, including
• 200 science centers, museums, and planetariums.

300 science institutions and organizations,
colleges and universities (including 40 minority
institutions). - 10 professional societies of
minority scientists and organizations promoting
minority participation in science. - Nearly 100
libraries, community, and other organizations.
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Earth System Science Education (ESSE)
ESSE21, an undergraduate collaborative community
of Earth environmental science educators
networked across 63 campuses
ESSE Alliance (ESSEA), a K-4/5-8/9-12 on-line
teacher professional development program operated
through a network of 18 universities

• Over 1,300 teachers from 42 states
  (2000-2005) successfully completed 16-week course
• 37 of teachers from Minority Serving
  Institutions (MSIs)

• 100 new courses develop- ed (for majors and
  pre-service teachers) since 1991
• Courses have reached over 50,000 students

Colleges universities continue to offer courses
beyond NASA funding.
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Recent Developments

• Student Collaborations added to SMD mission
  proposal solicitations
• Principal Investigators are encouraged to
  propose innovative Student Collaborations (SC)
  that inspire students, engage them directly in
  prospective missions, and contribute to the
  development of their education and work skills
  relevant to NASA missions. Proposers may define
  an SC that involves development of an instrument,
  investigation of scientific questions, analysis
  and display of data, development of supporting
  hardware or software, and/or other aspects of the
  mission. The activities may involve flight or
  ground systems. For example, the Student Dust
  Counter aboard the New Horizons spacecraft,
  provided by college students, includes those
  students in the full spaceflight instrument
  experience, while creating a real-world vehicle
  for teaching other students.
• Other part of mission EPO program reduced from
  1-2 to 0.25-0.5 of total mission cost.
• Education Coordinating Committee formed at agency
  level to coordinate education programs across
  NASA
• Chaired by Acting Assistant Administrator for
  Education
• Members include Mission Directorates and Center
  Education Directors
• Meeting monthly to develop strategy, framework,
  management principles
• Considering education programs from agency
  portfolio perspective
• Portfolio tied to achieving three education
  outcomes

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EPO Program Examples
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National Aeronautics and Space Administration Jet
Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of
Technology
Mars Public Engagement Reach FY 2004

• Mars Public Engagement Plan considered a model
  for the Agency and is being referenced for
  lunar, solar system, and other mission areas

Formal Education
Informal Education
Public Outreach
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National Aeronautics and Space
Administration Jet Propulsion Laboratory Californ
ia Institute of Technology Pasadena, California
Cassini Public Engagement

• Formal Education
• Cassini Language Arts-Reading, Writing, and Rings
  (RWR)
• RWR engages younger learners and their teachers
  with the science, math,
• and technology of NASA's exploration in a
  language arts format has been unusually
  successful with English language learners
• 73,200 teachers reached at through national
  conferences and 2,580 through professional
  development workshops
• Text book publishers interested in publishing
  Cassini Literacy
• RWR partners currently working on a solar system
  literacy module
• Informal Education
• Ring World Planetarium Show
• 663,600 see Ring World in USA in FY2004, more
  with DVD.
• Saturn Observation Campaign is worldwide
• 384 members in 44 states and 49 countries as of
  May 1, 2005 with 160, 603 reached.
• A Solar System Observing campaign is now being
  established.
• Public Outreach
• Cassini website had 1 billion hits in July 2004
• Cassini has had 61 Astronomy Pictures of the Day
  (APOD)
• New Cassini wallsheet (aka poster) being released
  in both English and Spanish

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Spitzer Space Telescope

• Formal Education
• Spitzer Teacher Research Program - competitively
  selected 12 teachers selected to observe with
  Spitzer, collaborate with scientists
• Center for Astronomy Education - 12 workshops
  presented nationally each year web site
• Spitzer Braille Book (The Multiwavelength
  Universe)
• Spitzer Short Course presented at NSTA
  conventions
• Informal Education and Public Outreach
• Alien Earths Traveling Museum Exhibit - Opening
  run drew 40,000 people.
• Spitzer media feature at hundreds of science
  museums
• Four StarDate and Universo (Spanish language
  version) radio programs produced about Spitzer in
  2004
• Cool Cosmos, Multiple award-winning Web site
• Spitzer Guest Observer Cycle-1 EPO Awards
• 12 proposals received, 5 accepted

Alien Earths Exhibit
Infrared Imagery from Cool Cosmos Web site
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Deep Impact Comet Exploration Mission
Encounter July 4, 2005

• Formal Education
• Provided training to
• 100s of Explorer Schools teachers
• 100s of Girl Scout Leaders
• 130 Hawaiian Island teachers
• 100s of Solar System Educators who reached
  1000s
• Informal Education
• DI Planetarium shows at 800 sites
• Challenger Centers - national training to 75
  leaders
• Discovery Channel Documentary reaches millions
• Training of over 200 from the Museum Alliance
• Inner city after school programs ( LAs Best)
  reach 1000s
• Outreach
• Night Sky Network of Amateur Astronomers (100s)
• Culture and Science Workshop for minority Scouts
  and their Leaders (100s)
• 450 Solar System Ambassadors giving talks to the
  public

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• Sun-Earth Day 2004 - Transit of Venus
• Web cast shown on NASA TV
• 15 million estimated participants in 22 states
• Direct participation 400,000
• 1,426 educators registered
• 40,000 students impacted directly
• International participation in Germany, Japan,
  France, India, Iran, Canada, Norway,
  Spain
• ESTME Week (Excellence in Science, Mathematics
  and
• Technology Education) featured a Sun-Earth Day
  Web
• cast with about 150,000 participants
• NASA Connect presented Venus Transit - Scaling
  the
• Universe

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Some Current Exhibitions and Planetarium Shows
Cosmic Questions Our Place in Space and Time
Ringworld
Hubble Space Telescope New Views of the Universe
Teachers and Museum staff observe that space
science sparks childrens interest more than any
other scientific subject, with the possible
exceptions of robots and dinosaurs. ?PERG Report
Voyage A Journey Through Our Solar System
Northern Lights
MarsQuest
Space Weather Center
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Expanding Our Reach

• SMD EPO produces products especially for
  children with special learning needs
• Touch the Universe - A NASA Braille Book of
  Astronomy (available through Joseph Henry Press)
  
• Solar System Multi-Sensory Kit is being used in a
  number of states

Blind student explores Jupiter.

• Special Needs Resource Group works with missions
  to identify ways to adapt existing materials for
  use by children with special learning needs
• Touch the Sun a Braille book of solar images is
  now in development.

• SMD EPO materials on Web sites CDs and in
  print are increasingly available in Spanish - SMD
  is NASAs largest producer of educational
  materials in Spanish.

CDs and web based materials are produced in
Spanish to serve this growing population.
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NASA Pioneered Earth System ScienceA
Fundamentally New Way of Studying the Earth

• Visualizations and models built from the vast
  amount of data, available only since the launch
  of the Earth Observing System (EOS) Program, have
  transformed our understanding of how Earth
  operates as a system
• Powerful teaching tools
• Curriculum revision Teach Earth as a system

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The world is our neighbor in the global
economy international knowledge and skills are
no longer a luxury for high achieving or affluent
students they are a necessity." -
Dr. Michael Levine, Executive Director of
Education at the Asia Society

• Funding provided by NASA, NSF, and Department of
  State
• GLOBE is an an international science and
  education and science program with partnerships
  in 107 countries
• Connecting student observations and data analysis
  with the vantage view of the Earth from space
• International future workforce development via
  partnerships meet goals of the Global Earth
  Observing System of Systems (GEOSS)
• Increased conceptual knowledge, problem-solving
  and inquiry, and environmental awareness

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NASAs Earth Observatoryhttp//earthobservatory.n
asa.gov

• An interactive Web-based magazine aimed at
  science attentive public
• Aiming to overcome technical cognitive barriers
  so we can share images, data information
• More than 180 feature articles
• Daily images (at full resolution) with
  interpretive captions
• Interactive resources for learning about Earth
  science
• Timely press releases
• 41,000 subscribers worldwide
• 27,000 unique visits / day

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