NASA EPO Support of the School of Galactic Radio Astronomy

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NASA EPO Support of the School of Galactic Radio
Astronomy
206th Meeting of the American Astronomical
SocietySession 52.04
Michael Castelaz (Pisgah Astronomical Research
Institute) Joe Daugherty (University of North
Carolina at Asheville) David Moffett (Furman
University) Jay Case (Brevard High School,
Brevard, NC)
From our experience

• Process of applying for the IDEAS grant
• What kind of work we did with the IDEAS grant
• Lessons learned

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• Briefly, an IDEAS grant supported
• Development of the science curriculum and labs
  that use Internet control of the PARI 4.6m radio
  telescope
• High school teacher workshops
• High speed Internet service necessary for remote
  access to the radio telescope.

Purpose teach the basics of scientific inquiry
to students in grades 8-12 methodology, critical
thinking, and communication of results Reinforces
student use of math, physics, chemistry,
technology, and computer science.
Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute is a
not-for-profit public foundationlocated in
Western North Carolina
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Process of applying for the IDEAS grant

• Identified need for the project who?
• Identified the infrastructure needed
• Existing 4.6m radio telescope, spectrometer
• Additional Curriculum, computer control of
  telescope, high speed Internet access

• Contacted IDEAS office first by e-mail to
  introduce ourselves and the project
• Called IDEAS Program to
• Discuss the match between IDEAS program mission
  and the proposed project
• Verify the project is within the requirements of
  the IDEAS Program
• Discuss funding boundary conditions

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• Formation of Collaborations
• Brevard High School science teacher for
  curriculum development
• University of North Carolina-Asheville computer
  science professor for computer interface
• Furman University radio astronomer for workshops
  and radio astronomy integrity of curriculum

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• Wrote Proposal typical with justification,
  budget, following guidelines
• Went through internal review
• Submitted and waited

What kind of work we did with the IDEAS grant
Implemented the three components of the project
High school teacher workshops
CurriculumDevelopment
Computer and remote radio telescope control
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CurriculumDevelopment
Lab Science Curriculum
Whats Between the Stars? Radio emission from interstellar clouds
Detecting Radio Waves How radio telescopes and their detectors work
Doppler Effect Measuring speed of objects using the Doppler shift of the 21cm line
Mapping Constructing a contour map a Math exercise
Orion Explorer Orion nebula 21cm and HST image study
Five labs, each with Introduction, Observations,
Results, and Discussion Labs vary in difficulty
and depth giving teachers flexibility in their
classroom instruction Labs address content,
teaching, professional development, and national
science standards All labs use the PARI 4.6-m
radio telescope
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Computer and remote radio telescope control
JAVA Applet developed by Dr. J. Daugherty
(UNC-Asheville) allows teachers and students to
control Smiley and its spectrometer over the
Internet
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High school teacher workshops

• For a teacher and class to participate in the
  School of Galactic Radio Astronomy, the teacher
  needs to attend a 2 day workshop, with workshop
  goals
• Learn how to use the 4.6-m radio telescope on
  site and remotely
• Learn the basics of radio astronomy
• Develop proficiency in using the curriculum
  modules
• Teachers develop one original use of the SGRA
  facilities

Four workshops per year plus Accommodate up to
15 teachers per workshop
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Lessons Learned

• IDEAS Grant gave us the opportunity to develop a
  unique program. Weve leveraged the grant with
  further support from
• Z. Smith Reynolds for classroom equipment
• Progress Energy to support more workshops
• HST E/PO for more lab, web, and computer
  interface development
• AAS Small Grant for Smiley 2.0 hardware upgrade
• Labs are hands-on and some prove to be
  challenging to use in a classroom setting. e.g.
  The mapping module takes a long time to complete.
  But, the Doppler Effect lab has turned out to be
  a favorite
• Teachers insights creativity have been
  important in the development of the SGRA labs
  modules
• As the program matures, we also expect the
  creativity of teachers who participate in the
  workshops to inspire new uses of the 4.6 m radio
  telescope

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End
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The Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI)
was awarded a STScI IDEAS Program grant to
develop the School of Galactic Radio Astronomy
(SGRA). SGRA enhances education of science,
mathematics, and technology of students in grades
8-12. The purpose of SGRA is to teach the basics
of scientific inquiry, which includes
methodology, critical thinking, and communication
of the results. To facilitate the excitement of
science and discovery, teachers and students use
the PARI 4.6m Smiley radio telescope via the
Internet. The IDEAS grant supported the
development of the science curriculum and labs
that use the 4.6m radio telescope, teacher
workshops, and high speed internet service
necessary for remote access to the radio
telescope. Partnerships with Brevard High School
, Furman University, and the University of North
Carolina-Asheville have proven important to the
success of the program. In addition, the IDEAS
grant was important in our success in acquiring
grants from the foundations at Z. Smith Reynolds
and Progress Energy, a AAS Small Grant, and a
STScI HST/EPO award to further enhance and
continue the SGRA Program. More than 100
teachers are now involved in SGRA. To increase
awareness of SGRA, we have presented the program
at meetings of the AAS, North Carolina Science
Teachers Association, the North Carolina Science
Museum, and Pisgah Forest Institute summer
workshops. Our experience in writing and
carrying out the program, along with the NASA
components in the program, teachers comments,
and lessons learned, will be presented. We are
extremely grateful to the IDEAS Grant Program for
helping PARI initiate and develop an exciting
program of hands-on Internet radio astronomy from
high school classrooms.