Grades 6 -14 Education and Informal Science Literacy

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Grades 6 -14 Education and Informal Science
Literacy Nicholas Gross, Roberta Johnson, Deborah
Scherrer, Patricia Reiff Boston Univ.NCAR,
Stanford Univ., Rice Univ.
Web Presence and e-Learning
Introduction
Multiple CISM Education Program partners are
working to bring CISM space weather content to
the public, students and teachers through the
web, building on the strengths of their existing
programs for maximum impact.
The CISM Education Program includes an objective
to provide space weather resources and
professional development for grades 6-14 teachers
and information about space weather to the
general public. This poster summarizes these
program activities.

• Implementation Strategies
• Leveraging existing programs at the UCAR, Rice
  University, and Stanford
• Collaboration with external partners to achieve
  large-scale effects with limited funding.
• Internal collaboration, ensuring that higher
  impact is attained than would be possible without
  the STC
• Legacy
• A cadre of teachers who use space weather
  materials to meet science education standards.
• A public that is sensitive to the effects of
  space weather on human activities.

• Windows to the Universe Space Weather Pages
  (http//www.windows.ucar.edu) UCAR project staff
  are working to develop a new, updated, and
  comprehensive Space Weather website that
• Highlights CISM science results and work of
  education program partners
• Consolidates and expands existing extensive
  Space Weather content, currently dispersed
  through the website into one comprehensive,
  up-to-date, and multilevel section (including
  entry-level undergraduates)
• CISM pages have had 730,000 visit in the last
  year with 1.7 million pages served

• Outcomes
• Teachers using CISM materials in their classes.
• Teaching professionals participating in CISM
  sponsored activities.
• Members of the general public participating in
  CISM sponsored programs and accessing CISM
  materials.

Yearly Total nearly 300,000 visitors with over
700,000 pages served
Museum and Planetarium Learning
The museum-based science literacy effort includes
planetarium shows and space weather CD-ROMS.

• Space Weather on the Exploratorium Website
• CISM researchers at Stanford and UC Berkeley have
  collaborated with the Exploratorium Science
  Museum in San Francisco to develop a Space
  Weather website (http//www.exploratorium.edu/spac
  eweather/ ) including
• imagery and animations from CISM,
• interviews with CISM scientists, and
• ready access to live CISM and other solar data.
• Approx. 78,000 visits with 204,000 pages served

A visualization of CISM simulation results is
being used in a major planetarium show being
presented at the Hayden Planetarium in New York
Major Planetarium Show In March 2006, the Hayden
Planetarium premiered a show that included a
visualization of CISM simulation results. Five
researchers from 4 CISM institutions (Rice, BU,
FIT and Stanford) were credited. In one year it
is estimated that 1 million visitors have seen
the show and it has been distributed to 9
planetariums nationally and internationally.
Portable Planetarium Shows Rice, in conjunction
with HMNS, has developed an inflatable, portable,
full dome projection system. Stanford and Rice
team members have been collaborating with the
Lawrence Hall of Science to develop a solar
planetarium program and PASS (Planetarium
Activities for Student Success) guide. This
program is now in beta test.
Kiosks/CD-roms With CISM support, Rice has
updated their "Space Weather" CD-ROM with nearly
600 MB of images and animations. CISM supported
the distribution of over 3000 CDs at teacher
meetings including NSTA, CAST, SACNAS, AMS, and
AAPT.
Real Time Space Weather Predictions With CISM
Support, Rice University has updated their real
time space weather pages (http//space.rice.edu/C
ISM/) with links to real-time space weather
prediction pages.  
Grades 6-14 Education
Space Weather Monitor Program Teacher interns
working in collaboration with CISM researchers
have developed inexpensive space weather monitors
targeted for under-served high school and
community college use. The monitors track
disturbances to the Earths ionosphere caused by
solar activity. Interns tested by incorporating
the monitors into classrooms, and are providing
supporting documentation, curricula, and
activities. Students from high schools and
community colleges participated by developing
software and beta-testing.

• Professional Development
• Several collaborative professional development
  efforts are ongoing, which seek to achieve the
  outcomes identified above
• Classroom activities and educator training
  materials for the Space Weather Monitors have
  been jointly developed by Stanford U., UCAR, and
  the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland,
  CA.
• Materials and training will be formally
  evaluated and distributed as well as being
  incorporated into Rice University's Ham Radio
  Course for teachers and NCAR's Professional
  Development program.
• NCAR also offered professional development on
  space weather and magnetism through workshops at
  educator conferences. 11 workshops were held
  reaching 700 educators.
• Rice offers Teaching Earth and Space Science
  for teachers that includes significant space
  weather content.

• 2 versions of monitors
• SID, for wide distribution (250)
• AWESOME, research quality (3000)
• 100 monitors placed in schools most likely to
  reach under-represented students
• Leverage from CISM Education Partners
• Teacher workshops
• University application (Alabama AM)
• Integration into teacher-training courses (Rice
  U.)
• Development of web-based training (NCAR,
  Exploratorium, Stanford)
• Professional formative summative assessment
• All materials standards-based
• Supplemental funding obtained from NASA for IHY
  distribution. Monitors now in place in a dozen
  (12) countries for IHY

• E-Newsletters
• Two electronic news letters reach over 6000
  educators worldwide.
• CISM research is highlighted through the Rice
  e-teacher emails, to over 2800 teachers
  nationwide (with support from IMAGE)
• . CISM space weather resources have been
  highlighted through the monthly Window to the
  Universe e-newsletter that currently reaches 3400
  teachers around the world, including 2700 in the
  US.

The United Nations and organizers of the
International Heliophysical Year, 2007, have
designated these Space Weather Monitors as
official IHY instruments, to be placed in 191
countries around the world.