WISE - Education & Outreach

WISE: Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer

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		Teacher Workshops

Hands-On Universe/NASA WISE Teacher Workshops
Grades: high school
Click here for a list of workshop schedules + locations

Attention high school science teachers!

Join a team of teachers taking advantage of the opportunity to incorporate the NASA WISE mission (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) asteroid studies in Physics, Astronomy, and/or Earth Science courses.

The UC Berkeley Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS) Hands-On Universe HOU project, Global Systems Science (GSS) and the WISE mission are joining forces to organize teacher workshops in the the Fall of 2009. There will be a 1-day workshop to introduce new curriculum materials that can be easily integrated into existing science courses and provide reinforcement of certain key science education standards (physics, astronomy, and inquiry-based learning). Participating teachers will be field test teachers for these new curriculum materials. The 1-day workshop will be followed by periodic teleconferences to assist teachers in implementing materials introduced in the workshops. In this way, participating teachers form a Professional Learning Community to share effective teaching strategies. For participation, you get a stipend of $50 for the 1-day workshop and another $50 for implementation and classroom field test feedback.

Workshop includes these topics:

Using Hands-On Universe and the Global Systems Science book A Changing Cosmos to set stage for asteroid studies
Basics of astronomical Image Processing
Activity: Using Image Processing software to find moving objects--identify asteroids
Asteroid Lore (powerpoint teaching/presentation files)
Activity: Doomsday Scenario: 99942 Apophis Asteroid --asteroid collision with Earth (use JPL small body database browser)
How and why things move
Model movements of Earth relative to asteroid
Introduction to the NASA WISE mission (powerpoint presentation file)
Activity on Infrared astronomy
Activities: Figuring out the rotation period of asteroids ("Potato" Asteroid and 22 Kalliope)
Introduction to Asteroid Research projects with the International Astronomical Search Campaign (IASC)

Schedules and Locations:

Sat, Dec. 5, 2009. NH (level 1) 8:30am - 5:00pm Belmont High School - 255 Seavey Road, Belmont, NH 03220 Presenter - Tom Morin Register (Registration deadline: 5pm - Nov 21)	Sat, Jan. 9, 2009. NH (level 2) (NOTICE) Rescheduled to March 27. See registration link below 8:30am - 5:00pm Belmont High School - 255 Seavey Road, Belmont, NH 03220 Presenter - Tom Morin (Registration deadline: 5pm - Mar 13)
Sat, Dec. 5, 2009 1:30pm - 6:30pm Oak Park and River Forest HS - 201 N. Scoville Oak Park, IL 60302 Presenters - Vivian Hoette, Kevin McCarron Register (Registration deadline: 3pm - Dec. 5)	Sat, Jan. 23, 2010 8:30am - 4:30 pm Brookhaven College Farmers Branch, TX Presenters - Patrick Miller, Shawn Schlueter, Ginger Anderson, Alice Hall Register (Registration deadline: 5pm - Jan 16)
Sat, Mar. 27, 2010. NH (level 1) (NOTICE) Cancelled, to be rescheduled 8:30am - 5:00pm Belmont High School - 255 Seavey Road, Belmont, NH 03220 Presenter - Tom Morin Register (Registration deadline: 5pm - Mar 13)	Sat, Feb. 27, 2010 9:00am - 5:00pm Eastern Illinois University - Charleston, IL Presenter - Vivian Hoette and Robert Holmes Register (Registration deadline: 5pm - Feb 20)

Cool Astronomy with NASA’s WISE Mission
Grades: high school and middle school

NASA’s latest space telescope is the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). WISE will map the sky in infrared light, searching for dangerous asteroids in our Solar System, the nearest and coolest stars, the origins of stellar and planetary systems, and the most luminous galaxies in the Universe.

In this full-day workshop educators will experience NASA-developed hands-on, inquiry-based lessons and other educational resources about infrared astronomy and the WISE mission. We will discuss how astronomers use infrared to learn about a variety of phenomena throughout the Cosmos. Some of the activities will be from the NASA guide “Active Astronomy.” These hands-on activities are designed to complement instruction on the electromagnetic spectrum for middle and high school students. Participants will receive “Active Astronomy” kits to take back to their classrooms.

We will present lessons that make use of real image data from infrared space telescopes and discuss how to involve your students in research projects using WISE data.

We will also take a tour of the invisible Universe, focusing on how objects in space look in infrared light. Participants will gain hands-on familiarity with the lessons and content to feel comfortable using them in their own classrooms effectively.

We seek to enhance the teachers’ content knowledge as well as model pedagogical methods for improvement of their science teaching in the classroom. Participants will receive copies of the activities presented as well as other NASA educational materials: CD-ROMs, fliers, bookmarks, lithographs, etc.

Schedules and Locations:

Sat, Jan. 23, 2010. CA 9:00am - 4:00pm JPL - Pasadena, CA Presenter - Bryan Mendez Register (Registration deadline: 5pm - Jan 13)	Sat, Feb. 6, 2010. CA 9:00am - 4:00pm SSL - Berkeley, CA Presenter - Bryan Mendez Register (Registration deadline: 5pm - Feb 3)
Sat, Feb. 20, 2010. NY 9:00am - 4:00pm American Museum of Natural History - NY, NY Presenter - Bryan Mendez Register (Sorry - this workshop is now full.)