Fourth Annual Space Grant Faculty Senior Design Training Faculty Workshop – July 19-20, 2012

NASA Human Exploration and Operations Higher Education Project in partnership with the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program Presents the Fourth Annual Space Grant Faculty Senior Design Faculty Training Workshop

NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations is hosting a free 2-day faculty workshop in the summer of 2012, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The purpose of this workshop is to prepare higher education faculty to implement the following Exploration senior engineering design course with a strong focus on the NASA systems engineering process:

“Hybrid Rocket Experiment Station for Capstone Design” by Dr. Edgar Conley with New Mexico State University

The course meets the quality standards of an ABET-accredited program and implements the NASA systems engineering process. All NASA engineering projects utilize this process; therefore, the course will help prepare students to work for NASA and space industry partners.

Workshop Dates: July 19 & 20, 2012
Workshop Times: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Registration Deadline: July 9, 2012 by 5:00 p.m. EDT

The workshop is open to U.S. citizens only. Travel reimbursements available on a first come first served basis.
http://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/centers/kennedy/technology/ESMDWorkshop.html

LRO 2012 Lunar Workshops for Educators – June and July 2012

Photo of Apollo 11 lander and craters on Earth's moon.

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, mission is sponsoring a series of workshops for educators of students in grades 6-12. These workshops will focus on lunar science, exploration and how our understanding of the moon is evolving with the new data from current and recent lunar missions.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has allowed scientists to obtain the coldest measurement recorded in the solar system, map the surface of the moon in unprecedented detail and accuracy, find evidence of recent lunar geologic activity, characterize the radiation environment around the moon and its potential effects on future lunar explorers and much, much more!

Workshop participants will learn about these and other recent discoveries, reinforce their understanding of lunar science concepts, interact with lunar scientists and engineers, work with real LRO data and learn how to bring these data and information to their students using hands-on activities aligned with local, state and national standards. Laptops are strongly encouraged for those participating in this workshop.

Workshops will take place in the following locations:
– June 4-8, 2012 — Durango Discovery Museum, Durango, Colo.
– June 18-22, 2012 — Morehead State University, Morehead, Ky.
– June 25-29, 2012 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, Texas
– July 9-13, 2012 — NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
– July 30 – Aug. 3, 2012 — Museum of the North, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska

Each workshop will be limited to 25 participants. Interested educators are encouraged to apply early to secure a spot. Qualified applicants will be accepted in the order they apply.

For more information and to register for the workshops, visit http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/lwe/index.html

Lunar and Planetary Institute Workshop: Mars Revealed – July 9-13, 2012

Lunar and Planetary Institute Workshop: Mars Revealed - July 9-13, 2012

The Lunar and Planetary Institute and the ChemCam team invite high school teachers, both in-service and pre-service, to attend the “Mars Revealed: Evolving Technology, Advancing Science” workshop. This five-day workshop will take place in Houston, Texas, on July 9-13, 2012.

Attendees will investigate the geology of Earth and Mars, the history of Mars exploration and how scientists’ understanding of Mars has changed with advances in technology with each new mission to the Red Planet. Classroom resources will be provided.

Workshop registration is free. Participants will receive a $700 stipend upon completion of the workshop.

This workshop is limited to 20 participants. Interested educators are encouraged to apply early to secure a spot. Qualified applicants will be accepted in the order they apply.

For more information and to register for the workshops, visit http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/workshops/mars/.

Virtual Professional Development: Rockets to Racecars

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics are the foundation for a successful career in racing, as well as NASA! Like driving a racecar or launching a rocket, mastering these subjects takes some practice. Bring the excitement of racing and the thrill of launching into your classroom. Take a pit stop to learn about the

Sign up for NASA's Rockets to Racecars professional Development workshop

. Learn how to get students “revved up” about STEM.

If you’re interested in receiving professional development activity units applicable toward license renewal, register and complete the four workshops in the series to accumulate five workshop hours.

Two sessions of this workshop series are available. Session A begins on March 21, 2012, and Session B begins on March 26, 2012.

For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/628503main_R2R%20Teacher%20PD%20.pdf.

Questions about this opportunity should be directed to Karen Ricks at Karen.Ricks@nasa.gov.

A Vision of Discovery! Understanding NASA Images through Art Workshop for K-12 Educators at OMSI March 10, 2012

An artist's rendition of the inner solar system

A Vision of Discovery!
Understanding NASA Images through Art
Workshop for K-12 Educators at OMSI!
March 10, 2012

NASA’s Discovery and New Frontiers missions are exploring the solar system and sending back to Earth never-before-seen images. This workshop presents new images of Mercury from MESSENGER, of asteroid Vesta from Dawn, and prepares for the first ever close-up images of Pluto and the Kuiper Belt from New Horizons.

Participants will get the latest updates on these exciting missions from dynamic scientists, then learn how to use art to engage students in the appreciation and interpretation of NASA imagery. Techniques for inspiring and energizing students will be presented, along with activities that will help students analyze and understand science images using the elements of art. Additional activities will be demonstrated as well.

Special Speakers

• Dr. Ralph McNutt, New Horizons
• Dr. Bonnie Buratti, Dawn
• Dr. Nancy Chabot, MESSENGER
• Ms. Monica Aiello, Planetary Science Artist

The workshop will be held in four locations simultaneously on March 10. All locations will feature the special speakers and activities, tied in through NASA’s Digital Learning Network.

• NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, Pasadena, CA, from 8:30 am – 2:30 pm
• Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Portland, OR, from 8:30 am – 2:30 pm
• Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, from 10:30 am – 4:30 pm
• Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, Laurel, MD, from 11:30 am – 5:30 pm

A registration fee of $25 is required to cover lunch and snacks. Everyone will receive a terrific packet of resources containing activities and curricula for all grade levels, links to great interactives, and more. For those who cannot attend in person, a webinar option will be offered.

Register now! For more information, visit: http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/discovery/vision_of_discovery.asp

Center for Astronomy Education Teaching Excellence Workshops for Higher Education Educators and Students

Center for Astronomy Education Teaching Excellence Workshops for Higher Education Educators and Students (May 5, June 9-10)

The Center for Astronomy Education Teaching Excellence Workshops for Higher Education announces a series of educator workshops for astronomy educators. The goal of these workshops is to familiarize participants with research-validated active engagement teaching strategies and assessment materials, as well as how to implement them in their college courses. Participants will learn how to create productive learning environments, beginning with a brief review of research on the nature of teaching and learning. Participants will spend most of the workshop in the roles of student, instructor and critical friend to practice implementing new strategies learned. Advanced levels are available for those who have participated in previous CAE workshops. To learn more and register, visit http://astronomy101.jpl.nasa.gov/workshops/index.cfm.

• May 5 – Oceanside, Calif. – Regional Teaching Exchange on Implementing Lecture-Tutorials for Introductory Astronomy
• June 9-10 – Anchorage, Alaska – Improving the College Introductory Courses Through Active Engagement: A Tier I (Introductory) Workshop (Fee)
• June 10 – Anchorage, Alaska – NASA CAE Tier II (Advanced) Special Topics Workshop: Using Technology in the Classroom (Fee)

Planetary Science Summer School for Post-Graduates/PhD Students – Deadline March 28, 2012

NASA 24th Annual Planetary Science Summer School for Post-Graduates/PhD Students (Apply by March 28)
(Apply by March 28; June 18-22 and July 16-20)

NASA is accepting applications from science and engineering post-docs, recent PhDs, and doctoral students for it’s 24th Annual Planetary Science Summer School, which will hold two separate sessions this summer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. During the program and pre-session webinars, student teams will carry out the equivalent of an early mission concept study, prepare a proposal authorization review presentation, present it to a review board, and receive feedback. By the end of the session, students will have a clearer understanding of the life cycle of a space mission; relationships between mission design, cost and schedule; and the tradeoffs necessary to stay within cost and schedule while preserving the quality of science. Partial financial support is available for a limited number of individuals. For more information, visit https://pscischool.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm.

RockOn 2012 University Rocket Science Workshop – Registration Deadline May 1, 2012

U.S. university faculty and students are invited to a weeklong workshop to learn how to build and launch a scientific experiment into space. NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia is hosting the RockOn 2012 workshop June 16-21, 2012, in partnership with the Colorado and Virginia Space Grant Consortia. The registration deadline for the workshop is May 1, 2012.

The hands-on workshop teaches participants to build experiments that fly on sounding rockets. During the week, participants will work together in teams of three to construct and integrate a sounding rocket payload from a kit. On the fifth day of the workshop, the experiments will fly on a sounding rocket expected to reach an altitude of more than 70 miles.

Each experiment will provide valuable scientific data, analyzed as part of the student-led science and engineering research. The program engages faculty and students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills critical to NASA’s future engineering, scientific and technical missions.

For more information about RockOn and to register online, visit http://spacegrant.colorado.edu/rockon/2012/index_2011.html.