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Educators Rendezvous for FOSS Planetary Science Institute
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On Tuesday, June 28, 2011, twenty-one science educators from around the country rendezvoused at the Lawrence Hall of Science to begin four days of exploration of the revised FOSS Planetary Science Course for Middle School. The FOSS Planetary Science Course was initially introduced in 2001, before Google Earth was released and before space exploration like the Kepler Mission (http://kepler.nasa.gov/) provided new tools and information for the study of our planetary system and beyond. Now, the Planetary Science Course has been updated to include these new tools. (See the Spring 2011 issue of the FOSS Newsletter for more details about the revision process.) It also incorporates new assessment tools and notebooking strategies.
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During their mission with the FOSS staff at the Hall, participants reviewed the investigations and materials that were derived from the
original Planetary Science Course and experienced the new components. They viewed Earth from above, investigated craters, and set up models to demonstrate Earth’s seasons and the phases of the Moon. They took a closer look at the planets and other objects in the solar system. They also focused on the tools and data used in the search for Earth-like planets among the trillions of potential exoplanets (i.e., planets beyond the solar system) orbiting other stars. The FOSS revision team worked with staff from NASA’s Kepler Mission to include these investigations in the revised edition.
Members of the astronomical community in the Bay Area provided the teachers with insights into the latest research in planetary exploration.
- Andrew Fraknoi, Chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College and the former Executive Director of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, presented an illustrated lecture called “Where Bill Gates’ Great Granddaughter Might Go on Her Honeymoon: The Top Tourist Sights of the Solar System.”
- Fraknoi moderated a public dialogue titled “Are We Alone?” with leaders of the NASA Kepler Mission, Bill Borucki (Principal Investigator, NASA Kepler Mission), Natalie Batalha (Co-Investigator and Deputy Science Team Lead, NASA Kepler Mission, and lead author for the discovery of the first nearly Earth-size rocky planet), and Gibor Basri (Co-Investigator for NASA Kepler Mission and professor in the Department of Astronomy at University of California, Berkeley).
- Edna DeVore, Deputy CEO and Director of Education and Public Outreach for the SETI Institute, talked about “Life in the Universe.”
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The finale of the workshop was an evening at the Chabot Science Center situated on the East Bay Hills in Oakland, California. Participants viewed two planetarium shows, had a chance to explore the science center’s exhibits, and to cap it off, had a special viewing through “Nellie,” Chabot’s new 36" reflector, where they saw Saturn and its moons, a star cluster, and the Ring Nebula (http://www.chabotspace.org/nellie.htm).
Watch for the public launch of the revised FOSS Planetary Science Course in 2012. If you are attending one of the NSTA Area Conferences this fall, you can explore the course during one of the introductory workshops being offered. Check out the FOSS Professional Development calendar for dates and times.
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