Teachers Touch the Sky A Workshop for Teachers

“Teachers Touch the Sky” A Workshop for Teachers in Grades 3 -9 In August 2012, Jet Propulsion Laboratory held a one-week workshop for 18 teachers in grades 3 - 9. They were walked through hands-on, inquiry-based activities that are all based on current projects at JPL, focusing on NASA's current Dawn Mission to the asteroid Vesta and Curiosity. The integration of the lessons into the teachers' curricula was discussed, and the group went on a field trip to JPL's Table Mountain Observatory. Basic mathematical skills and the scientific method were emphasized. Teachers learned of NASA resources for educators, and they toured JPL's facilities and talked to scientists about their work. The activities included two from the Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS) commercial series, “Oobleck”, and “Color Analyzers”; the building and use of a quadrant for finding sizes and distances; two cratering activities; building a Galileo-like telescope and doing a daytime astronomy unit; and creating a “kitchen comet”. Each teacher also did their own individual or group hands-on activity. In addition to the content lectures provided by Bonnie Buratti, the workshop leader, guest lecturers included Paul Weissman (small bodies); David Seidel (Educators Resources); Marc Rayman (Dawn), Amanda Hendrix (Cassini); Heath Rhoades, Mike Hicks, and Thierry Le. Blanc (Table Mountain); and Sarah Milkovich (MSL). Mike Lichtman served as a Master Teacher and Sophie Banholzer and Paul Dalba were undergraduate teaching assistants. The website for the workshop is: September 11, 2012 1 http: //www. jpl. nasa. gov/education/index. cfm? page=273