Above and Beyond - Above and Beyond is an advanced space science course for K-12 teachers, which focuses on the excitement of NASA's Enterprise of Earth System Science to motivate students. Course topics cover history of space flight, principles of flight, aircraft as their orbits and their business, remote sensing: principles and practice. Guest lecturers include remote-sensing scientists, NASA Specialists in classroom application of remote sensing, NASA Aerospace Education Specialists, and Oklahoma NASA Space Grant Consortium professors. Contact: Victoria Duca-Snowden, Director, Oklahoma Space Grant Consortium, Oklahoma Climatological Survey, College of Geosciences, 710 Asp, Suite 5, Norman, OK 73069; Phone: (405) 447-8483; Fax: (405) 447-8455; Email: vduca@ou.edu (Added: 6-Feb-2001 Hits: 764) [Spider search][grade levels: 3-5|6-8|9-12|K-2]

 Access Earth - Access Earth is a program for high school students with disabilities and teachers to encourage students with disabilities to enter careers in Earth system science. Students and teachers attend an intensive week-long summer institute focusing on land-ocean-atmosphere interactions, with field activities based at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve on the coast of Maine. Topics to be covered include climate change and sea level rise, land use changes, atmospheric pollution, and coastal watershed management. Participating teachers will work with scientists, educators, and students with disabilities to develop, test, and refine accessible Earth system science curriculum. Students will work with scientists, collecting and analyzing scientific data, and will learn about career opportunities in Earth system science. (Added: 5-Feb-2001 Hits: 884) [Spider search][grade levels: 3-5|6-8|9-12]

 An Associate of Arts in Community Colleges for Training in Earth Science (ACTES) - ACTES is a collaboration between the College of San Mateo (CSM) and NASA Ames Research Center, with three major goals. The first is implementing remote-sensing data use in a broad range of community college courses. Second, is creating curriculum modules and classes that are transportable to other community colleges via the World Wide Web (WWW). Third, at the end of the project, a WWW server will have been established that will be an ongoing source of data and curriculum materials to other community colleges. A sequence of five courses has been established at CSM and approved for community colleges state-wide for students wishing to earn an AA degree in this area of expertise. The titles for the courses are: Introduction to Earth Systems Analysis; Spatial Analysis in Geographic Information; GPS, GIS and Image Processing; Remote Sensing Technology and Processing; and Laboratory Practicum. The result of this curriculum will be hands-on learning for students whether they are at a two-year college for an AA degree, retraining to improve their job skills, taking classes to satisfy requirements for four-year colleges, or any combination of these options. The expectation is that these students will be able to continue their education in remote sensing/Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at a senior college, move into entry level positions at local companies where remote-sensing and GIS technologies are used, or have valuable skills to append to their resumes. At the completion of the project, colleges throughout the nation will be able to download materials from the ACTES WWW site and use them for their own related course work and programs. These materials will include course outlines, classroom exercises, individual lessons, and supporting graphics and images. Contacts: Ken Kennedy, Department of Political Science, College of San Mateo, 1700 W. Hillsdale Blvd., San Mateo, California, 94402; Phone: (415) 574-6656; Fax: (415) 574-6680; Email: kennedy@smcccd.cc.ca.us or J. W. Skiles, SETI Institute, Mail Stop 239-20, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California 94035-1000; Phone: (650) 604-3614; Fax: (650) 604-1088; Email: jskiles@mail.arc.nasa.gov (Added: 18-Apr-2001 Hits: 685) [Spider search][grade levels: adult|post-secondary]

 An Interdisciplinary Teacher Training Program on Earth System Science Using Information Technology - The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford is offering a one-week interdisciplinary summer workshop on Earth system science aimed at preparing pre-service education students and in-service teachers for the 21st Century. The objective of this interdisciplinary teacher-training course is to develop in students an understanding of the Earth processes shaping the past, present, and future. The course provides hands-on training and experience in applied environmental problem-solving through field work, lab practicals, and space-based technology. (Added: 6-Feb-2001 Hits: 734) [Spider search][grade levels: adult]

 Augmented Learning Environment and Renewable Teaching - (Project ALERT) - Project ALERT (Augmented Learning Environment and Renewable Teaching) is a cooperative California-based program with two main partners, the California State University (CSU) geoscience and education disciplines and the NASA centers at Ames Research Center (ARC) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Project ALERT is a three-year initiative that formally began in spring 1998 with funding from NASA and nine CSU campuses; two additional campuses have been recruited since the inception of the project. The shared goals are to build strong bridges between NASA scientists, engineers, and science information technologists at ARC and JPL, and university educators and scientists at the CSU. CSU is one of the largest education systems in the world composed of twenty-three campuses; the system prepares a large percentage of teachers in the state. A primary emphasis of ALERT is to create and/or infuse interdisciplinary Earth science course materials into the core science curriculum of pre-service teachers. The types of projects undertaken by CSU and NASA professionals include repackaging Earth sensing information generated by NASA missions for educational uses, effecting simpler transfers of NASA technology to education, and reassessing and augmenting university-level Earth science course content. ALERT also ties strongly to other NASA-sponsored educational outreach efforts within the Universities Space Research Association-Earth System Science Education (USRA-ESSE) and NASA Opportunities for Visionary Academics (NOVA) communities. In practice, CSU professors spend up to ten weeks for each of two summers at the NASA centers. Design of academic year joint NASA-CSU projects is done during the summer as well as the development of "spin-off" joint NASA-CSU mission-related projects. Local and regional workshops at the CSU campuses and the NASA centers are conducted during the year to facilitate the exchange of information, as are continuing research and education efforts between NASA and CSU colleagues, including creating educational products (lesson plans, Web sites, etc.) and formative assessment of team-building activities. Contacts: ARC - J. W. Skiles, SETI, NASA Ames Research Center, Email: jskiles@mail.arc.nasa.gov; JPL/NASA - Edward Ng (retired), email: EdwardNg@space-1.com; CSU North - Ellen Metzger, San Jose Sate University, Email: metzger@geosun1.sjsu.edu; CSU South - Elizabeth Ambos, California State University, Long Beach, Email: bambos@csulb.edu; other ALERT leaders include Marguerite Syvertson, JPL, Email: mlss@scn1.jpl.nasa.gov (Added: 18-Apr-2001 Hits: 689) [Spider search][grade levels: adult|post-secondary]

 Certificate and Master's Degree Program in Earth/Space Science for Elementary/Secondary Teachers - he Maryland Space Grant Consortium, in collaboration with The John Hopkins Graduate Division of Education, has integrated nine graduate credits, earned by teachers who complete the three phases of the Consortium's Space Science Internship Program for Elementary and Secondary teachers (SSIP), into six core courses that comprise both a Johns Hopkins Graduate Certificate Program and a Master's Degree Program in Math and Science Education with a specialization in Earth/space science. These three graduate programs enable teachers to: 1) obtain a Master's of Science degree with a specialization in Earth/space science; and 2) obtain credits to meet state certification requirements in Earth/science. Teachers may also choose to use six credits attained from completing Phases I and II of SSIP toward Maryland State Department of Education, Continuing Professional Development credits. Contact: Anne Anikis, Assistant Director, Maryland Space Grant Consortium, The Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg Center for Physics and Astronomy, Room 203 , 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218-2686; Phone: (410) 516-7106; Fax: (410) 516-4109; Email: anne@pha.jhu.edu (Added: 6-Feb-2001 Hits: 822) [Spider search][grade levels: 3-5|6-8|9-12|K-2|post-secondary]

 Concepts and Pedagogical Strategies in Earth System Science Education for K-7 Teachers - This summer workshop at West Chester University of Pennsylvania is designed for preservice and inservice K-7 teachers to enhance their understandings about Earth system science, develop abilities in Earth system science education (ESSE), and develop an ESSE Action Plan for their grade level. Participants will explore key questions related to Earth system science, use state-of-the-art technologies to observe and study the Earth system in real time, and learn ways to construct and utilize realtime satellite images for ESSE lessons. They will receive and practice using NASA teaching materials designed for Earth system science education, learn how to access NASA education materials, and revise the materials as constructivist inquiry-based ESSE lessons. By the end of the workshop, each participant will complete an ESSE action plan for their grade level using workshop materials, concepts, skills, and pedagogical strategies. The workshop meets Wednesdays from June 30 through July 28. There are also several one-day field trips, including a visit to the NASA Educator Resource Center at Goddard Space Flight Center. Participants can receive one undergraduate credit or one Continuing Education Credit for the workshop (cost waived by West Chester University). Contact: Richard M. Busch, Department of Geology & Astronomy, West Chester University, West Chester, PA 19383; Phone: (610) 436-2716; Fax: (610) 436-3036; Email: rbusch@wcupa.edu (Added: 17-Apr-2001 Hits: 722) [Spider search][grade levels: 3-5|6-8|K-2]

 Consortium for the Application of Space Data to Education (CASDE) - A wide variety of training opportunities for pre-service and in-service teachers are available through the Consortium for the Application of Space Data to Education (CASDE). This consortium was created to provide mechanisms to integrate NASA's extensive data holdings and advanced information system technologies into education. CASDE is dedicated to providing the educational community with vast amounts of NASA imagery, tools, educational resources, and interdisciplinary activities. CASDE tools, tutorials, a useful "building-block" curriculum structure, classroom ready posters, and interactive laboratory kits, have all been developed by the consortium to introduce the basics of interpreting space imagery and incorporating potential applications of NASA data to the education community and other interested parties. The leadership of CASDE comes from three organizations, including the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Center for Advanced Land Management Information Technologies, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the University of Nebraska at Omaha Office of Internet Studies. Through these three organizations, the CASDE staff offers a variety of periodic staff development opportunities for educators (both pre-service and in-service) and other professionals (such as resource managers), who are interested in gaining more information or training-related CASDE resources. For example, one-day introductory seminars are available that introduce participants to CASDE imagery resources, sample curriculum activities, and software. Weeklong workshops are also offered periodically to provide teachers and other professionals a more in-depth training in CASDE resources, image visualization tools, and lesson design. The workshops also assist teachers in developing curriculum specific to their classrooms. In addition to these shorter duration opportunities, several graduate courses, and extended independent study classes for graduate credit, are also available from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Web-based training opportunities, called "Webshops" are also being developed by the consortium. Within all the training opportunities, educators are involved in a wide variety of "hands-on" activities to help support a strong base of CASDE resource awareness, experience, and classroom integration. Participants particularly gain valuable experience with new technology-based tools, such as DataSlate, which is a new technology that allows users to explore essentially infinite data sets and to simultaneously compare co-registered and geo-referenced sets of data. DataSlate is being developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. CASDE invites partnering with other organizations to help provide such teacher training opportunities in various locations, and actively seeks collaboration with teachers and other professionals who are interested in expanding CASDE curriculum efforts. Contacts: Paul Clark, Office of Internet Studies, UNO, Omaha, NE, 68182-0163, Email: Paul_Clark@unomaha.edu; Rick Perk, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, 113 Nebraska Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0517, Email: rperk@tan.unl.edu (Added: 17-Apr-2001 Hits: 679) [Spider search][grade levels: 3-5|6-8|9-12]

 Earth & Sky Broadcast Fellowship - The Earth & Sky radio series, in cooperation with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California competitively selects one or more annual radio fellows each year to work in residence at a NASA field Center or other space research institution. Earth & Sky and NASA select one or more science writers to be Fellows during the summer months. The Fellows travel first to Austin, Texas, to work with Earth & Sky for one week. Then Fellows travel to a selected host research institution to work with scientists for approximately six to seven weeks. At each institution, each Fellow will: 1) Work with NASA scientists and Earth & Sky producers to identify newsworthy topics about NASA science. 2) Gather information and record interviews with NASA scientists about these topics. 3) Prepare and write scripts for radio programs on NASA Earth and Space Sciences. The written scripts and recorded interviews will be sent back to Earth & Sky in Austin, for use as part of this nationally-syndicated radio series. Earth & Sky, which has been broadcasting nationally since 1991, is funded primarily by the National Science Foundation. Audience measurements in 1998 indicate that the radio series has four million listeners each week in the United States. The deadline for submission of applications for the Fellowship is December 31 each year. Preference will be given to applicants with experience in writing for broadcast, but all applicants are welcome. Contact: Mike Rhodes, P.O. Box 2203, Austin, TX 78768; Phone: (512) 477-4441; mrhodes@earthsky.com (Added: 18-Apr-2001 Hits: 748) [Spider search][grade levels: all]

 Earth Science Component for Academic Professional Enhancement (ESCAPE) - Professional development opportunities in the Earth and space related sciences continue to be the area of greatest need for teachers in Wisconsin. This project is addressing the Earth system science professional development needs of upper elementary, middle and high school science teachers in Wisconsin and interested neighboring states by offering NASA's Classroom of the Future (COTF) on-line Earth system science course in conjunction with the GET-WISE project. Contact: Rosalyn A. Pertzborn, Research and Outreach Specialist, Office of Space Science Education - Space Science & Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1225 W. Dayton Street, Madison, WI 53706; Phone: (608) 265-4160; Fax: (608) 262-5974 (Added: 6-Feb-2001 Hits: 742) [Spider search][grade levels: 6-8|9-12|adult|post-secondary]

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