Education and Public Outreach Proposals Selected in Cycle 6

1. Building Interest in Science Among Middle School-Age Girls Using Big Explosions and Strong Gravity (BESG)
   Science PI: Dr. Ann Hornschemeier, Johns Hopkins University, annh@pha.jhu.edu
   Education Co-I: Dr. James Lochner, Goddard Space Flight Center lochner@milkyway.gsfc.nasa.gov
   Education Partners:
   

   Girl Scout Council of Central Maryland (GSCM)

   Summary:

   This proposal will provide a follow-on to a successful pilot program to bring current space science content and hands-on activities to middle-school age girls using the Girl Scout community as the mechanism for outreach. The program will leverage the strong GSCM outreach to inner-city Baltimore girls by providing a day long "Big Explosions and Strong Gravity" event using reviewed materials about stellar evolution, the EMS, supernovae and black holes. This event will be used to recruit participants to join a new Girl Scout-NASA Initiative, Studio 2B. The Studio 2B program uses telecons and meetings throughout the year to maintain communications among Girl Scouts and NASA scientists to facilitate the girls' consideration of science as a career.

1. The Chandra Astrophysics Institute
   Science PI: Dr. Frederick Baganoff, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, fkb@space.mit.edu
   Education Co-I: Dr. Irene Porro, Massachusetts Institute of Technology iporro@space.mit.edu
   Education Partners:
   

   Lynn Public Schools District, Lynn MA

   Astrophysics Institute, Rutgers University

   Summary:

   This proposal will establish the Chandra Astrophysics Institute (CAI), modeled after the successful Rutgers Astrophysics Institute that has been running for the last seven years. The CAI will be adapted to address the needs of students from underserved groups in the Lynn, MA, Public Schools District who show extreme interest and motiviation to pursue an education, and eventually a career, in math, science and/or technology. The CAI will develop a year long research program in X-ray astrophysics for approximately 20 students working in teams with 10 teachers. The student-teacher teams will attend an intensive 4-week summer institute at MIT, taught by the PI and the Co-I, to prepare them to work on research projects in X-ray astrophysics during the following school year. The PI, Co-I and members of the team will meet with participants on a monthly basis throughout the school year.

   
   
2. Chandra After-School Astronomy Project
   Science PI: Prof. Deepto Chakrabarty, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, deepto@spacemit.edu
   Education Co-I: Dr. Irene Porro, Massachusetts Institute of Technology iporro@space.mit.edu
   Summary:

   This proposal will establish the Chandra After-School Astronomy Project (ASAP), an initiative to provide out-of-school time programs to underserved youth to reinforce learning in physics, space science, and technology through hands-on activities and explorations of the night sky. The ASAP program leverages two exisiting resources: the community outreach centers and technology infrastructure of the Timothy Smith Network (TSN) in Boston, and the internet-controlled educational telescope network, the MicroObservatory, made available through NASA's Universe Education Forum at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Based on a successful pilot project, this program will develop an ASAP activity program utilizing the MicroObservatory for distribution to the TSN network, and a "training-the-trainer" program for staff at the 40 TSN centers. Eventually the program will made available for dissemination to after-school providers nationally.

   
   
3. Science PI: Dr. Megan Donahue, Michigan State University, donahue@pa.msu.edu
   Education Co-I: Dr. Matthew Schneps, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) mschneps@cfa.harvard.edu
   Summary:

   This proposal will develop and produce a series of pedagogical animations that will assist museum personnel, educators, and media product developers in explaining the evidence for dark matter. The animations will be produced by a collaboration between the PI science team and the Science Media Group in the Science Education Department of the CfA. The final products will be made available in a number of resolutions,including broadast quality downloads, and formats for interactive DVD, CD-ROM, and Internet. Products will be placed in the Einstein Centennial repository to be maintained by NASA's Universe Forum as a community-wide resource.

   
   
4. Science PI: Prof. Eric Feigleson, Pennsylvania State University, edf@astro.psu.edu
   Education Co-I: Dr. Christopher Palma, Pennsylvania State University cpalma@psu.edu
   Education Partners:
   

   Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium

   Summary:

   This proposal provides funding to support the attendance of teachers and curricular resources at the tenth annual Penn State In-Service Workshops in Astronomy (PSIWA). The content-rich workshops expose educators to inquiry-based, peer-reviewed astronomy activities produced by NASA and the NASA-affiliated science and education community. The target audience is educators from rural school districts, and the curriculum is designed specifically to provide educators with the content knowledge necessary to address both national and state science education standards.

   
   
5. Stellar Evolution Planetarium Show at the Science Museum of Virginia
   Science PI: Gregory Sivakoff, University of Virginia, grs8g@virginia.edu
   Education Co-I: Dr. Edward Murphy , University of Virginia emm8x@virginia.edu
   Education Partners:
   

   Science Museum of Virginia

   Summary:

   This program will introduce planetarium visitors to stellar evolution and stellar populations through the development and production of a planetarium show at the Science Museum of Virginia. The show will introduce the science content through the reminiscences of Stella, a Black Hole who used to be a big star. Stella was previously featured in a planetarium show on Black Holes and will return to tell the stories of the other types of stars in her globular cluster. The staff of the Science Museum will work with the science team to devlop a study guide and classroom exercises that link the show to the Virginia Standards of Learning. The script and visuals developed for the show will be made available on CD-ROM to members of the International Planetarium Society and the Digistar User's Group. Participants attending the Association of Science and Technology Centers annual convention, to be hosted by the Museum in fall 2005, will have an opportunity to attend the show.