Roberta's Corner
Keep your eyes fixed on Windows to the Universe for an exciting event in
Mexico City during March 2006 - MILAGRO (Megacity Initiative: Local and
Global Research Observations)! Scientists from around the world will be
joining forces with Mexican colleagues to study pollution originating in
Mexico City, and following it downwind in order to understand how megacities
affect the regional and global atmosphere. The MILAGRO research campaign is
funded jointly by the Mexican government, the US National Science
Foundation, Department of Energy, and NASA. In late February, we will be
opening a portal (in English and Spanish) to MILAGRO that will provide
background information about the purpose of the campaign, air pollution,
transport effects, impacts on health and the environment, research projects
underway in the campaign, as well as "Reports from the Field" from
scientists, educators, and students participating in the project. We'll give
you a heads up when the portal is about to open!
Randy's Corner
Pluto, the icy world near the outer edge of our Solar System, has been in
the news a lot lately. Its status
as a planet is being debated, we've discovered
two
new small moons orbiting it, and the first spacecraft to visit the ninth
planet has just left Earth. Astronomers have also located a large
Kuiper Belt Object that may be bigger than Pluto, and which some folks are calling the
"tenth planet". Check out these links to learn more about Pluto and the
Kuiper
Belt in which it resides:
These topics are relevant to "Content Standard D: Earth and Space Science" in
the National Science Education Standards (Grades
5-8: Earth in the solar system; Grades
9-12: The Origin and Evolution of the
Earth
System).
Jennifer's Corner
Are you going to be teaching about the planets soon? If so, here's a very general Student Data Collection Sheet your students can use to research a given planet or moon of the solar system. It is part of the I don't know my solar system. . .please ex-planet! activity.
Having students do such a project touches on 5-8: Content Standard D: Earth in the solar system and 9-12: Content Standard D: Origin and evolution of the universe.
Lisa's Corner
February is Black History Month, an excellent time to honor the achievements of black scientists. Have your students read the biography of Wangari Maathai in our History and People section to learn about this extraordinary woman. Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan scientist, started a very successful movement in Africa to combat deforestation. Nearly 30 years ago she founded the Green Belt Movement, which employs women of Kenyan villages to plant trees. Maathai won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in 2004.
The Windows to the Universe History and People section includes many short biographies of scientists, astronauts, and mathematicians. The scientist biographies are organized chronologically. Learning about how scientists work is part of understanding Science as a Human Endeavor and the History of Science (Content Standard G). The story of Wangari Maathai in particular also highlights how science is a part of managing Populations, Resources, and Environments (Content Standard F).
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Marina's Corner
Last month I promised to let you know more about LITTLE Pluto. Well this is a great opportunity to focus on this tiny planet as just 2 weeks ago -on January 19th- NASA spacecraft New Horizons took off into space for a really long trip towards Pluto and further! To learn more about this important mission go to the NEW HORIZONS page.
Also, Chinese are celebrating the New Year! Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. This year the celebration started on January 29th and will end on February 12th. The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. The lunar cycle is about 29.5 days. In order to "catch up" with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years (seven years out of a 19-year-cycle). This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year. This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year. In order to know more about Chinese beliefs, visit our Chinese Mythology page.
Julia's Corner
Kids of all ages love coloring books! Check out our Solar System Coloring Book. It can be played online or be printed out in HTML or PDF versions. It includes information about Sun, planets, comets and asteroids.
We also have People Coloring Book with pictures and links to biographies of several famous scientists and astronauts.
Pilot Test an Educational Computer Game
Are you interested in pilot testing an educational
computer game about alien life, evolution, invasive species, astrobiology,
and the history of life on Earth? One of us (Randy) has been developing this
game with colleagues at Michigan State University, and we're now ready to have
students "test drive" the game and report on their reactions to it. If you're
interested in getting pre-release access to this game to help us test it, check
out this web site. This game was developed as part of a research study investigating
gender differences between boys and girls with regards to educational games,
in hopes that it will help us design girl-friendly games that are also appealing
to boys.
Upcoming Windows to the Universe Professional Development Opportunities
Look for information in upcoming newsletters about our presentations at the following meetings:
- National Science Teachers Association meeting in Anaheim, California
(April)
- Geological Society of America Regional meeting in Akron, Ohio
(April)
- Environmental Health Sciences Summer Institute in Austin,
Texas (July)
- EWOC (Education: Weather, Oceans, Climate) 2006 International
Conference in Boulder, Colorado (July).
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