Report from Headquarters

Teachers: Sign Up For One-Week Summer Courses

Written by: Space Foundation Editorial Team

 Scholarships are available now for teachers to learn how to use space themes and concepts in the classroom and to earn professional development credit or even master's degree credits. The Space Foundation Space Across the Curriculum courses focus on national standards and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) principles. These full-day, week-long classes are held at the Space Foundation Discovery Institute in Colorado Springs, Colo. All courses are experiential, hands-on, immediately transferable to the classroom and applicable for multiple grade levels and all subject areas.

All registrants receive a substantial subsidy from the Space Foundation and those who sign up early can also quality for industry-sponsored scholarships. Fees can be as low as $165 for a $1,400 course.

The following classes are now open for enrollment:

June 13 - 17 Earth Systems Science: Planetary Geology
As our quest of exploration leads us from Earth to other planets and moons, we can more thoroughly understand what shapes the world around us. This course enables educators to discover the fascinating processes that form our Earth and other terrestrial planets. Participants will have the opportunity to participate in a unique learning experience in fascinating geological landscape of Colorado Springs' Garden of the Gods, where they will perform fieldwork using the terrain and geological formations. Through a variety of guided tours, hands-on activities, lesson plans and knowledgeable instructors, educators will gather a better prospective of our planet and how it functions.

June 13 - 17 PreK-2 Early Childhood Space Exploration
Centered on space and science education for early learners, the Space Foundation's PreK-2 Space Across the Curriculum course provides early ehildhood educators the necessary tools to inspire eager young minds through inquiry-based learning. Instructors will present teachers with age-appropriate, hands-on activities that they can immediately use with their students and that are specifically designed to ignite the excitement of exploration  and the wonderment of space.

June 20 - 24 Rocketry: Space History
Rockets are an effective way to teach students the fundamental processes of propulsion, Newton's Laws of Motion and the physics of space travel. Class participants construct a variety of rockets, including soda-pop-, water- and solid-fuel-powered, that give educators an experiential approach to teaching various rocket propulsion concepts. Educators will receive an overview of the history of space exploration and will become aware of the connection between the social and political aspects of the "space race" and how this transformed our society. They will also discuss the laws that govern the space industry and the exploration and use of space.

July 11 - 15 Astronomy Principles for the Classroom: Exploring our Universe and the Search for Life
Participants will examine the many fascinating aspects of astronomy as it relates to astrobiology and the development of life on Earth, as well as the possible existence of life elsewhere in the universe. They will study extremophile organisms by conducting fieldwork at Colorado Springs' Cave of the Winds. The Miller-Urey process and the Drake equation will be explained and investigated as possible theories of how these organisms could exist on other worlds such as Mars, Europa, Enceladus and Titan. Exploration of current NASA missions will help teachers explore the possibility of life on other worlds. Educators will spend an evening stargazing and learning to use a planisphere to view these worlds that may harbor possible life.

July 18 - 22 Space Technologies in the Classroom: Nanotechnology and Space Spin-Offs
This course examines the numerous uses of space technologies in our society for the benefit of humankind. Educators will discover the practical applications of orbital mechanics as they explore the everyday uses of satellites. Through field trips and hands-on demonstrations, educators will receive an introduction to space transportation and design, robotics, communications, space power and space structures. Participants will build and explore a variety of space technologies, including constructing their own programmable robots.

Pictured: A Space Foundation Space Across the Curriculum rocketry course from 2010.

 

 

This article is part of Space Watch: April 2011 (Volume: 10, Issue: 4).


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