Education


June Featured Four Space Foundation Space Across the Curriculum Courses

Written by: developer

Teachers from across the country, and in one instance from as far away as the Isle of Man, traveled to Colorado Springs in June to attend Space Foundation Space Across the Curriculum teacher professional development courses. 

These intensive week-long graduate-level courses for PreK-12 educators provide space-related science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) content that is instantly transferable to the classroom. All courses are hands-on and focus on national standards and STEM principles. Although the underlying concentration is on STEM, the courses are structured to adapt lessons to all grade levels and all curriculum areas. Participants do not need to be science or math teachers, and public, private and homeschool teachers from around the globe are welcome.

The course Biological and Physical Research: Long-Term Space Travel was held at the Space Foundation Discovery Institute in Colorado Springs and explored the effects of microgravity on the human body and the consequences of space exploration.

The first course to be held at the new Space Foundation world headquarters at 4425 Arrowswest Drive in Colorado Springs was Earth Systems Science: Our Earth Revealed featuring geology field work at the nearby Garden of the Gods park and Manitou Springs.

The June courses also included a new meteorology course and a free rocketry course for teachers in Pueblo, Colo. 

The meterology course examined the different areas of meteorology and how to incorporate them into the classroom. Hands-on lessons were used and the course featured instruction by Matt Meister, chief meteorologist for KRDO-TV, Colorado Springs, and included a trip to the KRDO newsroom and to the  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Boulder, Colo.

The rocketry course in Pueblo was held at Colorado State University – Pueblo and was offered free to Pueblo D60 teachers. Teachers built and launched a a variety of rockets and learned how to incorporate rocketry into the classroom to teach a multitude of standards across various subjects.

To see photos, click here and look at the Space Across the Curricuum Photo Galleries.

Two more Space Across the Curriculum courses will be offered in Colorado Springs in July:

July 9-13
Space Foundation Discovery Institute
105 Coleridge Ave., Colorado Springs, Colo.
Lunar/Mars Exploration and Base Construction
Explore what it will take to establish and maintain a human presence on the Moon or Mars in this project-based class. Topics include discussion of growing food on Mars and creating oxygen. Build a model of a Lunar or Mars base as the culminating project.

July 16-20
Space Foundation Discovery Institute
105 Coleridge Ave., Colorado Springs, Colo.
Astronomy Principles for the Classroom: Kinesthetic Astronomy
Learn exciting ways to bring the universe into your classroom. Focus on Kinesthetic Astronomy, a hands-on approach to teaching astronomical concepts to students through kinesthetic movement.

Sign up now for the July courses here.

Pictured:
Top, left: Students learn how microgravity causes “puffy head, bird-leg” syndrome in the Space Across the Curriculum course, Biological and Physical Research: Long-Term Space Travel

Middle right: Teachers in the Space Foundation Space Across the Curriculum course Earth Systems Science: Our Earth Revealed with instructor geologist Jay Temple (left) at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.

Middle left: Matt Meister, chief meteorologist for KRDO-TV, Colorado Springs, teaching a lesson in the Space Foundation Space Across the Curriculum teacher professional development course Meteorology and Space Weather.

Bottom right: Space Foundation Space Education Specialist Elias Molen shows class participants how to launch a water rocket.

This article is part of Space Watch: July 2012 (Volume: 11, Issue: 7).


Posted in Education