Astrophysics Missions Nuggets for May 2010

Kepler Mission website honored in “Science” category One of 9 honorees in “Science” JPL/Ames/Kepler EPO team remodeled the site; released Jan 2010 Design led by the PlanetQuest EPO group and their Raytheon contractors Content led by Dave Koch & Alan Gould New animated model of each planetary system discovered is being developed by Dr. Kevin Lee, University of Nebraska’s science visualization team for the website.

NASA Astrophysics E/PO Community Retreat May 11-12, Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, Chicago, IL 31 participants identified priority Astrophysics E/PO community collaborations, strengthened understanding of community needs and the new SMD E/PO Forums, and connected with and learned more about each other’s work Included representatives from 20 current and future SMD Astrophysics missions/data archives/research programs; 12 mid-sized E/PO projects (EPOESS awardees); SMD Astrophysics and Heliophysics Forums; SMD E/PO Collaboration viewed as a cost-effective means to place individual programs in context, reach larger audiences, reduce duplication of effort, and leverage resources Participants created a chart of resources and activities that offer opportunities for collaboration aligned to NASA/SMD education and outreach objectives Interactive small group discussions led to identification of and initial work on Astrophysics E/PO community collaborations: Online professional development experiences for educators that integrate Astrophysics E/PO resources on how light is used to understand the universe Identifying and linking SMD E/PO products and activities that engage girls/women in STEM for use in library settings Identifying and increasing awareness of existing Astrophysics E/PO products and activities that support undergraduate education “I liked the sharing of resources, with the emphasis on collaborative opportunities. ” “Very practical goals…will result in concrete initiatives.”

NASA After School Program at Cali Calmecac Charter School, Windsor, CA Students and their parents visited SSU on April 13 The NASA E/PO Group at Sonoma State University has sponsored an after-school science club at a local Spanish language immersion school since 2008. Students at the school range from kindergarten to 8th grade. The after-school program is run in two parts, one for younger children in grades 1 to 3, and another for children in grades 4 to 8. The students engage in many hands-on activities provided by NASA SMD missions. They also have been learning to build and program simple robots using commercially available kits. Students from around Sonoma County are eligible for the program, though priority is given to those from the Windsor district. The program is extremely popular, and the number of applications far exceeds the number of available slots, by about five to one. The last day of the program this year was on Wednesday, May 19. Dr. Kevin McLin from SSU E/PO visited that day and helped distribute the program-completion certificates to the students. It was clear that the students were enjoying the activities and that they were looking forward to returning to the program in the fall. The photos in the three-photo mosaic at left were taken on the last day. The element at top left shows students from the grade 4-8 group, along with Dr. Thelma Garcia (far left of photo in orange sweater), a native of Mexico and recent chemistry PhD from UC Davis, who teaches the after-school program. SSU E/PO funds pay for her position. At far right is Dr. Ellie Galvez-Hard. Dr. Galvez-Hard is a native of Chile who has lived in the USA for many years. She is on the faculty of SSU and coordinates the after-school programs at Cali Calmecac. Standing at the back is Dr. McLin. The element at bottom left shows the students in grades 1 to 3 participating in a last-day activity. Shown at bottom right is Dr. Galvez-Hard and some of the parents of the younger students - one of the unique aspects of this program is that many parents attend along with their children. Also shown is the parent liaison, Silvia Prado (standing, in white sweater on the left side of image). One of the difficulties of running this program has been finding a qualified bilingual person to lead the sessions, and we have been fortunate to have Dr. Garcia over this past year.