Locating useable NASA and other data for inquiry in Space Science  What and where are the best NASA (and other) data resources for engaging pre-service teachers in space science inquiry?  How can these data resources be used to address questions tied to science education standards? {Greg Schultz and Bill Waller} AAS/FINESSE workshop, 3-4 January 2009

What qualities should data resources have for effective classroom use?  Easy to find (Hey! We have a CD!)  Easy to access – simple user interface.  Easy to manipulate – so students can do something meaningful with them; visual data, graphic data (excel).  Well-sampled data (in space, time, luminosity, etc.).  Elicits scientific questions that can be addressed through further investigation.  Other qualities?

What NASA and other data resources have you found useful?  Write down a few space science data resources that you think lend themselves to active inquiry.  Share your suggestions.

Here’s What We Found ( Solar System )  Solar System Simulator – more than Galilean moons!  Solar Activity – see Sunspots, SON, and Sun-Earth links on CD and  Google Mars – facility for touring Martian surface.  Cratering databases (planets and moons) – see CD and  Project LASP – uses planetary spectra.  SDSS SkyServer – plots planets and asteroids in sky.

Here’s What We Found (Sky Viewing Utilities)  Sky & Telescope’s Interactive SkyChart – basic planetarium.  Stellarium – more sophisticated planetarium program.  Google Sky – includes DSS, infrared, and microwave imagery.  World Wide Telescope – most sophisticated viewing of sky.  SkyView – less sophisticated but includes more databases.  SDSS SkyServer – images and spectra of stars and galaxies.

Here’s what we found (Stars, Galaxies, etc.)  “Star Count” and “Globe at Night” links at and -- how do they compare re: ease of use?  SDSS SkyServer – images and spectra of stars and galaxies  star types, galaxy types, redshifts  Hubble Law, cluster properties.  Hubble Deep Field folder on CD, including  Amazing Space – “Hubble Deep Field Academy” and “Galaxy Hunter” (also uses HDFs but with more statistics).  US National Virtual Observatory – Datascope builds on SkyView -- oodles of data but hard to use?

Now it’s your turn! (Assess the educational value of data resources)  Browse the data CD and other links.  Select 2 data sets that relate to your state space science standards – (e.g. crater data base and impacts = non-human natural hazard) (e.g. sunspot activity = characteristics of the sun)  Compare and contrast these 2 data sets re: desired qualities.  Find scientific questions which the data set(s) can address – (e.g. What is the relationship between sunspot activity, space weather, and effects on Earth?) (e.g. Why do some planets and moons have more craters than others? How and why does the cratering on Mars vary?) (e.g. How do galaxy shapes, sizes, and spectra inter-relate?).

What did you think of your resources?  Were they easy to find?  Were they easy to access – simple user interface?  Were they easy to manipulate – visually or graphically?  Did they adequately sample the parameter space?  Did they elicit fruitful scientific questions?  Other qualities?