1. Astrophysics Missions, Grants, and Forum Nuggets for March 2014

2. Here. There. Everywhere. HTE Visits the Manatee County Public Library System The Manatee County Public Library System hosted the Here, There and Everywhere exhibit for February 2014. The exhibit was open to the public at the Central Library in Bradenton, FL. Staff conducted about 30 programs county-wide at all of their locations, the farmer’s market and at the South Florida Museum. Programs included: using telescopes to look at the night sky, a simulated space mission, hands-on experiments using the activity kits from HTE, children’s story times based on stars and space, model rocket launches, astronomy lectures for adults, and Mad Science labs for kids. The librarians turned the exhibit into a whole series of events for February, engaging over 1000 people with in-house and outreach programs. The door count for the Central Library during the display was 24,000, with ~80% of visitors checking out the exhibit.

3. Kepler Announces 715 New Planets! On Feb 26, the Kepler Mission announced 715 exoplanets, nearly doubling the total number of ALL known exoplanets As part of the announcement, the EPO team updated the Kepler Discoveries Table 1 and created individual Discovery Pages for each new planet, with a Flash-based interactive modeling the planet’s orbit. http://kepler.nasa.gov/Mission/discoveries/ The interactives use actual mission data to display: The planet’s orbit (top-down or from Earth perspectives) The star-crossing transit path The true light curve with real data points Host star size comparison with the Sun Planet size comparison with Earth & Jupiter Users are also able to adjust the speed, zoom level, and viewing perspective, as well as overlay features such as the star’s habitable zone and comparative orbit lines for Solar System planets.

4. The state of Florida offers classroom resources for K-12 educators through a professional online network called CPALMS. CPALMS is Florida’s official source for standards-aligned, free, and high-quality instructional resources that have been vetted through a rigorous review process. STScI’s Telescopes from the Ground Up is included in CPALMS as a recommended resource for middle and high school educators. Telescopes from the Ground Up allows students to, “…navigate through the history and science of telescopes.” It was specifically cited for including support materials that align with state standards and best practices; such as instructional strategies, science background information, and vocabulary. Florida Recommends Telescopes from the Ground Up The CPALMS resource collection was initiated in 2010 by the Florida Center for Research in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics at Florida State University. It was built primarily for Florida's educators, but has since transformed into a global resource with users from more than 200+ countries and territories around the world. More than 42,000 users have signed up to use the CPALMS site.

5. 5 On February 21, members of STScI’s education team returned to Reservoir High School in Fulton, Maryland to participate in their annual “STEM Series” event. These team members worked together to develop and provide a presentation entitled “Careers in Space Science” that included several hands-on activities and demonstrations about the Electromagnetic Spectrum (EMS). Students heard both presenters discuss science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers at STScI as well as their personal educational paths. Each class was divided into two groups that participated in hands-on activities utilizing an infrared camera and spectral emission tubes, allowing the students to interactively explore the EMS. The “Careers in Space Science” presentation was provided to a total of 106 students. Reservoir High School developed the “STEM Series” to provide meaningful interactions with peers and community professionals to aid in students’ career paths and interests. STScI’s continued participation in the “STEM Series” is part of an ongoing collaboration with STScI’s education team and local area schools. The “Careers in Space Science” presentation was provided to support efforts in reaching and serving diverse, local communities. STEM Career Presentation at Reservoir High School