Genesis Mission Outreach E-News, 10th Edition September 2000
Visit the Genesis mission outreach Web site at: http://genesismission.jpl.nasa.gov/index.html
Genesis and Cosmogony
The Genesis mission Education and Public Outreach Team has just released its newest education module. It is the fourth module in the Cosmic Chemistry series, and is titled Cosmogony http://www.genesismission.org/educate/scimodule/Cosmogony.html Teachers, would you like to offer your students the opportunity to study models-especially mathematical models? Classroom activities examine some aspects of the contemporary models of the origin of the universe, the concepts of time and distance, and the strategy of working backward from a known final state to a reasonable initial state.
A Back-to-School Curriculum Apple for the Teacher
Genesis Education and Public Outreach recognizes that teachers are now into the school year and seeking out quality materials to supplement their science curricula. The Genesis mission Web site features nine education modules that bring the science of the mission into science classrooms. Modules are process-based, aligned to the national science standards, and feature a broad range of applications. Among the nine modules are Cosmic Chemistry: Understanding Elements, which helps students learn the periodic table using an on-line, interactive tool, and Exploring Origins, an interdisciplinary unit that helps students understand the cumulative nature of scientific knowledge, starting with folk literature and ending with research proposals. Visit our topics page to view all nine modules at: http://www.genesismission.org/educate/scimodule/topics.html
Forward a copy of this e-news to your colleagues, and share the free Genesis educational materials with them!
Countdown to Launch: Genesis Concentrator Targets Installed at Los Alamos National Laboratory
Workers at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) recently completed installation of the targets in the Genesis concentrator sample collection device. They installed the concentrator targets wearing full body suits and booties in order to meet the stringent cleanliness guidelines for Genesis collector materials. During the two-day period that it took to complete the assignment, a particle counter was used to monitor room cleanliness. Following assembly, the concentrator endured operational tests in a vacuum chamber to simulate conditions at L1. After passing all its tests, the Genesis concentrator was shipped from LANL to Johnson Space Center for cleaning and installation into the science canister. You can learn more about this process and view images of the work at LANL on the Genesis Web site at: http://www.genesismission.org/mission/milestones/lanlupdate.html
Science teacher conference attendees, will we see you next month?
On October 12-15, if you are planning to attend either the CAST (Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching) in College Station, Texas, or the CSTA (California Science Teacher’s Association) conference in Sacramento, California, plan to visit the McREL Genesis Education and Public Outreach booth. We will have free education materials on hand, and would love to talk with you about exciting opportunities for using Genesis materials in the classroom!
“Houston, we have a development center.”
The first Genesis Education Development Center http://www.genesismission.org/product/opportunities/devcenters/HoustonDevCtrs.html debuted at the Conroe, Texas, Independent School District (ISD) media center on September 11, 2000. Greg Rawls, McREL Genesis Education and Public Outreach project director, Stephanie Baird Wilkerson, McREL project evaluator, and John Ristvey, McREL project science education module developer, facilitated teacher learning at several work sessions. Twenty middle and high school science teachers from the Conroe ISD attended the seminar, while four educators representing the Clear Creek, Texas ISD attended from Seabrook Intermediate School. Teachers explored the Genesis learning cycle and standards addressed by interacting with module materials and on-line Genesis mission videos. By experiencing what a typical module activity is like, educators were provided an opportunity to realize and plan for the application of education modules in their science classrooms.
