NASA Ames Research Center Informal Education Partners With Distance Learning Network to Inform Teachers About NASA

Informal education at Ames and the Distance Learning Network partnered together to provide a teacher workshop to the Shasta County Office of Education / Schroeder Planetarium in Shasta Calif. and the Museum of Flight in Seattle Wash. on Wednesday Aug. 8.

This partnership demonstrated that utilizing unique collaborations can allow Informal Education to outreach to institutions outside of the Bay Area. The teacher workshop began with a viewing of the launch of STS-118 via NASA TV. Following the launch, an overview of the mission and related education events and challenges were presented.

At this time, information about the Plant Growth Challenge and how to order space-flown basil seeds was given. Both remote sites participated in an activity related to the Physical Fitness challenge in real time.

The sites were then given STS-118 related materials and a CD with related activities and videos. Because much of the work done on this most recent mission involved using a robotic arm, participants had the unique opportunity to create a robotic arm.

This event demonstrated a great way informal education, and the DLN can partner to provide professional development to institutions outside of the Bay Area.