HST
CYCLE 13 E/PO GRANTS
This year, the HST Cycle 13 E/PO Program drew 24 proposal submissions, comprised of 41 science programs, for a requested approximately $844,377 dollars. Ten proposals were accepted for funding. The ratio of proposals awarded funding was approximately 1:2.
- The Story of the Hubble Space Telescope Online
Curriculum Module
PI: Donald G. York, University of Chicago - Introducing 3-D Visualization of Hubble
Space Telescope Data to Rural Pennsylvania
PI: Caryl Gronwall, Pennsylvania State University - Mystery of the Nebulae
PI: Matthew Bobrowsky, Space Telescope Science Institute - Inquiry-Based Learning Using Comet Research
Projects
PI: Karen Meech, University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy - Digital Imaging Experiments For Secondary
Science
PI: Henry Kobulnicky, University of Wyoming - Hubble's Universe of Galaxies: A New Planetarium
Show
PI: Michael Corbin, Arizona State University - Galaxy Cluster Discoveries in a Laboratory
for Large, Undergraduate Classes
PI: Megan Donahue, Michigan State University - The Life Cycle of Stars and Planets:
Connecting Students and the Public to Science through HST
PI: Keivan Stassun, Vanderbilt University and Fisk University - Black Hole Web site for Teachers, Students,
and the Public
PI: Karl Gebhardt, The University of Texas at Austin - Many Faces of the Hubble Telescope / Las
Muchas Caras del Telescopio Hubble
PI: John Bally, University of Colorado
ABSTRACTS
The Story of the Hubble Space Telescope Online
Curriculum Module
PI: Donald G. York, University of Chicago
CoI: Joy Reeves, Chicago Public Schools - Claremont Math & Science
Academy
Curriculum Development
Budget: $20,000
The Chicago WebDocent Project proposes to develop an online curriculum module, The Story of the Hubble Space Telescope, a standards-based, interactive, online curriculum module for middle school students that presents lessons on the scientific and social impact of the Hubble Space Telescope. Throughout this module, students will explore the historical, scientific, and technological issues involved in space exploration; learn about the trade-offs society faces in making policy decisions about the continuation of manned vs. unmanned missions; and gain insight into the work of the scientists, astronauts, engineers, and administrators involved in the Hubble Space Telescope. The Story of Hubble will be presented in four online, interactive, story-based lessons to be used by middle school students individually or in groups, with each lesson offering 30-45 minutes of instructional time. The lessons will include links to STScI’s Amazing Space and NASA’s Hubblesite websites in order to extend The Story of Hubble to other online resources for learning and it will incorporate resources from local Chicago museums.
Introducing 3-D Visualization of Hubble
Space Telescope Data to Rural Pennsylvania
PI: Caryl Gronwall, Pennsylvania State University
CoI: Christopher Palma, Pennsylvania State University
Outreach
Budget: $40,000
We propose to add innovative new shows to the informal science education and outreach programs of the Pennsylvania State University Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics. Using a modern 3-D Display Wall, we will use 3-D visualization software to present data from our two parent HST Cycle 13 science program on deep imaging of galaxies in the GOODS field and observations of intracluster stars in the Virgo Cluster. The visualizations will be supplemented with computer simulations of interacting galaxies (a potential origin for intracluster stars) and with 3-D fly-throughs of the Solar System and the Milky Way galaxy. These new shows will be added into several program in place at Penn State, including a K-12 class field trip program, In-Service workshops for middle and high school science teachers, a four-night community outreach event called “Astro Fest”, a summer day and resident camp program, and during Space Day 2005. The secondary goal of this program is to increase the participation in all of these programs by students, teachers, and community members in nearby, rural Pennsylvania communities that do not normally participate in Penn State science outreach programs.
Mystery of the Nebulae
PI: Matthew Bobrowsky, Space Telescope Science Institute
CoI: Mary Radnofsky, The Socrates Institute
Curriculum Development
Budget: $18,674
"Mystery of the Nebulae" is a Web-based, interactive curriculum targeted to 9th-12th graders that will consist of inquiry-driven materials that have students using HST data and images to explore possible explanations for the observed shapes of planetary nebulae. The activity will be provided on the Web so as to reach a potential audience of 15 million American high school students online. The activity itself will be made available for free on the Internet and demonstrated at national science teacher conferences, through the SSERD, and a K-12 online resource center. “Mystery” will address National Science Education Standards, especially D, D4, and A5, where students are required to understand origins, stars, long-time scales, how to use observational data, reasoning, and models, and how to analyze different potential explanations of phenomena. Students will gain insight into a scientist’s way of thinking as they work their way through an actual investigation, studying archived images, suggesting models to help understanding the images, and even using new (i.e. recently released to the public) HST data. The activity will guide students by helping them ask reasonable questions, but will leave them to make their own choices as to the direction of the research. In this way, the students will come up with unique analyses each time they try to solve the mystery, with all the real-life advantages of having made errors – and learned from them – on previous attempts. The program will be evaluated with both process and outcome assessments to ensure its effectiveness and dissemination.
Inquiry-Based Learning Using Comet Research
Projects
PI: Karen Meech, University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy
CoI: Mary Ann Kadooka, University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy
Training/Workshop
Budget: $40,000
We propose to conduct four mini-workshops for 80 Hawaii secondary science teachers on the four major islands, Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the island of Hawaii in the spring of 2005. These workshops will be designed to involve them in the research in preparation for the Deep Impact mission. Starting in October 2004, the 2.0 m Faulkes Telescope located on Haleakala, Maui, will be available to Hawaii’s students for obtaining images of Comet Tempel 1. This is the perfect opportunity for teachers and students to learn abut the comet dust, coma, and jets, as well as track its orbit until impact. The Deep Impact Small Telescope Science Program (STSP) will be used as the guide for suggested class and student projects related to the HST research project. The program will then conduct another summer workshop for those teachers who were actively involved with the STSP program as a result of the mini-workshops. This workshop will allow teachers to operate the Faulkes Telescope before, during and after the impact of Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, culminating in in-depth analysis of comet images resulting in authentic research. The outcome of these workshops will be student research projects being entered in Science Fairs in 2006.
Digital Imaging Experiments For Secondary
Science
PI: Henry Kobulnicky, University of Wyoming
CoI: Matthew Bryant, Archbishop Hoban High School
Outreach
Budget: $11,611
The team proposes to develop educational digital imaging activities using off-the-shelf digital cameras and image editing software for use at Wyoming Astro Camp and in secondary science classrooms. Imaging of terrestrial and astronomical objects through color filters will be conducted and students will then split and combine various images to make color pictures of the objects. By doing so, students will learn about how the eye perceives color, how an object’s temperature determines its color, how astronomers use specific wavelengths to obtain information about the objects in the universe, and how star color helps astronomers identify star type and temperature. After having experienced this, students will test their understanding by color combining pre-processed HST images of the program’s science target, Westerlund 2, to determine the relative temperature and stellar classification of stars.
Hubble's Universe of Galaxies: A New Planetarium
Show
PI: Michael Corbin, Arizona State University
CoI: Christine Shupla, Arizona Science Center
Outreach
Budget: $36,000.00
One of the Hubble Space Telescope's greatest achievements has been its sharp images of galaxies in the nearby and distant universe. Such images have significantly advanced our understanding of how galaxies form and evolve. We propose to use data from our HST Cycle 13 programs and the resources fo the Arizona Science Center to develop a professional-grade planetarium show on the subject of galaxy formation and evolution, and why HST has played, and continues to play, such a crucial role in the study of galaxies. The show will include figures and animations showing the difference between ground-based and HST images, and what deep HST images such as the Hubble Ultra Deep Field have revealed about galaxies in the distant, hence young, universe. The show will also present animations of simulations of galaxy collisions, showing their correspondence to many distant galaxies. Finally, the show will address the possibility that galaxies are still forming at the present epoch, by presenting new HST images of candidates for forming dwarf galaxies. The show will be made available for distribution nationally and internationally to all planetariums that are equipped to show it, and should provide a clear demonstration of the potential for important discoveries from space-based telescopes.
Galaxy Cluster Discoveries in a Laboratory
for Large, Undergraduate Classes
PI: Megan Donahue, Michigan State University
CoI: David Batch, Abrams Planetarium
Training/Workshop
Budget: $20,000
We propose to develop an inquiry-based undergraduate laboratory module for a large group astronomy class. The focus of the laboratory will be the galaxy contents of clusters of galaxies. The students will be asked to classify galaxies inside and outside cluster environments, note trends, propose hypotheses, and conduct tests for those hypotheses. The image content will come from HST ACS and WFPC2. The program will develop and evaluate the module for about 700 MSU undergraduates and for teach workshop events.
The Life Cycle of Stars and Planets: Connecting
Students and the Public to Science through HST
PI: Keivan Stassun, Vanderbilt University and Fisk University
CoI: Sue McPherson, Hendersonville High School
Training/Workshop
Budget: $43,045
The magnificence and mystery of the heavens are a natural magnet for both children and adults. This interest in astronomy can be a special connecting point to link the public to multiple disciplines of science. The program will combine HST research on the Orion Nebula Cluster with a special astronomical facility, the Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory, to connect astronomy to teachers, students, and the public. The program continues and refines a successful activity begun under an HST Cycle 12 EPO grant that includes teacher workshops and space exploration camps for students. Utilizing input from a teacher advisory group that is linked directly to underserved students, the program approach will develop new curriculum for middle and high school science classes that support and supplement the basic materials which address the national, state, and local science standards. The new curriculum will be tested in teacher workshops and summer camps at the Dyer Observatory as a way to fine-tune and implant HST results into middle Tennessee classrooms. The curriculum will be inquiry-based and will utilize hands-on interactive activities created at the observatory including the building of realistic mock-ups of space-borne telescopes. The program will form a set of interest in astronomy and to build a longer term student involvement through observing opportunities at Dyer and participation in a new Corps of Explorers science group. In addition, exciting new HST results will be presented by the Principal Investigator at public nights held regularly at the Dyer Observatory.
Black Hole Web site for Teachers, Students,
and the Public
PI: Karl Gebhardt, The University of Texas at Austin
CoI: Sandra Preston, The University of Texas at Austin
Multimedia Development
Budget: $19,892
HST research continues to excite the public; it is one of the best mechanisms to reach them and teach them about astronomy. This program intends to produce a website on black holes that includes an online activity exploring the Principal Investigator’s research. The online activity will be aligned with national and state standards for science education. The black hole website will be offered in both English and Spanish and will be located at StarDate Online and Universo Online web sites in order to take advantage of the over 50,000 visitors a week visiting those sites. It will also be available at the University of Texas at Austin’s UTOPIA website and at the Houston Museum of Natural Science website. Online evaluation will refine the project and help us understand what other information the public wants.
Many Faces of the Hubble Telescope / Las
Muchas Caras del Telescopio Hubble
PI: John Bally, University of Colorado
CoI: Francisco Salas, Fiske Planetarium
Multimedia Development
Budget: $40,000
The program will consisting of a Planetarium show, teacher workshops and student activities that explain how astronomy is done with the Hubble Telescope. The program will put an inviting face on science by highlighting (mostly) Colorado astronomers and engineers, and involving viewers with a new interactive audience-response system. The audience includes the wide range of students who attend Fiske Planetarium, including many Hispanic elementary school students, K-12 students, and college students, as well as members of the public. The planetarium show and some materials for the teachers and students will be translated into Spanish. The program will then be distributed to hundreds of planetariums through a working relationship established with the International Planetarium Society.
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