THE WILDERNESS OF ROCKS – ASTEROID SCIENCE IN MIDDLE SCHOOL

We are introducing a new teacher professional development project as part of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory's effort to get authentic research into the classroom, and in support of the educational outreach program for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope currently under development. As part of the project, middle school students will be using remote-controlled telescopes to make their own observations using visible & near infrared color photometry to characterize Near Earth Objects, newly discovered asteroids, and other interesting objects of known orbits (e.g., Vesta and Ceres). We will use asteroid science to teach elements of earth science, including the nature, development, and relations between terrestrial rocks, meteorites, and asteroid types; earth processes and origins of rock types, formation of the Earth, Moon, and solar system, the nature and possible use of near earth resources, and, of course, the connection between asteroid impacts and life on earth.

Teachers will be trained using with modular classroom support materials and activities designed to be flexible in student learning objectives and classroom time commitment (one day, one week, or longer). Support materials will provide Earth and asteroid science content, describe observing techniques, provide lists of objects to be observed, introduce detectors and standardized filters, and tie asteroid science and processes to state and national Earth Science Standards.

During the pilot stage, teachers are trained in small workshops with the objective of modifying the materials for effective online self-training; the project will provide observing time and help-line trouble-shooting. In this way we hope to reach many hundreds of earth science teachers nationwide.