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SHARING NASA 101:
Biographies and Field Journals (Dec. 4, 1997)
Oran Cox's & Sandy Dueck's Slides
Slide 1
Biographies:
- provide kids with personal introductions to the people at NASA
- humorous, insightful, well-written (by the experts themselves!)
Slide 2
Field journals:
- provide opportunities to learn about daily activities/dynamic careers
of NASA people
- provide "snapshots" of NASA people's "daily lives" at work
Slide 3
Examples of Live From Mars biographies
(http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/team/index.html):
- Bridget Landry, deputy uplink systems engineer, Pathfinder
- Robert Manning, flight system chief engineer, Pathfinder
- Mike Malin, camera systems principal investigator, Global Surveyor
- Mary Urquhart, grad student and research assistant, Mars missions
Slide 4
Examples of Space Team Online field journals (http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/shuttle/team/journals/index.html):
- "Sunrise Landing (Part I and II)," Glen Davis, mechanical technician--shuttle
systems, NASA Kennedy Space Center; October 6, 1997.
- "I'll Miss Training the Astronauts," Jenny Gruber, co-op student,
NASA Johnson Space Center; July 23, 1997.
Slide 5
Examples of personal information shared in biographies:
- What I do
- My career journey
- Likes/dislikes about my career
- When I was a kid
- People who influenced me
- Advice
- Personal
Slide 6
Examples of questions asked for field journals:
- Describe a typical day at work.
- What are some (of your) current projects you are involved in?
- What was travelling to another (city/state/country) like?
- What is working with people from another (city/state/country) like?
- What is working with astronauts, members of the "Mars Team," etc.
like?
Marilyn Kennedy's Slides
Slide 1
Up Close and Personal
- Students get to identify with the scientists involved in the projects
- Personalities of the Scientists start coming out
- Students start identifying with different personality characteristics
Slide 2
During LFM
- Students wanted to know more about Donna Shirley, Matt Golombek,
and Tony Spear
- They wanted to know how they got to be in their jobs
- Biographies and field journals were pivotal in personalizing the
Mars exploration
Slide 3
Scientists as Real People
- Students fascinated to find out that scientists are real people
- Scientists don't just work all of the time
- The have hobbies like photography and skiing
- They get married
- They have children
- They own pets!
- Scientists sometimes struggled in school with math and writing
- Scientists still struggle during investigations and often get very
tired when working in the field
Slide 4
Changing Attitudes Toward Science
- No longer were scientists...
- Nerds dressed in white lab coats,
- With beakers, test tubes and doing weird experiments
- Bios and journals give an inside look at how and where scientists
really work...
- In space,
- In Antarctica,
- On the ocean floor,
- Scientists are also very excited about their work!
Slide 5
New Horizons in Students' Future
- Bios and field journals show students that anything is possible if
they have a goal and are willing to work towards it
- This message opens new doors to my rural students:
"No longer do my rural students have to think of their future to careers
within the limits of their geographical boundaries- as just being
a truck driver or a grocery store clerk... or a poultry plant worker-
these journals offer my students a glimpse of a future where they
could part of that first human mission to mars."
Slide 6
Integration Across the Curriculum
- So many of the Quest Project activities allow for easy integration
across the curriculum
- Important with overloaded curriculum and demands on time
- Bios and field journals are a great example of tools that allow
for integration into the curriculum
- They are supplementary reading materials
- Start the year rewriting the bios and field journals, so 4th grade
students can understand them
- Soon students want to read the original bios: "want it from the horse's
mouth."
- Students were striving up to a higher level
- Reflected in students' test scores
- Science is encouraging students to ask questions, do research,
and communicate
Slide 7
Involving Parents
- Students write reactions to the bios and field journals
- Make comparisons between their life and the scientists' life
- Students take the materials home and share their parents' reactions
- Students write about their parents thoughts and reactions
Slide 8
Conclusion
- Bios and field journals - more than just a good read
- Scientists are able to communicate with students about the excitement
of real world science
- Provide role models for students, giving them a glimpse into the
career of a scientist
Slide 9
Some of Marilyn's favorite links:
Slide 10
Some great photos of Marilyn's students in action:
(Click on the image for a larger version.)
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