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Project AstroData: Value-Added Educational Tutorials for HST Data at NSSDC’s Astronomical Data Center
By Kirk Borne and Beth Brown
As part of a NASA-funded Hubble Space Telescope (HST) research project, staff at the Astronomical Data Center (ADC) received an augmentation grant to support Education and Public Outreach (E&PO) activities. To carry out this project, the E&PO team Principal Investigator, Kirk Borne, is collaborating with NSSDC scientist Dr. Beth Brown, with ADC staff members Jim Gass and Jim Blackwell, as well as with several external collaborators (Sue Higley, summer teacher at NSSDC; Dr. David Patton of Trent University; plus two other educators).The goal of the project, dubbed Project AstroData, is to develop a pilot series of on-line science education tutorials and exercises for K-12 students. These products are intended to demonstrate the connections between new HST observations and existing astronomical data that students can easily access. Some of the student lessons focus specifically on the subject of the parent HST observing program: a study of colliding and merging galaxies within the context of an evolving universe. The connections between new data and previously catalogued astronomical data will show the students how new scientific results can be derived and how new research programs can be created for future missions of astronomical discovery.
The project’s educational resources are universally available on-line via the WWW on the new Project AstroData Web site. These resources include the Project AstroData activities, lesson plans, HST images, and related tutorials. There are tutorials explaining the Astronomical Data Center archive and astronomical tabular data catalogs. There is an image collection showing some of the finest HST images of colliding galaxies. There is a large list of related links that connect to other sites that illustrate the science of colliding galaxies. There is a tutorial and set of links describing the HST itself. Finally, of course, there are lesson plans and class exercises. There are specific lesson plans for various grade levels and separately for math and astronomy/science. A comprehensive compilation of external links are provided to educators, including more lesson plans, national and state education standards, and topics in assessment and evaluation. The lesson plans that we have developed address very specific national and state standards. In addition to the formal lesson plans, there are four “missions” for the students to carry out. These Web-based activities are geared toward classroom participation in groups, though they can be assigned on an individual student basis as well. An innovative and comprehensive graphical interface to several on-line astronomical glossaries and dictionaries is provided. If you have any questions or need additional information regarding this project, then check out the Project AstroData Web site at http://adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/adc/education/astrodata/ or contact the author by e-mail at Kirk.Borne@gsfc.nasa.gov.