Fall 2011
Ms. Borders will be attending the International Astronautical
Conference (IAC) in Cape Town, South Africa this fall. Both focus on
work she did through Spitzer and WISE teacher programs.
Ms.
Borders is a 2011 Classroom Fellow for the US Department of
Education.
January 2011
September, 2010: Panelist at NASA Stakeholders' Meeting in Chantilly, Virginia.
My topic was STEM education and I focused on three areas: authentic student and
teacher research experiences (Spitzer, WISE); accomplished teaching (i.e. National
Board); and community, parent, business, and policy partnerships.
October, 2010: Two students were selected to attend the STS-133 launch in Cape
Canaveral. They spent five days in Orlando, networking with other schools,
engaging in educational activities, and touring Kennedy Space Center.
Unfortunately, safety and weather concerns delayed the launch each day. The
students returned home with improved leadership skills and greater scientific
understandings, but without viewing the launch.
October, 2010: We held a family science night that featured chemistry and
astronomy. Specifically, families learned about the hallmarks of chemical
reactions and how astronomers analyze light to determine the elemental makeup of
stars.
December, 2010: Kareen Borders was selected as the 2009 Washington State
Presidential Awardee for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching. She attended an
awards week from in December that included conversations at NSF, discussions with
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, professional development activities, and
meetings with White House STEM policy advisors. The week also included a brief
meeting with President Obama--definitely a highlight. While in Washington D.C.,
Kareen talked specifically with NSF, White House policy advisors, and Department of
Education advisors about the importance of teacher and student research programs
such as Spitzer. In particular, she emphasized the greater impact that sustained,
on-going programs have over shorter, isolated workshops. [Ed note:
way to go, Kareen!!!!!!]
August 2010
July, 2009: My team trained 25 teachers from Puerto Rico at Arecibo
Observatory in the use of infrared astronomy in their classrooms.
April, 2010: Six students presented a research project, "Mars
Landers" and another "Lunar Waste Water Recycling" at Ames Research
Center. Although this was not infrared astronomy, the
idea of student research came directly out of my Spitzer
experience.
May, 2010: Several students presented a research project, "Lunar
Waste Water Recycling" at Kennedy Space Center. Several NASA pages
carry coverage of this. (see
here
and here.)
Although this was not infrared astronomy, the
idea of student research came directly out of my Spitzer
experience.
July, 2010: Presented abstract at Committee on Space Research
(COSPAR) in Bremen, Germany. "Infrared Astronomy: Linking K-12
Education and Whole-Sky Infrared Mapping" (link)
July, 2010: I trained teachers, docents, and the Director of
Education at the Pacific Aviation Museum on the use of infrared
astronomy in K-12 classrooms.
September 2010: I will be a panelist at the September 13 NASA
Stakeholder Meeting in Washington, D.C.
February 2010
1. I presented a poster at the
January AAS meeting focusing on Infrared Astronomy
and Teacher Professional Development for WISE.
2. My students have become passionately interested in astronomy and aerospace
research. Although not directly related to Spitzer, but more as a result of being
inspired in math and science due to Spitzer, my students designed an investigation
to be flown on a sounding rocket out of White Sands. Their proposal was accepted!
We were one of the few middle schools. Six students traveled to White Sands last May
and launched the experiment. They analyzed the results and presented their
findings at our NASA kick-off event in Sept 2009.
3. Dr. Michelle Thaller conducted an Infrared Astronomy Community lecture last year
with over 300 attendees.
4. I led my NASA team of teachers (four of us) in developing and presenting an
infrared astronomy workshop at Arecibo Observatory in July 2009. 25 teachers from
Puerto Rico participated in the full day workshop. A University of Puerto Rico
physics professor also brought five of his pre-service teachers. I sent the
evaluations to Darlene Yen with WISE.
January-April 2009
Kareen Borders continues to integrate Infrared Astronomy into her science classes.
In addition, Key Peninsula Middle School featured an Astronomy Family and Community
night on May 6, 2009. Over 200 people enjoyed dinner, guest astronomers, planetary
and astronomy activities. This spring and early summer, Kareen's class will partner
with a neighboring elementary school in pursuit of infrared and Spitzer astronomy
based learning.
October-December 2008
Kareen Borders and her middle school students are engaged in learning about AGN.
Her students will be analyzing data and preparing to present at next year's AAS
meeting.
Kareen led a district-wide in-service for K-8 teachers in January. She focused on
scientific research, alignment of curriculum with national standards, and strategies
for motivating students to engage in astronomical research. Many of the Spitzer and
WISE resources were used during this workshop.
Kareen also developed and led a NASA Celebration on December 2, 2009. This event
was attended by 500+ students and staff as well as over 100 invited VIP guests. Dr.
Michelle Thaller was the keynote speaker and kept students and adults enthralled
with new discoveries of Spitzer. In addition, Kareen arranged for Dr. Thaller to
give an all-school assembly at neighboring middle school. Finally, Kareen also
partnered with Galaxy Theatres in Gig Harbor to offer a free community lecture in
the evening that featured Dr. Thaller. The theatre was full to capacity as
attendees from the region learned about the discoveries of Spitzer.
In addition, Kareen's school will be participating in a downlink with the
International Space Station on January 21, 2009. We are expecting over 1000
attendees. Our partnership with Spitzer will be highlighted during this event.
July-September 2008
Ms. Borders attended the four day workshop at the SSC and worked with Varoujan Gorjianand the rest of the Spitzer/WISE group.
Her students will work with the data this semester. She will also be facilitating district-wide science workshops and will be
including Spitzer related lessons and resources. The first workshop will be this fall.
January-June 2008
Ms. Borders participated in the Spitzer Teachers' Program Orientation in Austin, Texas in
January, 2008. In addition, she attended the AAS meeting in Austin.
She also led an Astronomy workshop that was largely supported and connected to the Spitzer
program.
Ms. Borders teaches middle school science and a middle school Astronomy &
Aerospace course. She used Spitzer resources when teaching the electromagnetic
spectrum. These lessons involved "listening to light" and infrared technology. In
addition, the local fire department brought in an infrared camera to demonstrate.
Her students also conducted investigations using Spitzer provided infrared
thermometers.
In addition, they studied the Spitzer Space Telescope and discoveries during the
Astronomy portion of science.
Ms. Borders' students have a much better understanding of the
electromagnetic spectrum after engaging in Spitzer activities. In addition, they
are very interested in far-away objects and their evolution and composition.
Ms. Borders will be traveling to the SSC in August to analyze data from her team's
observing run. After that, she will involve Astronomy students in analyzing the data
and synthesizing conclusions based on the data. These students will present their
findings at a future AAS meeting.
The Spitzer program has benn tremendously
beneficial for Ms. Borders' school and district. She (along with four colleagues) led an
Astronomy professional development workshop for district and out-of-district
teachers. Twenty two teachers participated in an all-day Saturday workshop. The
evaluations were very high and these teachers are now using Spitzer educational
activities in their classrooms. The American Institute of Aeronautics and
Astronautics (AIAA) carried an article about this workshop:
http://www.pnwaiaa.org/content/PDF/Apr08.pdf
In addition, her school was recently the national winner of the Intel Schools of
Distinction Middle School Science Award. Their Spitzer connection supported Intel's
selection of Key Peninsula Middle School.
Jeff Adkins
|
John Blackwell
|
Jacqueline Barge
|
Christopher Border
|
Kareen Borders
|
Robert Bonadurer
|
Merrill Butler
|
Lauren Chapple
|
Joseph Childers
|
Howard Chun
|
Wendy Curtis
|
Richard DeCoster
|
Stacy DeVeau
|
Harlan Devore
|
Cris DeWolf
|
Velvet Dowdy
|
Thomas Doyle
|
Dean Drumheller
|
Debbie Edwards
|
Mike Ford
|
Debbie French
|
John Gibbs
|
Peter Guastella
|
Rosa Hemphill
|
Ardis Herrold
|
Vivian Hoette
|
Chelen Johnson
|
Virginia Jones
|
Adam Keeton
|
Susan Kelly
|
Marcella Linahan
|
Thomas Loughran
|
Carolyn Mallory
|
Anthony Maranto
|
Christoper Martin
|
Kevin McCarron
|
Matthew McCutcheon
|
David McDonald
|
Shefali Mehta
|
Cindy Melton
|
Kate Meredith
|
Lauren Novatne
|
Kathryn O'Connor
|
Caroline Odden
|
Jeffrey Paradis
|
Vincent Pereira
|
Helen Petach
|
Peggy Piper
|
Peter Pitman
|
Elizabeth Ramseyer
|
Steve Rapp
|
Theresa Roelofsen Moody
|
Denise Rothrock
|
Diane Sartore
|
John Schaefers
|
Sally Seebode
|
Babs Sepulveda
|
Timothy Spuck
|
Darryl Stanford
|
Linda Stefaniak
|
Dwight Taylor
|
Jennifer Tetler
|
Beth Thomas
|
Cynthia Weehler
|
Lynne Zielinski
