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Other EPO programs using real data
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Education & Outreach
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Susan Kelly
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Bridgewater, CT
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March - December 2011
Susan Kelly will present activities to support understanding about
multi-wavelength observing and awareness of NASA resources.
The activities will be presented at the following venues:
- Cool Astronomy with NASA, Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii, March16, 2011
- NASA Afterschool Universe, Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii, March 17-18 2011
- Tools for Investigating NASA Data Sets, New York Academy of Sciences, New
York, New York, May 22, 2011
- Student Analysis of NASA Images via Free/Open Source Resources,
International Society for Technology in Education Conference,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
June 27, 2011
- Student Analysis of NASA Images via Free/Open Source Resources,
National Science Teachers Association Area Conference,
Hartford, Connecticut, October 28, 2011
- Student Analysis of NASA Images via Free/Open Source Resources,
National Science Teachers Association Area Conference,
New Orleans, Louisiana, November 11, 2011
- Watch Out for Asteroids!,
National Science Teachers Association Area Conference,
Seattle, Washington, December 9, 2011
April 2010 - March 2011
Susan Kelly's students presented their experiences as participants in the
Spitzer Space Telescope Research Program for Teachers and Students at the
Summer AAS meeting in Miami. Their poster was entitled Spitzer/WISE Research
program for Teachers and Students: Student Perspective of a Multi-wavelength
Observing Campaign. The students were interviewed by several local
newspaper reporters about their participation in the conference and
research program.
This summer Ms. Kelly's research students participated in an international
campaign to analyze data from the Wide-Field Infrared Survey (WISE).
The goal of this program is for students to confirm and identify new
asteroids in the WISE images.
In order to share infrared astronomy education and research resources,
Ms. Kelly will present at the following professional development workshops:
- Cool Astronomy with NASA,
Teacher Workshop (full-day),
American Museum of Natural History,
New York, New York,
November 20, 2010
- Cool Astronomy with NASA, Teacher Workshop (half-day),
American Association of Physics Teachers, Jacksonville, Florida,
January 9, 2011
- Asteroid Research with NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Explorer,
National Science Teachers Association Conference, San Francisco,
California, March 11, 2011
June 2009 - March 2010
Ms. Kelly presented activities to support understanding about infrared
light, as well as the value of astronomical data from space-based infrared
telescopes. The activities were presented at the following venues during
the winter of 2010:
"Seeing" the Light: Using Ground and Space-based Telescope Data to
Support Understanding of the Electromagnetic Spectrum
American Association of Physics Teachers Conference
Washington, D.C.
February 16, 2010
"Seeing" the Infrared Light: Classroom Activities and Research Applications
WISE Teacher Workshop
American Museum of Natural History
New York, New York
February 21, 2010
"Seeing" the Light: Using Ground and Space-based Telescope Data to Support
Understanding of the Electromagnetic Spectrum
National Science Teachers Association Conference
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
March 19, 2010
October 2008 - May 2009
Susan Kelly's students redid the photometry of the red filter data using the new protocol and updated software. They shared their efforts with the team.
Ms. Kelly presented the value of space-based infrared astronomy at several venues during the past academic year:
"Seeing" the Infrared Light: Classroom Activities and Research Applications
Connecticut Science Teachers Association Conference New Britain, Connecticut
October 25, 2008
Hartford, Connecticut
(25 audience members)
Eclipsing Binary Light Curves: A Sequence of Activities to Support Secondary Student
Research
American Astronomical Society Meeting
January 7, 2009
Long Beach, California
(2,673 registrants)
"Seeing" the Light: Using Visible and Infrared Data to Support Secondary Student
Understanding of Light
National Science Teachers Association Conference
New Orleans, Louisiana
March 22, 2009
(30 audience members)
Future plans:
Ms. Kelly looks forward to presenting a hands-on workshop on infrared astronomy with Spitzer colleague Chris Martin at the 2010 NSTA conference in Philadelphia.
Ms. Kelly has been thrilled to have been assigned to develop a new course to support freshman student research at Blind Brook High School. She is eager to apply her experiences in the Spitzer Space Telescope Research Program for Teachers and Students.
July-September 2008
Susan Kelly and her students attended the analysis meeting at the Spitzer Science Center in Pasadena in mid-August. Varoujan Gorjian, the lead astronomer for the team, presented a comprehensive review of the project. Students and teachers were presented with a disk containing the team's NGC 4051 visible and infrared light data. Instruction on Aperture Photometry Tool, a software program designed by a member of the Spitzer Science Center, was presented. This software was designed to support student analysis of the visible and infrared data.
Varoujan Gorjian also led a tour of the Jet Propulsion Lab. During this time students and teachers leaned about the history of the facility as well as current projects. One of the highlights of the tour included a trip to the "Mars Yard" where the function of the Mars Rover is tested.
Susan Kelly and her students left the August meeting well-prepared to continue the research project and her
students returned from Pasadena with increased interest to pursue astronomy research.
They have continued their work on the project during an after school astronomy research program and
secondary school students from the surrounding community have joined this effort.
Ms. Kelly's students have been working together on the analysis of the data.
The students will share their findings with other team members via web
conferences.
Ms. Kelly gained access to software that will support analysis of archived data obtained from the Spitzer Space Telescope.
She is developing a sequence of activities and demonstrations which will support the 7-12 use of archived Spitzer Space Telescope data.
Presentations:
"Seeing" the Infrared Light: Classroom Activities and Research Applications
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Conference
July 22, 2008
Hartford, Connecticut
(20 audience members)
Future Plans:
Ms. Kelly will present a hands-on workshop entitled "Seeing" the Infrared Light: Classroom Activities and Research Applications on October 27th at the annual Connecticut Science Teachers' Association conference.
January-June 2008
In May, Ms. Kelly's team (Spitzer/WISE) received word that a proposal to study the dust distribution of the accretion disk of NGC 4051 had been approved by the director. The primary investigator, Varoujan Gorjian, arranged a teleconference at the end of May. During this time the details of the project were presented and discussed. It was noted that collecting visible light data around the scheduled Spitzer time (June 10-21) would be valuable. The team members presented the idea of using the remote-access telescopes at New Mexico Skies Observatory. A protocol for collecting visible light data via NMSO was subsequently made and reviewed by Varoujan Gorjian. Team members and their students took turns collecting visible light data between May 25-June 21, 2008. Ms. Kelly and her students collected data for three days as part of this effort.
Having experienced poor weather/seeing conditions at NMSO, she foresaw the benefit of securing other resources for collecting daily visible light data. Ms. Kelly successfully obtained the help of the following observatories:
J.J. McCarthy Observatory, New Milford, CT (Monty Robson)
Grainger Observatory, Exeter, NH (John Blackwell)
Faulkes Telescope Project, Maui, Hawaii (Paul Roche)
Slooh , Mount Teide, Canary Islands (Tierney O'Dea)
Besides collecting visible light data in preparation for their analysis meeting in August at JPL, Ms. Kelly created a web site with links to support the development of her students' knowledge of AGN-related topics. She will change the content of the online tutorials each week. In addition, Ms. Kelly will meet with her students in person this summer in order to review photometry/light curves.
Although the benefit of space-based observing had been a strong undercurrent in Invisible Universe online course Ms. Kelly had taken last year, it really hit home during the many nights of poor weather/seeing at various observing sites.
Ms. Kelly gained information about previously known, but never accessed, resources (such as Faulkes Telescope).
The Spitzer Space Telescope Research Program for Teachers and Students has provided Ms. Kelly with the opportunity to expand her research program to include multi-wavelength astronomy.
Ms. Kelly's students are very excited to be part of this program. They are highly motivated to pursue the research - even if it means staying up in the middle of the night to collect data from NMSO!
The students are preparing to meet with the team to analyze the data.
Future Plans:
Ms. Kelly's students will submit science fair projects related to the Spitzer Space Telescope proposal.
She will be presenting a one hour workshop for teachers at the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics conference in Hartford on July 22nd. The workshop is entitled: "Seeing" the Infrared Light: Classroom Activities and Research Applications. The main focus of the workshop is infrared light and infrared research.
She will be presenting a one hour hands-on program about infrared light at the J.J. McCarthy Observatory in Connecticut. These programs are well-attended by community members and amateur astronomers alike.
Ms. Kelly and her students will conduct a radio broadcast of their experience via Slooh press contacts this fall.
The community is eager to hear about the students' experience. It has helped her garner increased interest in expanding the research program.
Presentations:
NSTA National Conference, Boston
March 31, 2008
Association for Astronomy Education: What's Up? Workshop
"Seeing" the Infrared Light: Classroom Activities and Research Applications
30 audience members
Link: http://www.astroed.org/
Jeff Adkins
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John Blackwell
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Jacqueline Barge
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Christopher Border
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Kareen Borders
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Robert Bonadurer
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Merrill Butler
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Lauren Chapple
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Joseph Childers
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Howard Chun
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Wendy Curtis
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Richard DeCoster
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Stacy DeVeau
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Harlan Devore
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Cris DeWolf
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Velvet Dowdy
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Thomas Doyle
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Dean Drumheller
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Debbie Edwards
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Mike Ford
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Debbie French
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John Gibbs
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Peter Guastella
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Rosa Hemphill
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Ardis Herrold
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Vivian Hoette
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Chelen Johnson
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Virginia Jones
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Adam Keeton
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Susan Kelly
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Marcella Linahan
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Thomas Loughran
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Carolyn Mallory
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Anthony Maranto
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Christoper Martin
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Kevin McCarron
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Matthew McCutcheon
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David McDonald
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Shefali Mehta
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Cindy Melton
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Kate Meredith
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Lauren Novatne
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Kathryn O'Connor
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Caroline Odden
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Jeffrey Paradis
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Vincent Pereira
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Helen Petach
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Peggy Piper
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Peter Pitman
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Elizabeth Ramseyer
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Steve Rapp
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Theresa Roelofsen Moody
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Denise Rothrock
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Diane Sartore
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John Schaefers
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Sally Seebode
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Babs Sepulveda
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Timothy Spuck
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Darryl Stanford
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Linda Stefaniak
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Dwight Taylor
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Jennifer Tetler
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Beth Thomas
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Cynthia Weehler
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Lynne Zielinski
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