HR: 0800h
AN: ED41B-0256    [Abstracts]
TI: Sun-Earth Day: Growth and Impact of NASA E/PO Program
AU: * Hawkins, I
EM: isabelh@ssl.berkeley.edu
AF: UC Berkeley, Space Sciences Laboratory MC 7450 7 Gauss Way, Berkeley, CA 94720 United States
AU: Thieman, J
EM: thieman@nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov
AF: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, NSSDC/ World Data Center Building 26, Room 110 Mailstop 633.0, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AB: Over the past six years, the NASA Sun-Earth Connection Education Forum has sponsored and coordinated education public outreach events to highlight NASA Sun-Earth Connection research and discoveries. Our strategy involves using celestial phenomena, such as total solar eclipses and the Transit of Venus to celebrate Sun-Earth Day, a popular Education and Public Outreach international program. Sun-Earth Day also focuses attention on Equinoxes and Solstices to engage K-12 schools and the general public in space science activities, demonstrations, and interactions with space scientists. In collaboration with partners that include the Exploratorium, Maryland Science Center, NASA Connect, Sun-Earth Connection missions, Ideum, and others, we produce webcasts, other multi-media, and print resources for use by school and informal educators nation-wide. We provide training and professional development to K-12 educators, museum personnel, amateur astronomers, Girl Scout leaders, etc., so they can implement their own outreach programs taking advantage of our resources. A coordinated approach promotes multiple programs occurring each year under a common theme. We will report lessons learned from several years of experience, and strategies for growth and sustainability. We will also share our plans for "Ancient Observatories - Timeless Knowledge" our theme for Sun-Earth Day 2005, which will feature solar alignments at ancient sites that mark the equinoxes and/or solstices. The video and webcast programming will feature several sites including: Chaco Canyon (New Mexico), Hovenweep (Utah), and Chichen Itza (Mexico). Many of these sites present unique opportunities to develop authentic cultural connections to Native Americans, highlighting the importance of the Sun across the ages.
UR: http://sunearthday.nasa.gov
DE: 0800 EDUCATION
DE: 0815 Informal education
SC: Education and Human Resourcese [ED]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting