[NMScience] FW: NASA mission educator fellowship opportunity

[Daniel, Maryjo, PED]

FYI for Space Cadets!

Mary Jo

Mary Jo Daniel, Ph.D.
Science Specialist
Math and Science Bureau
New Mexico Public Education Department
300 Don Gaspar
Santa Fe, NM  87501
Phone:  (505) 476-1882
Fax:  (505) 827-1784

-----Original Message-----
From: MESSENGER AO [mailto:messenger at usra.edu] 
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 3:11 PM
To: Daniel, Maryjo, PED
Subject: NASA mission educator fellowship opportunity


Dear Colleague,

Attached please find the Announcement of Opportunity to become a
MESSENGER
Educator Fellow. MESSENGER is a NASA Discovery mission that was launched
in
2004.  In January 2008, MESSENGER became only the second spacecraft ever
to
fly by Mercury, and the first to take pictures of the previously unseen
side
of the planet.  After two more flybys, MESSENGER will go into orbit
around
Mercury in 2011 to begin a year-long, comprehensive study of the planet.

We are recruiting 30 practicing teachers or teacher trainers to become
the
next cadre of MESSENGER Educator Fellows. These Fellows help bring the
excitement of this challenging mission to classrooms nationwide by
training
teachers on the Solar System-focused education materials written in
support
of the mission. The Fellowship includes an all-expense paid five-day
training workshop in Washington, DC, in June 20088.

We would like to request you to pass on this Announcement of Opportunity
to
appropriate candidates in your organization, in your mailing lists, as
well
as any other interested parties of which you might be aware. This is a
national Announcement of Opportunity, and we wish the word to reach as
wide
an audience as possible to help make the candidate pool, and, therefore,
the
next cadre of Fellows, as strong as possible. Applications are due April
18,
2008.

Please do not hesitate to contact me at if you have any questions about
this
Announcement.  I would also greatly appreciate it if you could let me
know
if (and how) you intend to distribute this Announcement.

I shall send two copies of this email - one with the Announcement
attached
as a PDF file, and the other with the AO included at the end of the
email as
text only, in case you would prefer to distribute it as a text-only
email.

Sincerely,

Harri Vanhala, Ph.D.
hvanhala at usra.edu
MESSENGER Educator Fellowship Program Manager

---


ANNOUNCEMENT OF OPPORTUNITY

Bring the Solar System to Your Community - Become a MESSENGER Fellow


Take part in the current golden era of Solar System exploration by
becoming
a MESSENGER Educator Fellow!  As an integral part of NASA's MESSENGER
mission to Mercury, the Fellows will help bring the excitement of this
daring mission to classrooms across the nation.

== What is MESSENGER? ==

Humankind is sending a spacecraft back to Mercury!  NASA's MESSENGER
(MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) mission
will
be only the second spacecraft to ever visit, and the first to orbit,
this
enigmatic planet.  Launched in 2004, the robotic spacecraft completed
its
first flyby of its target in January 2008, sending back the first
pictures
of the previously unseen side of Mercury.  After two more flybys (in
late
2008 and 2009), MESSENGER will go into orbit around Mercury in 2011 and
begin a year-long, comprehensive study of the planet.  MESSENGER will
not
only dramatically increase our understanding of Mercury, but also help
reveal the story of the Solar System's formation.  How would you like to
help take the nation along for this thrilling ride as a MESSENGER
Educator
Fellow?  Visit http://MESSENGER.jhuapl.edu for more information; click
"Education" for information on the education and public outreach efforts
of
the mission, including the MESSENGER Educator Fellowship Program. 


== What is a MESSENGER Educator Fellow? ==

An essential part of the MESSENGER education and public outreach program
is
a nationwide teacher training initiative whereby a cadre of thirty
Fellows -
master science educators - conduct teacher training workshops
nationally,
training up to 27,000 grades preK-12 educators over the mission
lifetime. 
Fellows train educators on education materials (termed MESSENGER
Education
Modules) developed by the MESSENGER education and public outreach team.
To
date, over 8,000 educators across the nation have been trained by the
MESSENGER Educator Fellows.  Taking part in the MESSENGER Educator
Fellowship Program is a great opportunity for educators to make a broad,
yet
profound impact in science education in the preK-12 community.


== What are MESSENGER Education Modules? ==

MESSENGER Education Modules include inquiry-based, hands-on lessons for
grades preK-12 that are aligned to the National Science Education
Standards
and Benchmarks for Science Literacy.  The Modules focus on Solar System
science, Solar System exploration through history, and the process of
designing, constructing, and sending a spacecraft to another planet.
Each
Module contains one or more education units addressing these central
themes.
 The Staying Cool education unit explores the basic concepts of light,
heat,
and energy to investigate how spacecraft such as MESSENGER can study
planets
using light and radiation without being damaged by the harsh
high-temperature, high-radiation environment in which they have to
operate. 
Staying Cool was developed in concert with the American Association for
the
Advancement of Science's Project 2061, and it received outstanding
grades
for both scientific content and pedagogy from the NASA Office of Space
Science's Education Product Review.

The Voyage: A Journey Through the Solar System education unit
investigates
Earth's place in the Solar System using models as powerful tools of
exploration.  The Voyage education materials are designed to help
teachers
nationwide bring into the classroom the excitement of the Voyage one to
10-billion scale model of the Solar System located on the National Mall
in
Washington, DC (see http://www.voyagesolarsystem.org/ for more details).

The Exploring Ice in the Solar System unit examines the importance of
water
in the form of ice in the Solar System.  From hands-on experiences with
ice,
the unit moves on to investigating ice in everyday life, in polar
regions on
Earth, and throughout the Solar System. Exploring Ice in the Solar
System
received outstanding grades for both scientific content and pedagogy
from
the NASA Office of Space Science's Education Product Review; it is also
one
of the educational units featured during the International Polar Year
2007-2009.

Future planned MESSENGER education units include a comprehensive look
into
the process of designing spacecraft missions in general (Mission
Design),
further exploration of the Solar System using models (The Voyage
Continues),
a study into the history of Solar System exploration (Stories Across
Cultures), as well as an opportunity for students to use real MESSENGER
data
in the classroom (Using MESSENGER Data).

More information on the Voyage and Staying Cool Modules, including
lesson
layout, lesson descriptions, and downloadable lessons, can be found at
the
National Center's Journey through the Universe program web site:
http://journeythroughtheuniverse.org/program_overview/po_co.html


== What organizations are involved in the MESSENGER mission? ==

The MESSENGER mission is supported by the NASA Discovery Program under
contract to the Carnegie Institution of Washington (CIW) and the Johns
Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL).  The MESSENGER
education and public outreach program team includes individuals from the
following organizations: National Center for Earth and Space Science
Education (NCESSE), Carnegie 
Institution of Washington Carnegie Academy for Science Education
(CIW/CASE),
Center for Educational Resources at Montana State University-Bozeman
(CERES/
MSU-Bozeman), American Association for the Advancement of Science
(AAAS),
Minority University-SPace Interdisciplinary Network (MU-SPIN),
Smithsonian
Institution National Air and Space Museum (SI/NASM), and Science Systems
and
Applications, Inc. (SSAI).  The MESSENGER Educator Fellowship Program is
managed by NCESSE.


== What is the commitment expected of a MESSENGER Educator Fellow? ==

This recruiting class of Fellows must commit to conducting MESSENGER
educator-training workshops for a minimum of 100 teachers per year for a
total of two years, beginning in summer 2008, and sharing evaluation
information from the workshops with NCESSE.


== If selected as a MESSENGER Educator Fellow, what will you receive? ==

To help you become an effective MESSENGER Educator Fellow, and to help
you
reach the program goals, you will receive the following:

1) A package of materials to establish your credentials as a
representative
of a NASA spacecraft mission, including:
- Business cards which identify you as a MESSENGER Educator Fellow; the
cards will bear logos from NASA, CIW, JHU/APL, and NCESSE.
- A press release about your acceptance to the program; the press
release
can be issued to media outlets in your community.
- A letter of introduction from the NCESSE Center Director to
authorizing
officials (e.g., superintendents and museum directors) at potential
workshop
venues; the letter establishes you as a MESSENGER Educator Fellow
connected
with a current NASA spacecraft mission.
- A personal Web environment at the MESSENGER Educator Fellowship
Program
Web site to promote your workshops (currently being planned).

2) An all-expense-paid, five-day training workshop in Washington, DC, in
summer 2008; the workshop includes:
- Information on the science and engineering behind the mission,
including
presentations by MESSENGER mission scientists and engineers.
- Tours of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, including the
new
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, and the Johns Hopkins University Applied
Physics Laboratory MESSENGER Mission Operations Center (subject to
availability of these facilities).
- Training on the MESSENGER Education Modules, including recipes for
success
in using the Modules in teacher training workshops as well as in
classrooms.
- An overview of program logistics and reporting documents.
- Best practices on planning and conducting effective teacher training
workshops.
- An introduction to the MESSENGER Educator Fellowship Program Web
environment, including online reporting tools and personal Web spaces.

3) A presenter's package for conducting MESSENGER workshops, including:
- Copies of the grades preK-12 MESSENGER education units (which include
the
currently available Staying Cool, Exploring Ice in the Solar System and
Voyage: A Journey Through the Solar System, as well as Mission Design,
to be
available in 2008.)
- A how-to manual on planning, advertising, conducting and assessing
effective teacher training workshops, including sample workshop agendas,
best practices on facilitating educator training workshops, and
approaches
to adapting MESSENGER education content for curricula concentrating on
math,
technology, reading, and writing.
- Multimedia resources, including posters and CD-ROMs.
- Educational supplies necessary to conduct workshops.

4) An annual allowance of up to $250 to help cover the cost of
conducting
workshops.

5) Ongoing logistical and informational support from NCESSE for all
aspects
of the MESSENGER Educator Fellowship Program.

6) Ongoing detailed analysis of the assessments of your workshops based
on
the feedback provided by the workshops attendees.

7) A MESSENGER Educator Fellowship Program Update Session to take place
in
spring/summer 2009 (details to be determined).


== How will Fellows be selected?  ==

This Announcement of Opportunity is intended to recruit a new cadre of
thirty Educator Fellows capable of making a two-year commitment to the
program, for the academic years 2008-2009 and 2009-2010.  In order to
maximize the reach of the program, Fellows are usually chosen to reflect
a
geographically and institutionally diverse mix of individuals from a
variety
of settings - science centers/museums, school districts, universities,
educational organizations, etc.  While a variety of factors will be used
in
the final selection, a MESSENGER Educator Fellowship candidate must be a
legal U.S. resident actively teaching students or conducting teacher
training in a formal (traditional classroom setting, school district) or
informal (museum, science center, etc.) science education environment. 
Experience with teacher/adult training is not required but is strongly
desirable.

The application submission requirements are:
1) A completed application form.
2) A current resume or curriculum vitae.
3) A written letter of commitment from your host institution (current
employer or sponsoring organization) to provide you release time to
conduct
MESSENGER educator training workshops, and an expressed willingness to
support you in these efforts throughout the two-year Fellowship.
4) Two letters of reference from individuals or institutions that are
familiar with your teaching style and can speak to your success as a
presenter.  
5) A two-page proposal outlining an implementation plan for the
workshops
you would conduct, including possible venues, audiences, and goals.   
6) A ten-minute video sample of yourself teaching/training an audience
on an
inquiry-based, hands-on lesson.  The video sample should clearly
demonstrate
your abilities to facilitate inquiry-based learning.   If you cannot
submit
a video sample, please submit a written explanation as to why you
cannot. 
Please note, however, that applications with a video will be given
higher
consideration than those without.

To receive an application form, please contact the MESSENGER program
manager
at 
messenger at usra.edu, and you will receive the application as a PDF file
in a
return email.  Applications are due at NCESSE by April 18, 2008.
Fellowship
selections will be announced by April 30, 2008.  The training workshop
is
scheduled to take place June 23-27, 2008.

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