Opportunity for Teachers
The Lewis Center for Educational Research (LCER) announces an opportunity for K-12 teachers and students to participate in a unique science education partnership. In partnership with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the LCER is offering the Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope (GAVRT) program that enables students to operate and control a 110-foot, 500-ton deep space radio telescope located at NASA's Deep Space Communication Complex at Goldstone, California.
Students actually take control of the massive dish via the Internet to study a variety of radio sources in space. They collect and analyze data that goes into a database used by professional scientists worldwide. Much of the student data are published in professional journals, which demonstrates to students the importance of their data and contributes to the "team building" goals of the GAVRT program.
The Purpose of the GAVRT program is to provide students and educators with curriculum vehicles that will promote science literacy, support a better understanding of the scientific community, and to provide the opportunity to collect real-time data with sophisticated science equipment through distance learning.
Teachers interested in participating in training sessons are invited to apply at this time. Teachers selected will attend an in-depth four day training session at LCER. Training will prepare teachers for pre-mission classroom activities and for the on-line Jupiter Quest mission activities.
Training Schedule:
- February 26 - 28, 2009 GAVRT 09-A San Jose, CA
- August 17 - 20, 2009 GAVRT 09-C Lewis Center, CA
- October 19 - 22, 2009 GAVRT 09-D Lewis Center, CA
For information on teacher requirements, technology requirements, financial commitment, visit our website at http://www.gavrt.org. Additional information or an application through the mail may be obtained by emailing gavrt-info@lcer.org or calling (760) 946-5414 ext. 262.