The presentations were rocket science.
But for two days, the science was presented at a level that a 12-year-old could comprehend and be excited about.
“When you see their eyes widen and shine, you know they’re excited and when they’re excited, they’re learning,” said Maggie Prevenas, a Kalama Middle School science teacher who chaperoned a class of 7th and 8th graders participating in annual AMOS Conference.
Sponsored by the Maui Economic Development Board, the four-day conference brought together scientists in the fields of optics, imaging, space situational awareness, space weather and related specialties in astronomy to offer updates and assessments of current research.
For AMOS 2010, MEDB, with support from the Space Foundation, Air Force Research Laboratory, Analytical Graphics, Inc. and other technology businesses expanded the program to include sessions for 300 middle school students and for secondary school science teachers. For the students, it was an “Audience with an Astronaut”; for the teachers, it was a workshop on resources available for their curriculum.
“It was fabulous,” said Prevenas of the students’ meeting with Navy Capt. Robert Curbeam Jr., a former NASA astronaut who responded to questions and discussed the necessity of science education with 300 students.
“I didn’t realize how many seeds it was going to plant in my students’ heads. When I heard them talking about what they had learned, I thought, ‘Oh my goodness.’ It was really special. There are a lot of ideas that they’ll be taking back to the classroom.”
High school science teachers Graham DeVey, Jennifer Wolski and Colin Delos Reyes will have to take back what they learned on their own, but said the program for teachers provided ideas and resources that they will incorporate into their coursework.
The workshop essentially was an introduction to imaging software that was provided to each teacher, along with a quick lesson and competition in rocket building. For DeVey, the competition was a success and near-disaster as his team designed a missile that crashed into a window at the Wailea Beach Marriott Resort & Spa – winning the distance award.
The software developed by Analytical Graphics, Inc. will allow the teachers to introduce imaging and animation to their classes that demonstrate movements of objects in space.
“Just considering the teaching models and the things that we played with during the workshop, there is a lot we can use in our lesson plans,” said Delos Reyes, a Lahainaluna teacher. “The thing is that it makes science interesting and that will keep the students engaged.”
He explained that the competition in building rockets included information on types of propellants and design elements, provide a base on which he can develop activities that have students involved in science and engineering.
“We were involved in several kinds of meaningful exercises,” Wolski said. “Even if it’s not part of our current lesson plans, it will be useful. The imaging software is something you can give to students, let them play around with it and develop their own projects. That’s all part of the learning process, even if it’s not structured and part of the curriculum.
“Students can experiment on their own and learn, and have a lesson in scientific inquiry.”
A special education teacher by training, Wolski said she took on science classes at King Kekaulike High School to fill a gap and previously received assistance from MEDB for her expanded teaching responsibilities. Grants from Ke Alahele Education Fund allow her to attend science education seminars and acquire equpment and materials for her classroom.
“I’ve received a lot of help MEDB and Women in Technology,” she said.
Prevenas similarly has had her students participating in science programs offered by MEDB/Women In Technology, such as the Engineering in the Middle Extravanganva that had Maui students practicing for the University of Hawaii’s Jr. Engineering Expo.
Middle school students do recognize there are global issues that will affect them, she said.
“The students that I’m getting today, the 7th graders, are more and more serious. I find they’re getting more and more concerned about big global environmental issues,” she said.
“I think they know they are the future.”
Her students’ increased sophistication can make STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education more relevant, she said. Having information and resources that make learning more exciting is just a plus.
“The materials they provided to us here can be easily applied to what my students need to know. The computer program on animation had things that excited us. If I see that we’re saying ‘Oh wow’ to this material, I know my kids are going to do that too.”
DeVey, an engineer who took up science teaching as an avocation, emphasizes practical activities in his science classes at Baldwin High, and includes astronopmy and space science in his lesson plans. His science students regularly meet after school to explore the facilities and programs of the UH Institute for Astronomy, including access to observations made by the LCO Faulkes Telescope.
Even with his extensive experience, the hands-on session in building and launching training rockets was a positive addition to DeVey for his lesson planning.
“We all got to make them and we could see how our students would respond to this kind of project. They taught us something that we can teach our students,” he said.
Rocket science is important to Hawaii, he said. Research and technological developments in astronomy provide significant STEM opportunities for students and DeVey said he makes a point of introducing Baldwin students to those opportunities.
“Every freshman science student gets our honors presentation on astronomy in Hawaii, what the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy is doing, and it’s all in line with the Hawaii educational content standards for science.”