Students Conducting Authentic Research Using Planetary
Data:
Preparing the Next Generation of Explorers
Sheri
L. Klug (sklug@asu.edu)
Mars Space Flight Facility,
NASA has recognized the need
to engage and inspire pre-college students in critical disciplines (science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics – STEM) to help develop scientific and
technologically literate adults of the future. Inquiry-based experiences that
immerse the student in activities that are linked to real-world programs often
offer the best pathways for this development to take place.
Dr. Philip Christensen,
Arizona State University Regents Professor and Principal Investigator of the
Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) camera that is currently
orbiting Mars, the ASU Mars Education Program, and NASA recognized a rich
educational opportunity to partner with students as active researchers
utilizing the THEMIS camera data. As a result of this partnership, the Mars
Student Imaging Project (MSIP) was created.
MSIP allows teams of students, 11-20 years of age, to access real-time
data acquired from the THEMIS camera and conduct
authentic research on topics of interest to the students (e.g. the study of craters, canyons, and dunes).
This inquiry-based,
standards-aligned project was designed to mirror the actual process that
scientists follow in the exploration and study of Mars. MSIP involves the acquisition of an image of
Mars that is targeted by the student teams using the THEMIS targeting software
for student-based analysis. MSIP also allows for the experience of the
scientific process…how do scientists think, make decisions, and work within a
team environment? The students are the drivers
of this project, looking for guidance and mentoring when needed, but ultimately
making the decisions and discoveries as full participants and taking ownership
for their actions. The use of planetary
data is a catalyst for helping students realize that science is not stagnant,
and they have the ability to participate in scientific discoveries – now and in
the future.
Keywords: Planetary Data in
Education, Mars, NASA,
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Students
participating in the Mars Student
Imaging Project at their school.