Total Eclipse, Cassini and Mars water (or lack of) to be subject of Galaxy Forum
The free 2017 Galaxy Forum will be held at the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson on Saturday, August 19, 2017, from 1-3 p.m.
Purpose: To provide teachers with cutting edge information on three topics that have immediacy in the science world in a way that they can take back to students.
Objectives:
Teachers will:
1. Be able to take back to their classrooms and students an enhanced knowledge of the total solar eclipse taking place that following Monday (Aug. 21 ).
2. Have access to first-hand information about Cassini’s final mission (occurring September 15 ) from the NASA-JPL expert in charge of the “Grand Finale”.
3. Learn about the latest findings concerning the past presence of water on Mars and its implications for habitability.
4. Take back educational materials to the classroom.
Teachers can correlate with state science standards. Certificates of attendance will be available. Q and A after each presentation. Open to both students and teachers. Geared towards middle school on up.
The Speakers and Topics:
Dean Stramel, professor of chemistry at Fort Hays State University—“The 2017 Total Solar Eclipse: What, When, Where, Why?” As a primer on this amazing event, Stramel, will look into why this is such a big deal that people travel all over the globe to see it. What is the science behind it? What does it teach us? What are the logistics to watching it? Eclipse glasses included in materials packet.
Todd Barber, NASA-JPL lead propulsion engineer on the Cassini mission since 2002—“Lord of the Rings—the Cassini Mission to Saturn”. Cassini has orbited Saturn for 13 years. In its aptly named “Grand Finale” Cassini will swoop between Saturn and its innermost ring ending in the probe’s crash into Saturn on September 15, 2017. What has Cassini revealed over the years? What kind of close-ups, what kind of details are expected? What do we hope to learn from this final mission? Barber is a Wichita native and Southeast High graduate.
Sarah Lamm, Kansas State University--—“Mars: Through the Eyes (and Lasers) of Curiosity” KSU senior Lamm will talk about her two summers spent at Los Alamos National Laboratory working with data from Curiosity’s ChemCam instrument.( It’s the part that looks like the head and eye of the rover). The Colby native has been studying the presence of manganese, an indicator of the past presence of abundant liquid water. On Earth abundances of manganese are closely associated with microbes and the rise of oxygen in the atmosphere. Thus, manganese has important implications for the future habitability of Mars.
The Ad Astra Kansas Foundation is a non-profit organization focused on promoting science in Kansas, especially the space sciences. This FREE educational event is sponsored by the Ad Astra Kansas Foundation to enrich science education in Kansas.
Find more information on this forum go to www.adastra-ks.org This event is free of charge. Space is limited. To reserve seating and to help with count for materials preparation, send name, school and number attending to jeanettesteinert@att.net.
Also, feel free to forward any questions to the above e-mail address.
kansas association of teachers of science