Outreach
Inquiring Minds on Governors Island
June 08, 2011
The SESDA II Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) EPO team organized and participated in “The Delicate Art of Sun Gazing” activity at The World Science Festival’s Science on Site event that was held on Governors Island in New York City on June 4th, 2011. This exciting event was attended by several thousand people, and consisted of hands-on activities and public talks about the Sun. Together with volunteers from GSFC, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rice University, the United Astronomy Clubs of New Jersey, and undergraduates from universities around the country, the SDO EPO team led over 500 members of the public through a series of 10 hands-on activities about solar science, magnetism, the electromagnetic spectrum, and SDO data. The Science Festival was wildly popular and was featured in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/05/science/05wsfkids.html.
AGU Ocean Science Annual Meeting
March 26, 2010
The ESDIS Outreach team led a collaborative effort with scientists at JPL , GSFC and Physical Oceanography Program management at NASA HQ , to develop a brand new NASA ocean science specific booth backdrop for the AGU Ocean Science Annual Meeting held February 22-26, 2010 in Portland, OR. There were approximately 5,000 attendees at the conference. ESDIS Outreach Lead organized a series of in-booth data demonstrations (e.g. Giovanni, and the Physcial Oceanography Data Miner/Subsetter) and in-booth science talks for the AGU Ocean Sciences Meeting, held February 22-26, 2010 in Portland, OR. Demonstrations included subsetting physical oceanography swath data, educational and public outreach talks focused on the Ocean Motion web site and the Aquarius outreach effort and several science talks focused on ocean science data, including the ECCO project, GHRSST , and Greenland ice mass loss , to name a few. Selected featured data included sea surface temperature, sea surface height, ocean circulation, ocean biology and biogeochemistry data sets (ocean color).
SDO is Go for Launch!
March 26, 2010
SESDA II staff organized multiple events to celebrate and support the successful launch on 11 February 2010 of the much anticipated Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) – the first mission in NASA’s Living with a Star Program. The team held a workshop at Kennedy Space Center for 80 teachers and ran activity tables during two days leading up to launch that was attended by over 7,000 visitors who had the opportunity to meet and interact with SDO scientists and engineers. As an additional treat, staff organized the first ever launch Tweet-up (http://twitter.com/NASA_SDO) that allowed the public to actively follow and participate in launch-related activities. As displayed in the accompanying figure, over 60 independent tweet-up events were held around the country and the globe in support of the launch.
Record-Breaking Crowd at Visitor Center Outreach Event
March 25, 2009
Over 1000 visitors participated in the March 15th, 2009 "Sunday Experiment" program held at the Goddard Visitor Center. During the two-hour program dedicated to the Sun, local families made their own paper plate Suns while watching NASA solar movies, experimented with Ultraviolet beads, learned about the Sun and Space Weather during a 15 minute presentation on the Sphere, played with Earth-Sun size and scale, and interacted with SDO EPO staff about the upcoming mission and its impact on science throughout the event.
The Sunday experiment is for local families and runs the third Sunday of every month (September – May) from 1:00 – 3:00pm. Each month is dedicated to different themes throughout the year representing the work being done at Goddard Space Flight Center. This program was designed and implemented by SESDA II staff under a SESDA II supported task in partnership with the Solar Dynamics Observatory, the Goddard Public Affairs and Education offices, and the Goddard Visitor Center along with support from other Goddard missions.
SESDA II Staff Organize Another Successful Public Outreach Event at Goddard
December 3, 2008
Over 300 visitors participated in The Sunday Experiment Program held on Sunday November 16th at the Goddard Visitor Center. During the event, families built and experimented with Pop Rockets (film canisters and alka seltzer), Straw Rockets (paper and straw), and Foam Rockets (foam tubing and rubber bands). There was also a real life NASA engineer on hand to speak with visitors. The Sunday Experiment runs the third Sunday of every month (September – May) and is open to families with elementary aged children and younger.
Check out the article in this month's Goddard View (PDF).
Family Science Night: How Big? How Old? How Far?
SESDA II staff members organized and ran the first Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) sponsored Family Science Night at the Goddard Visitor Center on November 9th. The program is designed for middle school students and their families. During the two hour event, participants explored our universe through fun hands-on activities where they modeled the universe and discovered how old and how far various objects in our universe are compared to us. The event was a complete success with rave evaluations from both adults and children. Participants commented on how they couldn't believe how much fun science could be and how nice it was to do something as a family that didn't involve TV, movies or game boys.
Upcoming Family Science Night Events
Where: Goddard Visitor Center, Explorer Drive, Greenbelt, MD
When: 6 to 8PM on Thursday: October 25, November 15, December 20, January 17, February 21, March 20, April 17 and May 15.
Admission: Free – registration required at http://sdoepo.gsfc.nasa.gov (click on "SDO for Families," then "Family Science Night") or call 301-286-0207 for more information.
For more information, click here.
Washington Post article, for more information, click here.
The Sojourn Center for Creative Learning at the John B. Cary Elementary School
SESDA II staff member Maurice Henderson became a partner with the John B. Cary Elementary School in Richmond, Virginia. It was Maurice's idea to turn their old caboose into a laboratory for learning for groups both in and out of the local school system. The caboose was donated to the school in 1984 as a small museum, but it sat unused for the past several years. Maurice worked for almost a year to bring the project to completion.
Maurice was joined by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and school Principal Brenda W. Phillips on Nov. 9, 2006 for the Sojourn Center's ribbon cutting ceremony. Students can monitor the environment of the caboose and its energy consumption. Maurice hopes to add solar panels to the laboratory, which now contains computers and displays on NASA sciences and exploration.
Friend's Community School
SESDA II staff member Rob Baker volunteered to design and develop the Web site for the Friends Community School in College Park, Maryland. This included applying principles of information architecture and Web standards into the design of the new site. The result was a scalable site that the School's user community is excited about and will be able to work with for years to come. Here is a link to the site.
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SESDA II Team:
