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2012 Annual Science Report

Carnegie Institution of Washington Reporting  |  SEP 2011 – AUG 2012

EPO Activity: Exploring Ice in the Solar System CD ROM

Project Progress

This CD-ROM containing a series of 13 lessons on the theme “Exploring Ice in the Solar System” was produced in 2003 as part of Carnegie Institution’s EPO effort (described fully in the CIW team’s EPO report for 2002-2003). The lessons span topics from ice in everyday life, to exploring ice in the polar regions of Earth, to icy places on Mars and Europa, to life in ice. Each standards-aligned lesson consists of substantive background information, inquiry-based activities, teaching tips, resources, a photo gallery, and strategies for differentiated instruction and evaluation. In 2006, the CD-ROM was submitted to the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies for NASA product review and was rated “Outstanding” by both science and education reviewers. Well over 30,000 of these CD ROMs have been distributed to teachers in the US and worldwide at teacher workshops, education conferences and informal education venues. The newest version of the CD ROM is section 508-compliant and thus accessible to people with disabilities.

The CD-ROM is being used for teacher training by several NASA missions (including MESSENGER and New Horizons) and teams and distributed by NASA CORE. In this reporting year, 500 of these CD ROMS were distributed directly to teachers at workshops given by Carnegie’s NAI E/PO team and by the New Horizons and MESSENGER E/PO teams.