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Authentic science experiences for high school students: the INSPIRE example
Advances in Space Research 34 (2004) 2145–2152 www.elsevier.com/locate/asr
Authentic science experiences for high school students: the INSPIRE example J. Marshall a
a,*
, W. Taylor b, B. Pine c, J.Green
d
Department of Curriculum and Instruction, The University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712, USA b Raytheon ITSS GSFC/Code 630, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA c Chaffey High School, 1245 North Euclid Avenue, Ontario, CA 91762, USA d Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 630, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Received 23 November 2002; received in revised form 26 March 2003; accepted 26 March 2003
Abstract The National Science Education Standards call for students to participate in authentic scientific investigation [National Science Education Standards, National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 1996]. Opportunities are rare, however, for students to experience the full spectrum of space science investigation: developing and assembling equipment, planning observations, obtaining and recording data in coordination with other observers, analyzing data and, finally, publishing results. The Interactive NASA Space Physics Ionospheric Radio Experiment (INSPIRE) is one ongoing program that provides high school students with just such opportunities. INSPIRE participants assemble and test very low frequency (VLF) radio receivers, use them to record natural and artificial atmospheric radio signals as part of a coordinated campaign, analyze the resulting data, and publish their results in The INSPIRE Journal and elsewhere. The investigations students carry out as part of INSPIRE are not the canned experiments usually found in high school laboratories. Rather, INSPIRE seeks to answer authentic questions about the propagation of radio waves in the ionosphere and magnetosphere. For example, INSPIRE participants provided ground stations for a virtual antenna experiment on a 1992 Shuttle mission. This article presents the history of the program, an example of student observations, and reports of how INSPIRE has affected studentsÕ views of science and of themselves as scientists. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of COSPAR. Keywords: NASA INSPIRE program; VLF radio receivers; High school students; Space science investigations for students
1. Introduction Echoing the National Science Education Standards call for authentic scientific exploration as part of the pre-college learning experience (NRC, 1996), the National Conference on the Revolution in Earth and Space Science Education, described exemplary secondary Earth and Space Science curriculum as follows: ‘‘High quality Earth and space science curriculum offers wonderful opportunities to challenge and engage stu*
Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (J. Marshall).
0273-1177/$30. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of COSPAR. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2003.03.071
dents with inquiry driven learning and exploration. It guides them through the process of scientific discovery, enabling them to understand key concepts and acquire vital skills. It empowers them to use authentic tools and techniques of Earth and space science, as well as imagery, visualization, and data.’’ (Barstow et al., 2002, p. 33). The Interactive NASA Space Physics Ionospheric Radio Experiment (INSPIRE) is a non-profit, scientific educational corporation dedicated to enabling high school teachers to provide such high quality Earth and space science curriculum in Physics, Physical Science, Integrated Physics and Chemistry, Earth Science or
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Technology classes (see http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/inspire). INSPIRE engages students in authentic scientific investigations of very low frequency (VLF) radio phenomena in the EarthÕs atmosphere, ionosphere, and magnetosphere. Students who participate in INSPIRE programs are responsible for the full spectrum of space science investigation: developing and assembling equipment, planning observations, obtaining and recording data in coordination with other observers, analyzing data and, finally, publishing results. INSPIRE facilitates this process by first providing high school teachers and students with schematics and components from which to assemble a VLF radio receiver. While the INSPIRE receivers are comparatively inexpensive and easy to assemble and use (a circuit diagram is available at http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/ inspire), their operation mirrors that of VLF receivers used on NASA spacecraft. Thus, they are clearly an authentic tool of space science, as called for by Barstow et al. (2002). The fact that NASA uses INSPIRE receivers on its Leonids Balloon Flights (Roy, 1999) highlights this point for students. The high school teams must learn to read circuit diagrams, identify components, and then assemble and troubleshoot the INSPIRE receivers themselves. They become familiar with analog electronic circuitry and learn the importance of testing in developing and certifying experimental apparatus. Students in traditional physics labs are rarely required to assemble or test equipment. INSPIRE teams then participate in twice-yearly campaigns to record natural VLF radio emissions (in addition to campaigns of opportunity in conjunction with artificial satellite operations). These campaigns allow students to experience coordinated observations, a critical aspect of space science research that is not always part of classroom investigations. In preparation for the campaigns, INSPIRE teams design and test the experimental configuration for their observations (building antenna and grounding assemblies, selecting an observing site, and troubleshooting interference from unwanted local VLF sources, such as transmission lines). Once the VLF emissions are recorded as audio signals, they must be digitized and analyzed. Students learn fundamental concepts in data visualization by creating and interpreting frequency-time spectrograms. Spectrograms are a critical data visualization tool in space science, but one that most students would never see in a Physics class. Students experience the final stage of any authentic science research program, dissemination of data, by publishing their results in The INSPIRE Journal and elsewhere. The INSPIRE corporation supports these efforts by coordinating observing campaigns every fall and spring; publishing the The INSPIRE Journal; identifying, developing and advertising coordinated observations of emissions from spacecraft and natural phenomena as targets
of opportunity arise; and conducting educator workshops, described in detail below.
2. History 2.1. High school ground station INSPIRE traces its origin to 1988, when the Space Research Institute of Moscow requested that NASA participate in its upcoming ACTIVE (not an acronym) project. ACTIVE was a satellite launched in 1989 carrying a 10.5 kHz transmitter onboard to study wave particle interactions and the propagation of VLF waves. NASA responded to the request by authorizing a group of US scientists to make ground observations and theoretical calculations relevant to ACTIVE. A volunteer organization dubbed HSGS (High School Ground Station) was quickly established by two of the authors (W. Taylor, a space physicist, and W. Pine, a high school physics teacher) and two amateur scientists, M. Mideke and J. Ericson. The objective of HSGS was to recruit high schools to help gather data on 10.5 kHz electromagnetic (radio) waves which might be observed on the ground. A large number of ground receiving sites were needed, to enhance the probability of receiving the ACTIVE radio waves and to determine the propagation paths to the ground. HSGS was envisioned as a test bed with several objectives. The first was to see whether high school classes could successfully complete a project that included mechanical and electronic construction and a rigorous data-gathering procedure. The second was to see if high school physics teachers could integrate the instructional material into their curriculum. NASA provided organizational support and TRW (http://www.trw.com) provided financial support to defray the cost of the ground station packages for teachers. These packages, including the electronic kit for a VLF magnetic field receiver and 161 pages of instructional material, were developed and distributed to interested high schools in California, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. HSGS achieved both its objectives, answering both questions in the affirmative. Approximately 100 schools received kits, successfully assembled and operated them, and recorded and submitted data on cassette tapes for analysis. The transmitting antenna on the ACTIVE satellite failed to deploy properly, however, resulting in a decrease in signal strength of about 30 dB. Even though no waves were observed on the ground, the teachers reported a very high level of enthusiasm in their students. The teachers also reported success in integrating the HSGS instructional material into their units on waves, electronics, radio, and the atmosphere. The student and teacher enthusiasm proved to the HSGS organizers
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that continuing such a program would be very useful in stimulating interest in science in general, and space physics in particular, among high school students. The HSGS organization evolved into INSPIRE. 2.2. INSPIRE as part of a shuttle mission Following ACTIVE and the HSGS proof of the concept, INSPIRE was formally organized and incorporated. The objective of INSPIRE was to increase the number of high schools who had participated in HSGS by a factor of ten and to establish a program of high school physics classes around the country making observations of audio frequency radio waves on an ongoing basis. The 1992 Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS 1) Spacelab Shuttle mission provided an ideal opportunity to advertise and garner participants for the program. Part of the payload for ATLAS 1 was the SEPAC (Space Experiments using Particle Accelerators) investigation. SEPAC used an electron accelerator and support instrumentation to perform many experiments in the ionosphere, including producing an artificial aurora and investigating electromagnetic wave production by a pulsed electron beam acting as a virtual antenna (Taylor et al., 1993; Taylor, 1993a). To increase the likelihood that the SEPAC virtual antenna emissions would be detected on the ground, allowing the investigators to trace their propagation through the ionosphere, an extensive network of ground station receivers was called for. INSPIRE answered the call for ground observers by sending invitations to participate to ‘‘The Physics Teacher’’ at the 10,000 largest high schools in the US (of about 20,000 total). Articles publicizing INSPIRE were published in various science teaching journals, popular radio science publications, and newsletters (see, for example, Anonymous, 1991a,b, 1992; Ericson, 1991a,b; Mideke, 1991; Pine and Taylor, 1991; Reneau, 1991; Taylor et al., 1992; White, 1992). About 1200 schools (>10% of those solicited) responded with orders for the INSPIRE package. Thus, INSPIRE easily surpassed its first goal of increasing HSGS participation by a factor of 10. The packages were sold at cost and included a kit for a VLF receiver (redesigned to detect electric fields, rather than magnetic fields detected by the HSGS receivers), 250 pages of background and instructional material, an audio tape of expected phenomena and a promise to analyze any tapes that were sent to INSPIRE after the mission. Besides school groups, radio amateurs around the world also participated, including one in Saudi Arabia, and one wintering over at Palmer Station, Antarctica. From its promising beginnings as a US high school project, INSPIRE expanded to include coordination of an international network of ground stations, still primarily composed of teachers and students.
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An elaborate information distribution network was established to inform the participants of the experiment schedule, including hourly announcements on WWV (the US time and frequency shortwave radio station), announcements as needed on four electronic bulletin boards, and a toll-free telephone number with a recorded announcement that changed as new information became available. W. Pine participated in mission simulations and the mission, and coordinated INSPIRE activities at the Payload Operations Control Center during the mission. ATLAS 1 flew for about a week. The plan called for ten virtual antenna experiments over the US. The electron accelerator failed on its second virtual antenna operation, but many of the high schools participated in the backup listening schedule to study the changes in sferic (lightning impulse) propagation at sunrise. Some classes also performed computer analysis of the signals they received. Approximately 300 cassette tapes were sent to INSPIRE for analysis. Each team that sent tapes received in return at least one spectrogram of the data they had collected, a personal letter describing what they had observed from M. Mideke, who performed all the analysis, and a Certificate of Appreciation for participating. Despite the failure of the electron beam, teachers and students reported enthusiasm for INSPIRE. One student in a class featured on the Today in Space program on NASA Select television declared, ‘‘ItÕs like weÕre almost up there with the astronauts, you know, breathing the same breath. . .itÕs just real exciting.’’ When asked whether the project had been a success, in spite of failing to receive a signal from the electron beam, his teacher responded, ‘‘We had two teams, and they were on task, and they were doing it, and they were excited. And thatÕs. . .to me that worked.’’ The project gave many students a means of relating the science they learned in class to a real, practical experiment, and one that was being done cooperatively with NASA, using the Space Shuttle. The cadre of over 100 teams around the world has continued to participate since 1992 provides further evidence of the enthusiasm generated by the ATLAS 1 campaign, and demonstrates that INSPIRE did indeed meet its second goal of establishing a program of high school Physics classes around the country making observations of audio frequency radio waves on an ongoing basis. 2.3. The 1994 eclipse After the ATLAS 1 mission, INSPIRE established regular semi-annual campaigns to observe natural VLF radio phenomena (see Ongoing INSPIRE Activities, below) and sought additional opportunities for students to observe events of special interest, whether natural or artificially generated, as occasions arose. A
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major target of opportunity for a nationwide coordinated campaign fell on May 10, 1994, when an annular eclipse (http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/) swept across most of the US. Everywhere in the contiguous 48 states there was at least a 48% coverage of the solar disk with a maximum coverage of the sun of about 88% (Espenak and Anderson, 1993). Since the EarthÕs ionosphere is primarily created by solar ultraviolet radiation, and since radio waves in the audio frequency range propagate in the Earth-ionosphere waveguide, it was logical to assume that the eclipse would affect radio propagation and that the changes might be observable with INSPIRE or HSGS receivers. INSPIRE made the 1994 eclipse a major observational objective. High school classes observed before, during and after the eclipse. INSPIRE offered kits and completed electric field receivers for sale at cost to students, classes, teachers, amateur scientists and others to allow them to participate. Those who had previously obtained receivers for the ACTIVE (HSGS) or SEPAC (INSPIRE) initiatives were able to use them, of course. Publicity for radio wave observations during the eclipse included Mideke (1993) and Taylor (1993b,c). INSPIRE offered to analyze recorded data, using its network of volunteer analysts. More than 100 tapes were submitted and analyzed. 2.4. Shoemaker-Levy comet The Shoemaker-Levy Comet hit the Jovian atmosphere in July 1994. INSPIRE teams in Italy organized a special campaign to observe the phenomena with a widely dispersed group of VLF stations, recording from the very north to the very south of the Italian peninsula. The objective of the session was to understand if any triggered signals from Jupiter might have reached our atmosphere in the VLF range.
ball satellites and INSPIRE VLF radio receivers, the following scientific objectives were addressed: To study the interactions between the ionospheric plasma and the injected plasma and electrons. To understand the dynamics of the injected, artificial plasma in the ionosphere. To investigate the initial phase of plasma instabilities, the resulting electromagnetic emissions and their propagation in the ionosphere, magnetosphere, and atmosphere. To investigate effects of wave particle interactions. To meet these objectives, MIR operations were planned for two weekend periods each year, in April and November, starting in 1996. During these periods, Mir operations were scheduled over the US, Europe and Russia. INSPIRE participants recorded their observations on cassette tapes, which were sent to INSPIRE data analysts, who interpreted the VLF signals recorded on them, seeking, in particular, evidence of radio waves generated by the plasma injections from the Mir space station. 2.7. Observation campaign in Hessdalen valley, Norway In the summer of 2001, European INSPIRE participants collaborated with Ostfold College of Norway, in order to record VLF data in the Hessdalen Valley (http://www.hessdalen.org). Since 1984, Ostfold College and, later, the Italian Committee for the Hessdalen Project (http://www.itacomm.net) and the Radio Telescope of Medicina, Italy, have been researching intriguing phenomena associated with the appearance of random occurrences of light in the lower atmosphere. About 310 MB of data were recorded. Data analysis is proceeding.
2.5. Tethered satellite mission 3. Ongoing inspire activities During the joint ASI (Italian Space Agency)/ NASA Space Shuttle Tethered Satellite mission in February, 1996, European INSPIRE participants made observations to support the electromagnetic experiments being performed with the up to 20 km long wire between the Shuttle and the satellite. 2.6. Operations with Interball and Mir Beginning in 1996, INSPIRE teams participated in coordinated observations with the Russian Mir space station and the Russian Interball satellite program (http://www.iki.rssi.ru/interball.html). Instrumentation on the Mir space station injected plasma blobs and beams of electrons into the ambient ionospheric plasma. Using plasma and wave instruments onboard the Inter-
3.1. Meteor shower observations and balloon flights Yearly during the Leonids (and later Perseids) meteor shower period, a team of scientists and ham radio amateurs from MSFC fly a balloon to 30 km altitude. The balloon carries aerogels to capture micrometeoroids, a television camera to observe meteor trails, and starting in 1999, an INSPIRE receiver. Including the receiver was suggested by Flavio Gori from Italy, the INSPIRE European Coordinator. The objective was to observe VLF signals that might be generated by the meteors as they plunge through the atmosphere. Data is telemetered to the ground and streamed live over the internet. INSPIRE participants can make simultaneous observations themselves or can go to the website to hear the bal-
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loon data live at http://www.leonids.com or, to listen to the 2000 flight data, http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/ y2000/ast09nov_l.htm. 3.2. Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) The successful launch of NASAÕs Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) satellite on March 25, 2000, has provided ongoing opportunities for the network of INSPIRE observers to participate in cooperative experiments with a spacecraft. The Radio Plasma Imager (RPI) on the IMAGE satellite can transmit radio waves in the 3 kHz to 3 MHz frequency range, and propagation experiments from IMAGE to INSPIRE participants around the world were planned as part of the mission. The first observing campaign was conducted in November of 2001 (http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/campaign/whistler_ campaign.html) and the IMAGE team plans to schedule additional propagation studies as part of the extended mission.
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the same (actual, not clock) time, investigators can trace the propagation paths of large-scale events such as whistlers. Dates and observing protocols for the semi-annual observation campaigns, as well as the results from recent campaigns, are published in The INSPIRE Journal and on the INSPIRE web site (http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/ poetry/inspire). 3.4. Live INSPIRE data on the internet In late 2000, an INSPIRE receiver was permanently installed at MSFC, and live INSPIRE data has been streamed over the Internet since. A second receiver, at the University of Florida Radio Observatory, began operating in 2001. Both streams can be accessed from the main INSPIRE web site (http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/ poetry/inspire). Students who cannot make independent observations (either because they do not have access to good observing sites or funding for field trips, or because of other restrictions) can use these data streams to make INSPIRE observations from their classrooms or homes. The data can be recorded and analyzed, just like data from receivers that the students build.
3.3. Semi-annual observing campaigns Twice each year, in April and November, INSPIRE organizes a coordinated campaign of observations of natural VLF radio emissions. These are primarily the so-called atmospherics (or ÔsfericsÕ), which are broadband pulses of radio waves generated by nearby lightning strikes. Sferics are heard as popping or crackling static on AM radios. Less common among natural VLF emissions are ÔtweeksÕ, which are packets of radio waves from more distant lightning. The frequencies in a tweek have become dispersed in time as the waves travel through the ionosphere, so that the lower frequencies arrive slightly later. This dispersion results in the characteristic tweek sound when converted to an audio signal. Rarest of all are the ÔwhistlersÕ, generated by extremely distant lightning. Whistlers are packets of waves that have propagated along magnetic field lines, often originating in the hemisphere conjugate to the observer. These packets have become so dispersed that they are heard as whistles, sliding from a high pitch to a low pitch, when converted to an audio signal. Whistlers have sometimes bounced back and forth several times from hemisphere to hemisphere through the magnetosphere before being detected. For a more detailed discussion, see Helliwell (1982). Participating teams record ambient VLF signals at least one hour before dawn, at local sunrise, and at least one hour after sunrise. This recording schedule allows for observations at the time of greatest activity (near sunrise), and also for observations that overlap with those made by other teams across the US and elsewhere. By comparing recordings made in different locations at
4. Incorporating inspire activities into the high school curriculum 4.1. Workshops Since its earliest incarnation as the HSGS project for ACTIVE, INSPIRE has provided an extensive network of ground observers in support of basic space science research. Its primary goal, however, has always been to inspire studentsÕ interest in science learning and to promote the inclusion of authentic space science investigations in the high school science curriculum. Toward this end, INSPIRE staff have presented a series of workshops across the US, designed to familiarize high school teachers and students with the program and facilitate inclusion of INSPIRE projects as part of high school science courses. The inaugural workshop was held at Chaffey High School (http://www.chaffey.org/) in Ontario, California, in December 1990, to acquaint high school teachers and students with ACTIVE and HSGS. Fifty-four students and teachers from 17 high schools attended. W. Pine organized and ran the Workshop. While the workshop was intended primarily for schools in southern California, one teacher attended from Washington, DC. Since that time, workshops have been held in Washington, DC, Maryland, Alabama and Texas. The most recent workshop was held in 2001 at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) for teachers participating in NEW (NASA Education Workshop) Urban (see http://ivc.uidaho.edu/nasa/syllabus/gsfc_7_16urban.html).
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INSPIRE workshops offer an opportunity for high school teachers to connect with ham radio operators, researchers, and participants in previous INSPIRE campaigns, all of whom might serve as mentors to the high school teams. The workshops are primarily organized by local teachers and volunteers and offer an introduction to INSPIRE and its projects, to kit building (sometimes the students and teachers do not have the expertise to build the kits without help), and to site location and data gathering procedures. A workshop will usually be held on a Saturday, with INSPIRE participants, both teachers and students, attending. Workshops typically begin with a short talk by a national INSPIRE organizer, introducing INSPIRE and describing previous and planned projects. Next, the local organizer facilitates a discussion about organizing the local INSPIRE group. Finally, a talk by a representative of the local power company helps the teams to select observing sites that are free from interference from power line emissions. Then the participants typically break up into small groups to discuss how they will implement INSPIRE activities, and move on to build kits. A national INSPIRE representative attends each workshop to serve as a resource person and to lend continuity to the program.
the next INSPIRE campaign (March 2001), and to brainstorm about how INSPIRE activities might be included in their classes. The workshop mirrored the activities of an investigation team meeting after a successful space science proposal. The teachers then met again, this time with their students, to assemble and test the receivers. Next, students and teachers visited their selected observing sites to develop antenna and grounding assemblies for their receivers and make test observations of natural VLF radio phenomena in preparation for the semi annual campaign of natural radio observations planned for March of 2001. Again, these activities mirror the process of instrument development, assembly and calibration, common to space science investigations. Finally, the participating high school teams had the opportunity to analyze the data they obtained in the campaign and publish it in The INSPIRE Journal, a publication dedicated to INSPIRE observations. Fig. 1 shows a sample of data collected by the team from OÕConnor High School in San Antonio, Texas. These data were published in The INSPIRE Journal (Robinson, 2001), completing the final step in any space science investigation: dissemination of results to the community.
4.2. An example of student observations
4.3. Results of student survey
INSPIRE has provided many opportunities for teachers and their students to participate in all phases of an authentic space science investigation. Recent activities of a group of Central Texas INSPIRE participants are a case in point. A teacher from the San Antonio Northside Independent School District instituted this collaboration by contacting INSPIRE, soliciting colleagues (physics teachers in the district) to join her in the effort, and writing a proposal for funding to the district administration to support release time and supplies for an INSPIRE workshop. At this workshop, Central Texas physics teachers met to learn more about the instruments for, and science behind,
In 2002, one class of students (approximately 20) who had participated in INSPIRE for an entire year were surveyed about their participation and its effects on their attitude toward the study of science and their views of themselves as scientists. The survey was administered on the Internet, and participation in it was voluntary. Students were asked to provide open-ended responses to a series of questions: (1) How have you participated in INSPIRE? What specifically did you do? (2) Can you describe the purpose of the INSPIRE project?
Fig. 1. Frequency-time spectrogram of one second of VLF data recorded by students from OÕConnor High School, San Antonio, TX. Darker features are higher intensity. The dark lines with the sharp hooks at the bottom are ‘‘tweeks’’ that result when broad-band emissions from lightning are frequency dispersed as they propagate through the ionosphere from the source to the detector, lower frequencies arriving later.
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(3) What have you learned from the INSPIRE project? Have you learned anything that has helped you or will help you in school? Later in your career? Responses to the first question indicated that these students understood the purpose of the activity, and participated actively. Typical responses were ‘‘listened to solar wind, JOVE, lightening on the other side of Earth, etc.’’, ‘‘we set up the equipment in order to listen for chirps and whistles. . .we taped what we heard and we took turns’’, ‘‘I went to. . .listen to radio waves. I helped set up the equipment, record the waves and times-’’. Responses to the second question confirmed that the students viewed the INSPIRE observations not only as a fun activity, but also as authentic investigations. For example, one student wrote, ‘‘I think that INSPIRE works to get students involved in science which isnÕt an area that many students like. Just the prospect of participating in any program with NASA is a great opportunity that students would or should enjoy. At least, I did.’’ Another responded, ‘‘The purpose of the INSPIRE group is to teach willing students to learn how to apply physics to the actual world – what scientists actually do!’’. Responses to the third question indicated that most students (80%) felt that they had learned something useful and valuable from the program. For example, one student replied, ‘‘What I learned from that INSPIRE project is to my personal benefit. Physics has helped me understand how to apply calculus to it and it may help me later on in life with my career choice.’’ Another said simply, ‘‘I learned that science is actually interesting.’’ A final response highlights the importance for students of actually experiencing phenomena first hand: ‘‘The whistlers and tweeks are really interesting to hear. I think it will even help me [in] school because if we ever talk about this again, I will know how they [sound], and a great experience that was.’’ The survey also asked students to rank, on a Likert scale, how much they agreed with the statements ‘‘I can imagine myself being a scientist or engineer’’ and ‘‘I enjoy physics and think I am good at it’’, before and after participating in the INSPIRE program. A ranking of 1 indicated ‘‘not at all’’ and a ranking of 5 indicated ‘‘completely’’. Some students agreed with the first statement completely, even before the program began. Of those who did not, the average ranking was 1.3 before participating in INSPIRE, and 2.7 afterwards. This represents an average increase of 1.3, with a standard deviation of 0.57. Only one student completely agreed with the second statement beforehand, and also completely agreed afterwards. The average ranking for the remaining students beforehand was 1.25, and the average score afterwards was 3.25. This represents an average increase of 2 with a standard deviation of
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1.15. When students were asked to explain their rankings, one student explained her agreement with the second statement this way: ‘‘Physics is really interesting because you get to learn about a lot of things that we canÕt see with our eyes. If you knew something about waves, frequencies, or energy it gives you a better understanding because it expands the explanation towards things that you didnÕt know. Even though IÕm not that good at it I still think is interesting and fun to learn about.’’
5. Plans for the future INSPIRE will continue to support scientific investigations of VLF radio wave propagation through its US-wide coordinated observations of natural and manmade phenomena every spring and fall. The INSPIRE Journal will continue to be an important part of these activities. It will be issued in November and April of each year with INSPIRE news, activities and results. In addition, more high school Physics classes will be recruited to participate in INSPIRE, and to learn about space and NASA through the study of the ionosphere, lightning, electronics, mechanical and electrical construction techniques, data gathering procedures, and data analysis. Finally, to support these activities INSPIRE plans to hold workshops each year. High school teachers who are interested in having INSPIRE facilitate a workshop in their area should contact the project at http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/inspire/. INSPIRE will also continue to support space science research through special campaigns in conjunction with targets of opportunity. The next such opportunity is likely to be in coordination with the Russian/Australian microsatellite, Kolibri-2000 (http://www.iki.rssi.ru/kollibri/missionl_e.htm). Kolibri-2000 is equipped with instruments to measure and study the magnetic field and the radiation belts of the Earth. INSPIRE has been asked to organize coordinated radio observations during times of satellite observations, in partnership with the Interregional Public Organization, Microsatellite, a program to allow students to participate in a scientific/technical program of space research. Other participants include the Russian Space Research Institute (IKI), the Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, the Institute of Radio Wave Propagation, the Institute of Atomic Energy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Moscow State University, as well as pre-college schools in Russia and Australia. While the regularly scheduled observing campaigns provide ongoing opportunities to engage students in research, it is the observations in conjunction with special events whether natural, such as the 1994 eclipse and the
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collision of Comet Shoemaker-Levy with Jupiter, or artificial, such as the ATLAS 1/SEPAC virtual antenna operations and the upcoming Kolibri-2000 measurements, that serve to focus wide-scale public attention on space science, and bring large numbers of new members into the INSPIRE observing community. INSPIRE is continuously seeking new opportunities for its network of observers to participate in exciting scientific exploration. The authors encourage readers who may be aware of such opportunities to contact the project at http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/inspire to discuss possibilities for collaboration.
References Anonymous. Help wanted with shuttle experiment, QST, 42, 1, 1991a. Anonymous. Shuttle experiment to INSPIRE students, individuals to learn, Station Break, 3, 1-3, 1991b. Anonymous. Help wanted: Space Shuttle experiment needs volunteers, Science Probe!, 105, 1, 1992. Barstow, D., Geary, E., Yazijian, H., Schafer, S. Blueprint for change: report from the national conference on the revolution in earth and space science education. Available: http://www.earthscienceedrevolution.org/setting/nationalconf.cfm, 2002. Ericson, J.D. A Space Shuttle experiment with radio waves at audio frequencies: a joint NASA/high school/amateur experimenters research project, in: Presentation at the Joint AMSAT/ARRL Educational Workshop, Los Angeles, CA, November 8, 1991a. Ericson, J.D. Project INSPIRE: A VLF Space Shuttle experiment. 73 Amateur Radio Today, 22–27, 1991b. Espenak, F., Anderson, J. Annular solar eclipse of 10 May 1994, NASA Reference Publication 1301, 1993.
Helliwell, R.A. Whistler waves and the magnetosphere. The Stanford Engineer 6, 3–11, 1982. Mideke, M., Recruiting home-powered hams for a NASA electron beam experiment, Home Power, 74. Available: http://www.homepower.com/, December 1991/January 1992. Mideke, M. Natural radio news. The Lowdown 2, 2–4, 1993. National Research Council, National Science Education Standards, National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 1996. Pine, W.E., Taylor, W.W.L. INSPIRE your students. The Science Teacher 58, 33–35, 1991. Reneau, L. Calling all Hams. 73 Amateur Radio Today, 7, 1991. Robinson, K. OÕConnor High School, Helotes, TX, joins the ranks of INSPIRE. The INSPIRE Journal 9, 1–4, 2001. Roy, S. NASA engineers to operate center for monitoring leonids shower; scientists to launch balloon for clear view of leonids meteors, Marshall Space Flight Center News Release. Available: http://wwwl.msfc.nasa.gov/NEWSROOM/news/releases/1999/99281.html, 1999. Taylor, W.W.L., Mideke, M., Pine, W.E., Ericson, J.D. INSPIRE: premission. AlAA Student Journal 29, 20–27, 1992. Taylor, W.W.L., Moses, S.L., Neubert, T., Raganatan, S. Beam plasma interactions stimulated by SEPAC on ATLAS 1: wave observations, in: XXIVth General Assembly of the International Union of Radio Science, Kyoto, Japan, August 25–September 2, 1993. Taylor, W.W.L. The emissions from pulsed beams (Virtual antennas) emitted by SEPAC on ATLAS 1. Eos Trans. AGU 74, 469, 1993a. Taylor, W.W.L. INSPIRE/Eclipse-94: Amateurs and students to observe the ionosphere using sferics and other audio frequency waves. The Radio Scientist, 1993b. Taylor, W.W.L. INSPIRE/Eclipse-94: Radio science observations by students during the May 1994 eclipse. Solar News, 1993c. White, R. SAREX: talk to the crew of Atlantis during 1992Õs International Space Year. QST 43, 46–47, 1992.
Authentic science experiences for high school students: the INSPIRE example J. Marshall a
a,*
, W. Taylor b, B. Pine c, J.Green
d
Department of Curriculum and Instruction, The University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712, USA b Raytheon ITSS GSFC/Code 630, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA c Chaffey High School, 1245 North Euclid Avenue, Ontario, CA 91762, USA d Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 630, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Received 23 November 2002; received in revised form 26 March 2003; accepted 26 March 2003
Abstract The National Science Education Standards call for students to participate in authentic scientific investigation [National Science Education Standards, National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 1996]. Opportunities are rare, however, for students to experience the full spectrum of space science investigation: developing and assembling equipment, planning observations, obtaining and recording data in coordination with other observers, analyzing data and, finally, publishing results. The Interactive NASA Space Physics Ionospheric Radio Experiment (INSPIRE) is one ongoing program that provides high school students with just such opportunities. INSPIRE participants assemble and test very low frequency (VLF) radio receivers, use them to record natural and artificial atmospheric radio signals as part of a coordinated campaign, analyze the resulting data, and publish their results in The INSPIRE Journal and elsewhere. The investigations students carry out as part of INSPIRE are not the canned experiments usually found in high school laboratories. Rather, INSPIRE seeks to answer authentic questions about the propagation of radio waves in the ionosphere and magnetosphere. For example, INSPIRE participants provided ground stations for a virtual antenna experiment on a 1992 Shuttle mission. This article presents the history of the program, an example of student observations, and reports of how INSPIRE has affected studentsÕ views of science and of themselves as scientists. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of COSPAR. Keywords: NASA INSPIRE program; VLF radio receivers; High school students; Space science investigations for students
1. Introduction Echoing the National Science Education Standards call for authentic scientific exploration as part of the pre-college learning experience (NRC, 1996), the National Conference on the Revolution in Earth and Space Science Education, described exemplary secondary Earth and Space Science curriculum as follows: ‘‘High quality Earth and space science curriculum offers wonderful opportunities to challenge and engage stu*
Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (J. Marshall).
0273-1177/$30. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of COSPAR. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2003.03.071
dents with inquiry driven learning and exploration. It guides them through the process of scientific discovery, enabling them to understand key concepts and acquire vital skills. It empowers them to use authentic tools and techniques of Earth and space science, as well as imagery, visualization, and data.’’ (Barstow et al., 2002, p. 33). The Interactive NASA Space Physics Ionospheric Radio Experiment (INSPIRE) is a non-profit, scientific educational corporation dedicated to enabling high school teachers to provide such high quality Earth and space science curriculum in Physics, Physical Science, Integrated Physics and Chemistry, Earth Science or
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Technology classes (see http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/inspire). INSPIRE engages students in authentic scientific investigations of very low frequency (VLF) radio phenomena in the EarthÕs atmosphere, ionosphere, and magnetosphere. Students who participate in INSPIRE programs are responsible for the full spectrum of space science investigation: developing and assembling equipment, planning observations, obtaining and recording data in coordination with other observers, analyzing data and, finally, publishing results. INSPIRE facilitates this process by first providing high school teachers and students with schematics and components from which to assemble a VLF radio receiver. While the INSPIRE receivers are comparatively inexpensive and easy to assemble and use (a circuit diagram is available at http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/ inspire), their operation mirrors that of VLF receivers used on NASA spacecraft. Thus, they are clearly an authentic tool of space science, as called for by Barstow et al. (2002). The fact that NASA uses INSPIRE receivers on its Leonids Balloon Flights (Roy, 1999) highlights this point for students. The high school teams must learn to read circuit diagrams, identify components, and then assemble and troubleshoot the INSPIRE receivers themselves. They become familiar with analog electronic circuitry and learn the importance of testing in developing and certifying experimental apparatus. Students in traditional physics labs are rarely required to assemble or test equipment. INSPIRE teams then participate in twice-yearly campaigns to record natural VLF radio emissions (in addition to campaigns of opportunity in conjunction with artificial satellite operations). These campaigns allow students to experience coordinated observations, a critical aspect of space science research that is not always part of classroom investigations. In preparation for the campaigns, INSPIRE teams design and test the experimental configuration for their observations (building antenna and grounding assemblies, selecting an observing site, and troubleshooting interference from unwanted local VLF sources, such as transmission lines). Once the VLF emissions are recorded as audio signals, they must be digitized and analyzed. Students learn fundamental concepts in data visualization by creating and interpreting frequency-time spectrograms. Spectrograms are a critical data visualization tool in space science, but one that most students would never see in a Physics class. Students experience the final stage of any authentic science research program, dissemination of data, by publishing their results in The INSPIRE Journal and elsewhere. The INSPIRE corporation supports these efforts by coordinating observing campaigns every fall and spring; publishing the The INSPIRE Journal; identifying, developing and advertising coordinated observations of emissions from spacecraft and natural phenomena as targets
of opportunity arise; and conducting educator workshops, described in detail below.
2. History 2.1. High school ground station INSPIRE traces its origin to 1988, when the Space Research Institute of Moscow requested that NASA participate in its upcoming ACTIVE (not an acronym) project. ACTIVE was a satellite launched in 1989 carrying a 10.5 kHz transmitter onboard to study wave particle interactions and the propagation of VLF waves. NASA responded to the request by authorizing a group of US scientists to make ground observations and theoretical calculations relevant to ACTIVE. A volunteer organization dubbed HSGS (High School Ground Station) was quickly established by two of the authors (W. Taylor, a space physicist, and W. Pine, a high school physics teacher) and two amateur scientists, M. Mideke and J. Ericson. The objective of HSGS was to recruit high schools to help gather data on 10.5 kHz electromagnetic (radio) waves which might be observed on the ground. A large number of ground receiving sites were needed, to enhance the probability of receiving the ACTIVE radio waves and to determine the propagation paths to the ground. HSGS was envisioned as a test bed with several objectives. The first was to see whether high school classes could successfully complete a project that included mechanical and electronic construction and a rigorous data-gathering procedure. The second was to see if high school physics teachers could integrate the instructional material into their curriculum. NASA provided organizational support and TRW (http://www.trw.com) provided financial support to defray the cost of the ground station packages for teachers. These packages, including the electronic kit for a VLF magnetic field receiver and 161 pages of instructional material, were developed and distributed to interested high schools in California, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. HSGS achieved both its objectives, answering both questions in the affirmative. Approximately 100 schools received kits, successfully assembled and operated them, and recorded and submitted data on cassette tapes for analysis. The transmitting antenna on the ACTIVE satellite failed to deploy properly, however, resulting in a decrease in signal strength of about 30 dB. Even though no waves were observed on the ground, the teachers reported a very high level of enthusiasm in their students. The teachers also reported success in integrating the HSGS instructional material into their units on waves, electronics, radio, and the atmosphere. The student and teacher enthusiasm proved to the HSGS organizers
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that continuing such a program would be very useful in stimulating interest in science in general, and space physics in particular, among high school students. The HSGS organization evolved into INSPIRE. 2.2. INSPIRE as part of a shuttle mission Following ACTIVE and the HSGS proof of the concept, INSPIRE was formally organized and incorporated. The objective of INSPIRE was to increase the number of high schools who had participated in HSGS by a factor of ten and to establish a program of high school physics classes around the country making observations of audio frequency radio waves on an ongoing basis. The 1992 Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS 1) Spacelab Shuttle mission provided an ideal opportunity to advertise and garner participants for the program. Part of the payload for ATLAS 1 was the SEPAC (Space Experiments using Particle Accelerators) investigation. SEPAC used an electron accelerator and support instrumentation to perform many experiments in the ionosphere, including producing an artificial aurora and investigating electromagnetic wave production by a pulsed electron beam acting as a virtual antenna (Taylor et al., 1993; Taylor, 1993a). To increase the likelihood that the SEPAC virtual antenna emissions would be detected on the ground, allowing the investigators to trace their propagation through the ionosphere, an extensive network of ground station receivers was called for. INSPIRE answered the call for ground observers by sending invitations to participate to ‘‘The Physics Teacher’’ at the 10,000 largest high schools in the US (of about 20,000 total). Articles publicizing INSPIRE were published in various science teaching journals, popular radio science publications, and newsletters (see, for example, Anonymous, 1991a,b, 1992; Ericson, 1991a,b; Mideke, 1991; Pine and Taylor, 1991; Reneau, 1991; Taylor et al., 1992; White, 1992). About 1200 schools (>10% of those solicited) responded with orders for the INSPIRE package. Thus, INSPIRE easily surpassed its first goal of increasing HSGS participation by a factor of 10. The packages were sold at cost and included a kit for a VLF receiver (redesigned to detect electric fields, rather than magnetic fields detected by the HSGS receivers), 250 pages of background and instructional material, an audio tape of expected phenomena and a promise to analyze any tapes that were sent to INSPIRE after the mission. Besides school groups, radio amateurs around the world also participated, including one in Saudi Arabia, and one wintering over at Palmer Station, Antarctica. From its promising beginnings as a US high school project, INSPIRE expanded to include coordination of an international network of ground stations, still primarily composed of teachers and students.
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An elaborate information distribution network was established to inform the participants of the experiment schedule, including hourly announcements on WWV (the US time and frequency shortwave radio station), announcements as needed on four electronic bulletin boards, and a toll-free telephone number with a recorded announcement that changed as new information became available. W. Pine participated in mission simulations and the mission, and coordinated INSPIRE activities at the Payload Operations Control Center during the mission. ATLAS 1 flew for about a week. The plan called for ten virtual antenna experiments over the US. The electron accelerator failed on its second virtual antenna operation, but many of the high schools participated in the backup listening schedule to study the changes in sferic (lightning impulse) propagation at sunrise. Some classes also performed computer analysis of the signals they received. Approximately 300 cassette tapes were sent to INSPIRE for analysis. Each team that sent tapes received in return at least one spectrogram of the data they had collected, a personal letter describing what they had observed from M. Mideke, who performed all the analysis, and a Certificate of Appreciation for participating. Despite the failure of the electron beam, teachers and students reported enthusiasm for INSPIRE. One student in a class featured on the Today in Space program on NASA Select television declared, ‘‘ItÕs like weÕre almost up there with the astronauts, you know, breathing the same breath. . .itÕs just real exciting.’’ When asked whether the project had been a success, in spite of failing to receive a signal from the electron beam, his teacher responded, ‘‘We had two teams, and they were on task, and they were doing it, and they were excited. And thatÕs. . .to me that worked.’’ The project gave many students a means of relating the science they learned in class to a real, practical experiment, and one that was being done cooperatively with NASA, using the Space Shuttle. The cadre of over 100 teams around the world has continued to participate since 1992 provides further evidence of the enthusiasm generated by the ATLAS 1 campaign, and demonstrates that INSPIRE did indeed meet its second goal of establishing a program of high school Physics classes around the country making observations of audio frequency radio waves on an ongoing basis. 2.3. The 1994 eclipse After the ATLAS 1 mission, INSPIRE established regular semi-annual campaigns to observe natural VLF radio phenomena (see Ongoing INSPIRE Activities, below) and sought additional opportunities for students to observe events of special interest, whether natural or artificially generated, as occasions arose. A
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major target of opportunity for a nationwide coordinated campaign fell on May 10, 1994, when an annular eclipse (http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/) swept across most of the US. Everywhere in the contiguous 48 states there was at least a 48% coverage of the solar disk with a maximum coverage of the sun of about 88% (Espenak and Anderson, 1993). Since the EarthÕs ionosphere is primarily created by solar ultraviolet radiation, and since radio waves in the audio frequency range propagate in the Earth-ionosphere waveguide, it was logical to assume that the eclipse would affect radio propagation and that the changes might be observable with INSPIRE or HSGS receivers. INSPIRE made the 1994 eclipse a major observational objective. High school classes observed before, during and after the eclipse. INSPIRE offered kits and completed electric field receivers for sale at cost to students, classes, teachers, amateur scientists and others to allow them to participate. Those who had previously obtained receivers for the ACTIVE (HSGS) or SEPAC (INSPIRE) initiatives were able to use them, of course. Publicity for radio wave observations during the eclipse included Mideke (1993) and Taylor (1993b,c). INSPIRE offered to analyze recorded data, using its network of volunteer analysts. More than 100 tapes were submitted and analyzed. 2.4. Shoemaker-Levy comet The Shoemaker-Levy Comet hit the Jovian atmosphere in July 1994. INSPIRE teams in Italy organized a special campaign to observe the phenomena with a widely dispersed group of VLF stations, recording from the very north to the very south of the Italian peninsula. The objective of the session was to understand if any triggered signals from Jupiter might have reached our atmosphere in the VLF range.
ball satellites and INSPIRE VLF radio receivers, the following scientific objectives were addressed: To study the interactions between the ionospheric plasma and the injected plasma and electrons. To understand the dynamics of the injected, artificial plasma in the ionosphere. To investigate the initial phase of plasma instabilities, the resulting electromagnetic emissions and their propagation in the ionosphere, magnetosphere, and atmosphere. To investigate effects of wave particle interactions. To meet these objectives, MIR operations were planned for two weekend periods each year, in April and November, starting in 1996. During these periods, Mir operations were scheduled over the US, Europe and Russia. INSPIRE participants recorded their observations on cassette tapes, which were sent to INSPIRE data analysts, who interpreted the VLF signals recorded on them, seeking, in particular, evidence of radio waves generated by the plasma injections from the Mir space station. 2.7. Observation campaign in Hessdalen valley, Norway In the summer of 2001, European INSPIRE participants collaborated with Ostfold College of Norway, in order to record VLF data in the Hessdalen Valley (http://www.hessdalen.org). Since 1984, Ostfold College and, later, the Italian Committee for the Hessdalen Project (http://www.itacomm.net) and the Radio Telescope of Medicina, Italy, have been researching intriguing phenomena associated with the appearance of random occurrences of light in the lower atmosphere. About 310 MB of data were recorded. Data analysis is proceeding.
2.5. Tethered satellite mission 3. Ongoing inspire activities During the joint ASI (Italian Space Agency)/ NASA Space Shuttle Tethered Satellite mission in February, 1996, European INSPIRE participants made observations to support the electromagnetic experiments being performed with the up to 20 km long wire between the Shuttle and the satellite. 2.6. Operations with Interball and Mir Beginning in 1996, INSPIRE teams participated in coordinated observations with the Russian Mir space station and the Russian Interball satellite program (http://www.iki.rssi.ru/interball.html). Instrumentation on the Mir space station injected plasma blobs and beams of electrons into the ambient ionospheric plasma. Using plasma and wave instruments onboard the Inter-
3.1. Meteor shower observations and balloon flights Yearly during the Leonids (and later Perseids) meteor shower period, a team of scientists and ham radio amateurs from MSFC fly a balloon to 30 km altitude. The balloon carries aerogels to capture micrometeoroids, a television camera to observe meteor trails, and starting in 1999, an INSPIRE receiver. Including the receiver was suggested by Flavio Gori from Italy, the INSPIRE European Coordinator. The objective was to observe VLF signals that might be generated by the meteors as they plunge through the atmosphere. Data is telemetered to the ground and streamed live over the internet. INSPIRE participants can make simultaneous observations themselves or can go to the website to hear the bal-
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loon data live at http://www.leonids.com or, to listen to the 2000 flight data, http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/ y2000/ast09nov_l.htm. 3.2. Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) The successful launch of NASAÕs Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) satellite on March 25, 2000, has provided ongoing opportunities for the network of INSPIRE observers to participate in cooperative experiments with a spacecraft. The Radio Plasma Imager (RPI) on the IMAGE satellite can transmit radio waves in the 3 kHz to 3 MHz frequency range, and propagation experiments from IMAGE to INSPIRE participants around the world were planned as part of the mission. The first observing campaign was conducted in November of 2001 (http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/campaign/whistler_ campaign.html) and the IMAGE team plans to schedule additional propagation studies as part of the extended mission.
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the same (actual, not clock) time, investigators can trace the propagation paths of large-scale events such as whistlers. Dates and observing protocols for the semi-annual observation campaigns, as well as the results from recent campaigns, are published in The INSPIRE Journal and on the INSPIRE web site (http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/ poetry/inspire). 3.4. Live INSPIRE data on the internet In late 2000, an INSPIRE receiver was permanently installed at MSFC, and live INSPIRE data has been streamed over the Internet since. A second receiver, at the University of Florida Radio Observatory, began operating in 2001. Both streams can be accessed from the main INSPIRE web site (http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/ poetry/inspire). Students who cannot make independent observations (either because they do not have access to good observing sites or funding for field trips, or because of other restrictions) can use these data streams to make INSPIRE observations from their classrooms or homes. The data can be recorded and analyzed, just like data from receivers that the students build.
3.3. Semi-annual observing campaigns Twice each year, in April and November, INSPIRE organizes a coordinated campaign of observations of natural VLF radio emissions. These are primarily the so-called atmospherics (or ÔsfericsÕ), which are broadband pulses of radio waves generated by nearby lightning strikes. Sferics are heard as popping or crackling static on AM radios. Less common among natural VLF emissions are ÔtweeksÕ, which are packets of radio waves from more distant lightning. The frequencies in a tweek have become dispersed in time as the waves travel through the ionosphere, so that the lower frequencies arrive slightly later. This dispersion results in the characteristic tweek sound when converted to an audio signal. Rarest of all are the ÔwhistlersÕ, generated by extremely distant lightning. Whistlers are packets of waves that have propagated along magnetic field lines, often originating in the hemisphere conjugate to the observer. These packets have become so dispersed that they are heard as whistles, sliding from a high pitch to a low pitch, when converted to an audio signal. Whistlers have sometimes bounced back and forth several times from hemisphere to hemisphere through the magnetosphere before being detected. For a more detailed discussion, see Helliwell (1982). Participating teams record ambient VLF signals at least one hour before dawn, at local sunrise, and at least one hour after sunrise. This recording schedule allows for observations at the time of greatest activity (near sunrise), and also for observations that overlap with those made by other teams across the US and elsewhere. By comparing recordings made in different locations at
4. Incorporating inspire activities into the high school curriculum 4.1. Workshops Since its earliest incarnation as the HSGS project for ACTIVE, INSPIRE has provided an extensive network of ground observers in support of basic space science research. Its primary goal, however, has always been to inspire studentsÕ interest in science learning and to promote the inclusion of authentic space science investigations in the high school science curriculum. Toward this end, INSPIRE staff have presented a series of workshops across the US, designed to familiarize high school teachers and students with the program and facilitate inclusion of INSPIRE projects as part of high school science courses. The inaugural workshop was held at Chaffey High School (http://www.chaffey.org/) in Ontario, California, in December 1990, to acquaint high school teachers and students with ACTIVE and HSGS. Fifty-four students and teachers from 17 high schools attended. W. Pine organized and ran the Workshop. While the workshop was intended primarily for schools in southern California, one teacher attended from Washington, DC. Since that time, workshops have been held in Washington, DC, Maryland, Alabama and Texas. The most recent workshop was held in 2001 at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) for teachers participating in NEW (NASA Education Workshop) Urban (see http://ivc.uidaho.edu/nasa/syllabus/gsfc_7_16urban.html).
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INSPIRE workshops offer an opportunity for high school teachers to connect with ham radio operators, researchers, and participants in previous INSPIRE campaigns, all of whom might serve as mentors to the high school teams. The workshops are primarily organized by local teachers and volunteers and offer an introduction to INSPIRE and its projects, to kit building (sometimes the students and teachers do not have the expertise to build the kits without help), and to site location and data gathering procedures. A workshop will usually be held on a Saturday, with INSPIRE participants, both teachers and students, attending. Workshops typically begin with a short talk by a national INSPIRE organizer, introducing INSPIRE and describing previous and planned projects. Next, the local organizer facilitates a discussion about organizing the local INSPIRE group. Finally, a talk by a representative of the local power company helps the teams to select observing sites that are free from interference from power line emissions. Then the participants typically break up into small groups to discuss how they will implement INSPIRE activities, and move on to build kits. A national INSPIRE representative attends each workshop to serve as a resource person and to lend continuity to the program.
the next INSPIRE campaign (March 2001), and to brainstorm about how INSPIRE activities might be included in their classes. The workshop mirrored the activities of an investigation team meeting after a successful space science proposal. The teachers then met again, this time with their students, to assemble and test the receivers. Next, students and teachers visited their selected observing sites to develop antenna and grounding assemblies for their receivers and make test observations of natural VLF radio phenomena in preparation for the semi annual campaign of natural radio observations planned for March of 2001. Again, these activities mirror the process of instrument development, assembly and calibration, common to space science investigations. Finally, the participating high school teams had the opportunity to analyze the data they obtained in the campaign and publish it in The INSPIRE Journal, a publication dedicated to INSPIRE observations. Fig. 1 shows a sample of data collected by the team from OÕConnor High School in San Antonio, Texas. These data were published in The INSPIRE Journal (Robinson, 2001), completing the final step in any space science investigation: dissemination of results to the community.
4.2. An example of student observations
4.3. Results of student survey
INSPIRE has provided many opportunities for teachers and their students to participate in all phases of an authentic space science investigation. Recent activities of a group of Central Texas INSPIRE participants are a case in point. A teacher from the San Antonio Northside Independent School District instituted this collaboration by contacting INSPIRE, soliciting colleagues (physics teachers in the district) to join her in the effort, and writing a proposal for funding to the district administration to support release time and supplies for an INSPIRE workshop. At this workshop, Central Texas physics teachers met to learn more about the instruments for, and science behind,
In 2002, one class of students (approximately 20) who had participated in INSPIRE for an entire year were surveyed about their participation and its effects on their attitude toward the study of science and their views of themselves as scientists. The survey was administered on the Internet, and participation in it was voluntary. Students were asked to provide open-ended responses to a series of questions: (1) How have you participated in INSPIRE? What specifically did you do? (2) Can you describe the purpose of the INSPIRE project?
Fig. 1. Frequency-time spectrogram of one second of VLF data recorded by students from OÕConnor High School, San Antonio, TX. Darker features are higher intensity. The dark lines with the sharp hooks at the bottom are ‘‘tweeks’’ that result when broad-band emissions from lightning are frequency dispersed as they propagate through the ionosphere from the source to the detector, lower frequencies arriving later.
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(3) What have you learned from the INSPIRE project? Have you learned anything that has helped you or will help you in school? Later in your career? Responses to the first question indicated that these students understood the purpose of the activity, and participated actively. Typical responses were ‘‘listened to solar wind, JOVE, lightening on the other side of Earth, etc.’’, ‘‘we set up the equipment in order to listen for chirps and whistles. . .we taped what we heard and we took turns’’, ‘‘I went to. . .listen to radio waves. I helped set up the equipment, record the waves and times-’’. Responses to the second question confirmed that the students viewed the INSPIRE observations not only as a fun activity, but also as authentic investigations. For example, one student wrote, ‘‘I think that INSPIRE works to get students involved in science which isnÕt an area that many students like. Just the prospect of participating in any program with NASA is a great opportunity that students would or should enjoy. At least, I did.’’ Another responded, ‘‘The purpose of the INSPIRE group is to teach willing students to learn how to apply physics to the actual world – what scientists actually do!’’. Responses to the third question indicated that most students (80%) felt that they had learned something useful and valuable from the program. For example, one student replied, ‘‘What I learned from that INSPIRE project is to my personal benefit. Physics has helped me understand how to apply calculus to it and it may help me later on in life with my career choice.’’ Another said simply, ‘‘I learned that science is actually interesting.’’ A final response highlights the importance for students of actually experiencing phenomena first hand: ‘‘The whistlers and tweeks are really interesting to hear. I think it will even help me [in] school because if we ever talk about this again, I will know how they [sound], and a great experience that was.’’ The survey also asked students to rank, on a Likert scale, how much they agreed with the statements ‘‘I can imagine myself being a scientist or engineer’’ and ‘‘I enjoy physics and think I am good at it’’, before and after participating in the INSPIRE program. A ranking of 1 indicated ‘‘not at all’’ and a ranking of 5 indicated ‘‘completely’’. Some students agreed with the first statement completely, even before the program began. Of those who did not, the average ranking was 1.3 before participating in INSPIRE, and 2.7 afterwards. This represents an average increase of 1.3, with a standard deviation of 0.57. Only one student completely agreed with the second statement beforehand, and also completely agreed afterwards. The average ranking for the remaining students beforehand was 1.25, and the average score afterwards was 3.25. This represents an average increase of 2 with a standard deviation of
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1.15. When students were asked to explain their rankings, one student explained her agreement with the second statement this way: ‘‘Physics is really interesting because you get to learn about a lot of things that we canÕt see with our eyes. If you knew something about waves, frequencies, or energy it gives you a better understanding because it expands the explanation towards things that you didnÕt know. Even though IÕm not that good at it I still think is interesting and fun to learn about.’’
5. Plans for the future INSPIRE will continue to support scientific investigations of VLF radio wave propagation through its US-wide coordinated observations of natural and manmade phenomena every spring and fall. The INSPIRE Journal will continue to be an important part of these activities. It will be issued in November and April of each year with INSPIRE news, activities and results. In addition, more high school Physics classes will be recruited to participate in INSPIRE, and to learn about space and NASA through the study of the ionosphere, lightning, electronics, mechanical and electrical construction techniques, data gathering procedures, and data analysis. Finally, to support these activities INSPIRE plans to hold workshops each year. High school teachers who are interested in having INSPIRE facilitate a workshop in their area should contact the project at http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/inspire/. INSPIRE will also continue to support space science research through special campaigns in conjunction with targets of opportunity. The next such opportunity is likely to be in coordination with the Russian/Australian microsatellite, Kolibri-2000 (http://www.iki.rssi.ru/kollibri/missionl_e.htm). Kolibri-2000 is equipped with instruments to measure and study the magnetic field and the radiation belts of the Earth. INSPIRE has been asked to organize coordinated radio observations during times of satellite observations, in partnership with the Interregional Public Organization, Microsatellite, a program to allow students to participate in a scientific/technical program of space research. Other participants include the Russian Space Research Institute (IKI), the Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, the Institute of Radio Wave Propagation, the Institute of Atomic Energy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Moscow State University, as well as pre-college schools in Russia and Australia. While the regularly scheduled observing campaigns provide ongoing opportunities to engage students in research, it is the observations in conjunction with special events whether natural, such as the 1994 eclipse and the
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collision of Comet Shoemaker-Levy with Jupiter, or artificial, such as the ATLAS 1/SEPAC virtual antenna operations and the upcoming Kolibri-2000 measurements, that serve to focus wide-scale public attention on space science, and bring large numbers of new members into the INSPIRE observing community. INSPIRE is continuously seeking new opportunities for its network of observers to participate in exciting scientific exploration. The authors encourage readers who may be aware of such opportunities to contact the project at http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/inspire to discuss possibilities for collaboration.
References Anonymous. Help wanted with shuttle experiment, QST, 42, 1, 1991a. Anonymous. Shuttle experiment to INSPIRE students, individuals to learn, Station Break, 3, 1-3, 1991b. Anonymous. Help wanted: Space Shuttle experiment needs volunteers, Science Probe!, 105, 1, 1992. Barstow, D., Geary, E., Yazijian, H., Schafer, S. Blueprint for change: report from the national conference on the revolution in earth and space science education. Available: http://www.earthscienceedrevolution.org/setting/nationalconf.cfm, 2002. Ericson, J.D. A Space Shuttle experiment with radio waves at audio frequencies: a joint NASA/high school/amateur experimenters research project, in: Presentation at the Joint AMSAT/ARRL Educational Workshop, Los Angeles, CA, November 8, 1991a. Ericson, J.D. Project INSPIRE: A VLF Space Shuttle experiment. 73 Amateur Radio Today, 22–27, 1991b. Espenak, F., Anderson, J. Annular solar eclipse of 10 May 1994, NASA Reference Publication 1301, 1993.
Helliwell, R.A. Whistler waves and the magnetosphere. The Stanford Engineer 6, 3–11, 1982. Mideke, M., Recruiting home-powered hams for a NASA electron beam experiment, Home Power, 74. Available: http://www.homepower.com/, December 1991/January 1992. Mideke, M. Natural radio news. The Lowdown 2, 2–4, 1993. National Research Council, National Science Education Standards, National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 1996. Pine, W.E., Taylor, W.W.L. INSPIRE your students. The Science Teacher 58, 33–35, 1991. Reneau, L. Calling all Hams. 73 Amateur Radio Today, 7, 1991. Robinson, K. OÕConnor High School, Helotes, TX, joins the ranks of INSPIRE. The INSPIRE Journal 9, 1–4, 2001. Roy, S. NASA engineers to operate center for monitoring leonids shower; scientists to launch balloon for clear view of leonids meteors, Marshall Space Flight Center News Release. Available: http://wwwl.msfc.nasa.gov/NEWSROOM/news/releases/1999/99281.html, 1999. Taylor, W.W.L., Mideke, M., Pine, W.E., Ericson, J.D. INSPIRE: premission. AlAA Student Journal 29, 20–27, 1992. Taylor, W.W.L., Moses, S.L., Neubert, T., Raganatan, S. Beam plasma interactions stimulated by SEPAC on ATLAS 1: wave observations, in: XXIVth General Assembly of the International Union of Radio Science, Kyoto, Japan, August 25–September 2, 1993. Taylor, W.W.L. The emissions from pulsed beams (Virtual antennas) emitted by SEPAC on ATLAS 1. Eos Trans. AGU 74, 469, 1993a. Taylor, W.W.L. INSPIRE/Eclipse-94: Amateurs and students to observe the ionosphere using sferics and other audio frequency waves. The Radio Scientist, 1993b. Taylor, W.W.L. INSPIRE/Eclipse-94: Radio science observations by students during the May 1994 eclipse. Solar News, 1993c. White, R. SAREX: talk to the crew of Atlantis during 1992Õs International Space Year. QST 43, 46–47, 1992.