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Mapping the Moon: Simulating LOLA in the Classroom
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This Web Seminar, sponsored by the NASA, took place on May 13, 2008, from 6:30 p.m.
to 8:00 p.m., Eastern Time. Presenting was
Don Higdon,
a Senior Instructional Designer at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
Assisting Mr. Higdon on the chat window and programming a robot was
Dr. Susan Hoban,
a NASA Astronomer who works with the Goddard Earth Science Technology Center also
at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. The title of the presentation was:
The Search for Lunar Ice.
This web seminar was the second of two related to the NASA Symposium: Mapping the
Moon: Simulating LOLA in the Classroom that took place at the NSTA National Conference
on Science Education in Boston, Massachusetts. In this program the presenters led
the participants in a simulation activity to program a robot to move from its “landing
site” to another predetermined location on “LunarLand.” Participants worked in teams,
using breakout rooms, to design the instructions for the robot and then provided
those instructions to the presenters to program the robot and test. A web cam was
used to see the robot moving through “LunarLand” to determine success. The mission
was accomplished after two trials. The Web seminar was designed for educators of
grades 4-12.
Forty-five (45) participants were present at the live Web Seminar in addition to
the presenter and NSTA staff. Participating educators represented the states of
California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota,
Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania,
Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Seminar participants received a
one year subscription to one of NSTA’s SciGuide for completing the evaluation form
at the end of the program.
Here are some comments provided by the participants at the end of the Web Seminar:
- "This was the best web seminar I've attended so far. Lots of opportunity for
involvement by participants.”
- “Thanks for another great seminar. I am so glad that I found them and
signed up for them!”
- “Group work is important in middle school and many students will have to
work with groups in the workforce-this is a great example.”
- “I really enjoyed the programming aspect. And when it didn't work the first
time, it took us a while to figure out what we did wrong. Good problem.”
Thanks to the participants and the presenters for the learning opportunity, the
interactions, and a job well done!
Websites
For more information contact webseminars@nsta.org
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Underwritten in part by NASA |