UKCA-NASA Astrobiology Summer Academy 2014
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Edinburgh
Department Name: Sch of Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
The UK Centre for Astrobiology (UKCA)-NASA Astrobiology Summer Academy is a summer school run in July 2014 designed to give teachers and high school students the opportunity to experience research, engage with scientists and work at the interface of some of the most exciting cutting edge questions in science today such as: How did life originate on the Earth? Is there life elsewhere? The academy builds on our highly successful 2013 pilot scheme.
The summer school is split into two weeks. One week is for teachers and one week is for students. In this proposal to STFC, we seek funding for just the teacher segment of the academy. The aims of the academy during this week are as follows:
> Expose teachers to researchers and the excitement of taking part in real science.
> Give teachers ideas in astrobiology and interdisciplinary science that can be incorporated into lesson plans and the national curriculum.
> Develop focused, fully integrated lesson plans that can be transplanted directly from the academy to the school environment, thus achieving national impact.
> Building a cadre of astrobiology teachers that can work with us in the future in advancing astrobiology teaching in the UK.
The legacy of this project will be to generate new lesson plans that will aid in delivering national curriculum, specifically using astrobiology to teach information across interdisciplinary boundaries, where some of the world's major questions and challenges lie (e.g. climate change, resource limitation). We see astrobiology as a vehicle for teaching wider ideas in science, communication and collaborative working through teachers.
The summer school is split into two weeks. One week is for teachers and one week is for students. In this proposal to STFC, we seek funding for just the teacher segment of the academy. The aims of the academy during this week are as follows:
> Expose teachers to researchers and the excitement of taking part in real science.
> Give teachers ideas in astrobiology and interdisciplinary science that can be incorporated into lesson plans and the national curriculum.
> Develop focused, fully integrated lesson plans that can be transplanted directly from the academy to the school environment, thus achieving national impact.
> Building a cadre of astrobiology teachers that can work with us in the future in advancing astrobiology teaching in the UK.
The legacy of this project will be to generate new lesson plans that will aid in delivering national curriculum, specifically using astrobiology to teach information across interdisciplinary boundaries, where some of the world's major questions and challenges lie (e.g. climate change, resource limitation). We see astrobiology as a vehicle for teaching wider ideas in science, communication and collaborative working through teachers.
Planned Impact
The lesson plans we create are to be first tested in the schools from which our selected teachers come from. Then they will be available nationally. We plan to make them available through a wide diversity of outlets, including National Science Learning Centres, NASA Astrobiology Institute, our own web site. One responsibility of teacher involvement with the academy is that they have an active role after the academy in the transmission and implementation of lesson plans.
Our overall academy structure is openly available to others. We expect that our experience will aid others in planning astrobiology outreach opportunities.
Our evaluation data will be available to other people running teaching training schools and academies and similar ventures elsewhere through our web site.
The academy structure, experiences, evaluation data and any other information of use to dissemination will all be made available on the academy web site (www.astrobiologyacademy.org). This will be our chief tool for dissemination.
We have also established a very successful web book page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/481206838624119/ which is open to all teachers and students on the academy.
Our overall academy structure is openly available to others. We expect that our experience will aid others in planning astrobiology outreach opportunities.
Our evaluation data will be available to other people running teaching training schools and academies and similar ventures elsewhere through our web site.
The academy structure, experiences, evaluation data and any other information of use to dissemination will all be made available on the academy web site (www.astrobiologyacademy.org). This will be our chief tool for dissemination.
We have also established a very successful web book page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/481206838624119/ which is open to all teachers and students on the academy.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Charles Cockell (Principal Investigator) |
| Description | The academy produced new lesson plans that are now being used in secondary schools across the UK |
| Exploitation Route | We continue to run the astrobiology academy each year. |
| Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Environment |
| URL | http://www.astrobiologyacademy.org/ |
| Description | The academy has produced new lesson plans that are being used in secondary schools across the UK. Over 1000 teachers for example have accessed the lesson plans from TES resources. We continue to produce new lesson plans each year, |
| First Year Of Impact | 2014 |
| Sector | Education |
| Impact Types | Societal |
| Description | Astrobiology Summer Academy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The activity is about bringing secondary school teachers together to write lesson plans and make them available for secondary school teaching in astrobiology using astrobiology to teach science subjects across a range of disciplines. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011,2015,2016 |