SIR-C Education

The following SIR-C education projects have been undertaken. Individuals may request a copy of the CD-ROM's, or view them on-line.

Some students made reports based on their experience with the SIR-C mission. In the summers of '92 and '93, through the combined efforts of the Johns Hopkins' Center for Talented Youth and Earthwatch's Challenge Awards program, eleven students from across the country worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory assembling the crew notebook for shuttle mission STS-59, the Space Radar Laboratory.(SRL) This April, three of those students followed up on that, working at Johnson Space Center in Houston (Mission Control) as crew support during the actual mission.
In order to make the pretty color images at the Picture Gallery, we have to start from multichannel radar images. Here is an example of how this is done. (If you autoload images, you will have to load about 750K)

The mission overview document is an extensive description of the science objectives of the SIR-C mission, and the planned activities of the SIR-C science team.

SIR-C Education Program

The SIR-C educational program was initiated in 1992. A package consisti ng of a CD-ROM, a video collection, and a printed teacher's guide was generated during the summer of 1993 using help from students and teachers from the Los Ang eles area. Teachers' workshops were held in December 1993 and March 1993 to fa miliarize teachers with the basics of radar image analysis and the use of the CD -ROM. Over 2500 CDs have been distributed so far to other educators nationwide. SIR-C/X-SAR science team members have been working with teachers and students at US supersites and will participate in field activities during the mission.

The SIR-C education program is an initiative based around the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's imaging radar program and is designed for middle school and high school students. The goals of this initiative are to:

  1. Help improve the overall performance of US students in middle school and high school in mathematics, science and geography, in accordance with the n ational goals for education.
  2. Provide an easy-to-use set of resources for teachers in the modern c lassroom.
  3. Spark students' interest in earth science, mathematics, computing, g eography, physics and engineering as subjects they might consider for college.
  4. Encourage students to think about their environment and how to monit or it.

SUPERSITE ACTIVITIES

Education activities during the mission will be carried out at the Duke Forest, North Carolina; Death Valley, California; Raco, Michigan; and Chickasha, Oklahoma supersites.

Duke Forest, North Carolina Supersite

The education principal investigator at the Duke Forest supersite is Eri c Kasischke from Duke University. The teacher contact is Shaun Davidson, from Riverside High School, Durham, North Carolina, where the SIR-CED program has be en integrated into the Earth science curriculum. Duke Forest is an ecology supe rsite. Twenty-four students are involved with field activities. Students have been trained in field sampling techniques and will be measuring forest propertie s during the flight to compare with maps that will be generated from the SIR-C/X -SAR data.

Death Valley, California Supersite

The education principal investigators at the Death Valley calibration an d geology supersite are Anthony Freeman from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and R onald Greeley from the Arizona State University. Teacher contacts are Chris La zardi, Southgate High School, 3351 Firestone Boulevard, South Gate, California 9 0280, telephone: (213)567-2333 and John Lisle, Beatty High School, Bill Rogers, Crescenta Valley High School, 4400 Ramsdell Avenue, La Crescenta, California 912 14, telephone: (818) 249-5871. At this site one student helped construct a prot otype radar receiver and 3 students and 1 teacher accompanied field crew to Deat h Valley to help put up wind towers and corner reflectors. Approximately 20 ad ditional students and teachers will assist with field measurements including soi l moisture and surface roughness during the mission.

Raco, Michigan Supersite

The education principal investigator at the Raco ecology supersite is Cr aig Dobson. The teacher contact is John Russell, The Pioneer High School, 601 N orth Stadium Boulevard., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48103, telephone (313) 994-2126. fa x (313) 994-2198. To date, a workshop for 30 local teachers has been held and ~ 300 students have been exposed to the SIR-CED material. A CD-ROM home-loan pro gram was implemented and found to be very successful. As a result of this activ ity this school has received a grant for computer equipment. For the Raco site , near real-time data analysis is planned for the first flight and ground truth (leaf sizes, tree types) is planned during the second flight.

Chickasha, Oklahoma Supersite

At the Chickasha hydrology supersite, the education principal investigator is Te d Engman and the teacher contact is Donna Coshow, Ninnekah High School, Box 275, Ninnekah, Oklahoma 73067, telephone: (405) 224-4299, fax: (404) 224-4347. At the site, 15 students are working with the SIR-CED program. These students will make field measurements of water quality and soil moisture levels during the mi ssion.

For further information regarding the SIR-CED CD-ROM, please contact the:

EROS Data Center

ATTN: Customer Services

Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57198

Phone: (605) 594-6116

Fax: (605) 594-6589

You may also check the SIR-C/X-SAR student folder on internet jplinfo.jpl.nasa.g ov/137.78.104.2)

5/11/94


Imaging Radar Home Page

Updated 1/6/94
bruce.chapman@jpl.nasa.gov