Saghalie Middle School Science Teacher Attends NASA Workshop

Saghalie science teacher Venu Bhat holds a weather balloon during a NASA workshop this summer.

Venu Bhat, a science teacher at Saghalie Middle was one of 21 educators nationwide to attend the fourth annual MY NASA DATA workshop at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, from June 22 to 27.

The MY NASA DATA (MND) workshop provides a real-world professional development opportunity that incorporates authentic data collected by NASA satellites, weather balloons and other sources. The MND program offers educators in math and science relevant tools for teaching that are both standards based and challenging for students. This year's workshop goals allowed teachers to access and explore NASA Earth system science data and develop lesson plans to share these data with their students.

"The students will be able to use actual NASA data as we learn key Earth science concepts and develop inquiry and problem solving skills," Bhat says. Even more important to Bhat is that students are very receptive to lessons applying directly to their world. "The MND experience will directly influence what we do in the classroom," Bhat says, "Because our curriculum stresses Earth and space science, and using scientific inquiry."

"There is an educationally effective blend of content lectures, tours, directed practice, and self-guided exploration of the technology," says Susan Moore, a member of the MND team. "Enthusiastic about their profession, our team of teachers have developed networking opportunities and lesson collaborations among one another."

The importance of scientific inquiry and reflection to advancing student knowledge was a common thread in this year¹s discussion. These processes are important skills in scientific studies and are not techniques children learn from a textbook. Scientific inquiry and reflection motivate students to think in deeper levels.

Lin Chambers, an atmospheric scientist at NASA Langley who developed the MND program, is pleased with the growth and progress she sees in the program. "Being the fourth workshop, we have definitely learned from past experience," Chamber says. "We can provide a quality experience for our teacher participants."

To find out more about MY NASA DATA and workshop availability, go to:

http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov

July 28, 2008