Sally Ride Science - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

About Sally Ride Science

Sally Ride Science was founded in 2001 by Sally Ride

Sally Ride

Sally Kristen Ride is an American physicist and a former NASA astronaut. Ride joined NASA in 1978, and in 1983 became the first American woman—and then-youngest American, at 32—to enter space...

, America's first woman in space, to develop and provide classroom materials, programs and professional development opportunities for K-12 educators. The company, based out of San Diego, California, maintains a strong focus on science, technology, engineering and math education among elementary and middle school students and the real-world applications of these concepts. The science books, student programs and professional development programs place a strong emphasis on gender and racial equality in the classroom and provide role models of working scientists, engineers and mathematicians who exemplify this diversity in their respective fields.

Classroom Materials

Sally Ride Science provides both individual science books as well as full classroom sets on the following topics:

Space
Climate change
The environment
Key Concepts in Science
Cool Careers in Science
Earth's precious resources

Sally Ride Science also recently partnered with PASCO scientific to develop interactive SPARKlabs that supplement Sally Ride Science Key Concepts. The labs feature sensor-based data collection and analysis capabilities for classroom experiments that give students hands-on learning experiences.

Classroom Programs

EarthKAM

Sponsored by NASA, EarthKAM (Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students) is an educational outreach program allowing middle school students to take pictures of Earth from a digital camera on board the International Space Station. Enrollment into an EarthKAM mission is free and allows students to plot where pictures will be taken, then observe and analyze the results, which are posted on the EarthKAM website.

The project, initially called KidSat, was initiated by Dr. Sally Ride in 1995. The KidSat camera flew on three space shuttle flights (STS 76, 81 and 86) to test its feasibility. In 1998, the program was deemed successful and renamed to EarthKAM. The EarthKAM camera flew on two additional space shuttle flights (STS 89 and 99) before finding its permanent home onboard the International Space Station in 2001. The EarthKAM camera conducts approximately four missions each year.

According to the EarthKAM website, "The EarthKAM Mission Operations Center (MOC) is located at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and is modeled after NASA’s Mission Control Center at Johnson Space Center (JSC). The mission team targets, requests, and retrieves images from the International Space Station and communicates with JSC in the MOC for all EarthKAM missions. A staff of UCSD undergraduate students and EarthKAM advisors support and maintain the MOC year round."

GRAIL MoonKAM

In the fall of 2011, NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission will launch twin spacecraft in side-by-side orbits around the Moon to measure its gravity in unprecedented detail. On top of answering important questions about the Moon's internal structure, the mission will give scientists a better understanding of how our solar system formed.

GRAIL MoonKAM will allow classrooms to request pictures of the Moon's surface from cameras on the satellites and, similar to EarthKAM, students will be able to analyze the images when they are posted to the GRAIL MoonKAM website.

Sally Ride Science Festivals

Multiple Sally Ride Science Festivals are hosted throughout the year on college campuses across the country. These student-centered events are designed for 5th-8th grade girls and feature science games, experiments and workshops as well as guest speakers, food and music. Since, 2001, Sally Ride Science has held approximately 85 festivals. There are expected to be about three to four Sally Ride Festivals held in 2011.

Professional Development

Sally Ride Science Academy sponsored by ExxonMobil

In 2009, Sally Ride Science hosted its first Academy in San Diego, CA, giving 111 teachers and administrators tools to help increase students’ interest in science. The 4-day professional development event, sponsored by ExxonMobil, is offered to teachers and administrators by district invitation only and participants are encouraged to train other teachers in their districts on the Academy curriculum.

In 2010, the Sally Ride Science Academy expanded its efforts, holding two upper-elementary Academies in San Diego and one in Washington, D.C. with a focus on middle school education. These three conferences brought together nearly 300 teachers from 37 school districts across the country. Because of the Academy’s “train the trainer” model, it’s estimated that about 2,500 teachers and 45,000 students have reaped the benefits of the program so far.

Educator Institutes

Since 2007, Sally Ride Science has held Educator Institutes across the country to provide an opportunity for teachers to connect with scientists on various subjects such as climate change and space missions. The one- to two-day programs provide elementary and middle school educators with hands-on science activities and materials to take back to their classrooms to enhance their students’ learning experience, while giving teachers a better understanding of the topics covered. Registration is open to the public and events are held a few times each year.

American College of Education

Beginning in October 2011, American College of Education will offer a Master's Degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a Sally Ride Science concentration as well as an online Sally Ride Science professional development program offering Continuing Education Units for science educators. The curriculum was developed by Sally Ride Science and focuses on enhancing elementary and middle school science curriculum with research-based techniques for engaging learners and providing a foundation for inquiry-based teaching.

External links

American College of Education's Sally Ride Science programs

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