Teacher Survey for ThinkSpace Seasons Lab |
Introduction
Dear Middle School Science Teacher,
We're looking for your feedback and interest regarding a new project.
We're looking for your feedback and interest regarding a new project.
With funding from the National Science Foundation, teachers and researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and Penn State University have developed an innovative 8-session curriculum designed to help middle-school students understand why we experience Seasons. This is a key concept in the Next Generation Science Standards that many students struggle to understand. The team is also researching how model-based study of spatially rich topics like Seasons can help to support students’ spatial reasoning, a skill that has been shown to be improvable through practice, and which is critical for success in many STEM fields. The free WorldWide Telescope (WWT) computer program is used in the curriculum (called a “ThinkSpace Lab”). The highly interactive nature of the WWT program, which offers time controls, user-controlled viewing locations, and a rich, realistic 3D environment, has been shown in prior research to engage students and to improve their understanding of these challenging topics. Interactive WWT visualizations are used in conjunction with hands-on models to help students visualize the complex phenomena that lead to Seasons. Video and web-based versions of the WWT content allow students access without having to install WorldWide Telescope.