PART 1: Weather Worlds Form Due This Friday
WEATHER WORLDS FORM DUE THIS FRIDAY!
Interested in getting your kids involved in a weather-measurement challenge? Check out the new Weather Worlds project at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/weatherworlds.html Please note, the Weather Worlds form to submit your class plan is due THIS FRIDAY, October 10! Weather Worlds offers two, new, exciting activities that are suitable for a wide range of classrooms at varying levels of sophistication and with varying amounts of time available for participation. The challenge is for students to figure out what key weather measurements they think are most important to gather on Earth, and how to obtain them by designing, building or acquiring instruments to collect these data. The Weather Worlds form is available at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/ptkwwone.html
Challenge Questions and brain teasers are back by popular demand! Not only have teachers have found them be fun and exciting, they also say that the questions get their students thinking! This is how it works. Challenge Questions are now an in-class activity only, which means that you won't be submitting your answers. Questions will be posted here, in the LFM Updates, once a week for the next five weeks. (This will take us right up to the next live broadcast on November 13, "LFM #5: Today on Mars.") The answer to each Challenge Question will appear the following week in LFM Updates, along with a new question. CQ#1: Where and what was the lowest Martian temperature ever recorded? Hint #1: It wasn't recorded by either of the Viking spacecraft. Hint #2: It came during a less than four-minute period. Hint #3: You could say that Sojourner was still asleep while Pathfinder was at work recording these data. Look here for the answer next week. Have fun!
MISS THE MARS PRESS BRIEFINGS? LOOK HERE...
If you missed the Mars Global Surveyor press briefing on October 2, go to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/video/gs/ where you will find a RealAudio archive and supporting visuals of the event. The Pathfinder science team participated in a news briefing on October 8. To listen and view the RealAudio/Video file go to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/video/news/
SPREAD THE WORD
NASA management demands that our projects reach large audiences. "Why should we fund you next fiscal year if you're only reaching a handful of people" is the notion. So Quest needs to find more ways to grow our audience. If we were Coca-Cola, we would spend billions to saturate media markets. But we are the United States government, by the people for the people. We're hoping that our grassroots fans will help us spread the word about Quest. Suggested activities are available to those who can take a little time to pitch in. Public Service Announcement Quest made a 30-second commercial about what we do. As commercials go, it is very cool. We need for people to contact their local TV stations to see about placing the Quest ad on air. In just one hour of work, you could help get Quest's name out to thousands. Please see: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/common/psa Photo Cards and one-page handouts We produced 12 different photo cards, each with a colorful NASA picture, cutesy poem and the Quest URL. People like getting them. Also, we have a one-page handout on the Sharing NASA series. We'd be happy to send oodles of these to you if you can faithfully distribute them to other teachers. If you are speaking at a teacher conference or will otherwise be in a position to distribute the material, please send a note with the specifics to Marc Siegel at: email@example.com Don't limit yourself to just these ideas. Besides teachers, we also want to inform the general public about Quest. Consider writing a letter to the editor of your local town paper. Is a card table in front of the grocery store for you? Or maybe you can think of other ways to help spread the word. If you do help, we'll be very grateful. And you can sleep knowing you've contributed to a real NASA mission. Also we'll want to reward your efforts with a NASA party pack. This is a fat envelope stuffed with pictures, posters, cards and other NASA doodads. You'll want to have one. So get busy spreading the word and then let us know.
YOUR CHANCE TO SHINE
Over the next few months, NASA's Quest team will be rolling out a series of online courses, workshops and events. These live activities will demonstrate the Internet's capabilities while disseminating content in two broad areas: NASA-related (space/aero) and education technology. This so-called "Learning Technologies Channel" (LTC) will be making news in the upcoming months (see http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc). Coming this autumn...on Quest. An early LTC series is about how teachers have really used Sharing NASA projects (like Live From Mars) with students. These on-the-ground lessons learned will help newcomers best take advantage while avoiding dead ends. NASA is looking for volunteers to tell their story. You'll have 20 minutes to tell your tale. The sound of your voice, graphics and transcriptions will blast your wisdom around the world. Quest will handle all of the technical issues, leaving you to focus on sharing your experience. The following topics are under consideration. Consider if you have 20 solid minutes on: * chats with NASA experts * student-student chats * email Q&A * teacher-to teacher lists like discuss-lfm * collaborative activity * publishing student work online * student stumpers: kids make up questions for other kids * background section * using updates list (email only), with no Web in classroom * activities for photo section * accessing the teacher's guide * reading bios and field journals * acting as a smart filter * use of the material by college students * other categories we plum forgot Though we can't pay for this, we can let you shine in a visible environment. Please write me (firstname.lastname@example.org) if you have an interest in being part of this new Learning Technologies Channel adventure. Be sure to specify which session you would like to develop from your own real experience. Thanks, Marc Siegel
JOIN SATELLITE TOWN MEETING ABOUT INTERNET
"Preparing Classrooms for the Future: Ensuring Access to the Internet" is the title of a Satellite Town Meeting on October 21, from 8-9 p.m., EST. Secretary Riley and Linda Roberts, special advisor on Technology, will host a panel discussion on how schools and libraries can gain access to the Internet and use it as a tool for learning. The discussion will focus on the recent Federal Communications Commission ruling that will make available up to $2.25 billion in discounts to schools and libraries for telecommunications services (E-rate), beginning in January 1998. Panelists will also discuss how schools and libraries can develop technology plans & prepare to apply for the E-rate. This Satellite Town Meeting is available at no cost. For further information and to register: send email to: Satellite_Town_Meeting@ed.gov Fax to: 202-401-0689 call: 1-800-USA-LEARN
MARS PATHFINDER MISSION STATUS
[Editor's note: This status report was prepared by the Public Information Office, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.] October 7, 1997 The Mars Pathfinder operations team reestablished communications with the lander today, on Sol 92 of the mission, after four days of silence from the spacecraft. The team received a transmission from the spacecraft's main transmitter. The signal was detected using the Madrid, Spain 34-meter antenna. No data were received, but receipt of a spacecraft signal indicates that the lander is operational and the battery is off-line. Meanwhile, the rover, which is programmed to begin a contingency sequence when it has not heard from the lander for five days, started that activity on Sol 90. In this mode of operation, the rover is instructed to return to the lander and begin circling it. The Mars Pathfinder operations team will repeat commands tomorrow night, on Sol 93, to verify two-way communications with the lander's main transmitter and attempt to return engineering data on the health of the lander and rover. If successful, that information would be returned the following day, on Sol 94 of the mission.
SUBSCRIBING & UNSUBSCRIBING: HOW TO DO IT!
If this is your first message from the updates-lfm list, welcome! To catch up on back issues, please visit the following Internet URL: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/updates To subscribe to the updates-lfm mailing list (where this message came from), send a message to: email@example.com In the message body, write these words: subscribe updates-lfm CONVERSELY... To remove your name from the updates-lfm mailing list, send a message to: firstname.lastname@example.org In the message body, write these words: unsubscribe updates-lfm If you have Web access, please visit our "continuous construction" site at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars