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  • IPAC

Summer Visit - 2022 - fIRes

The summer visit to Caltech is 4 days long and is the only time during the year of work when all the participants on the team come together in person to work intensively on the data. Generally, each educator may bring up to two students to the summer visit that are paid for by NITARP, and they may raise funds to bring two more. The teams work at Caltech; the summer visit typically includes a half-day tour of JPL, which is a favorite site for group photos. Reload to see a different set of quotes.

The fIRes team came to visit in July 2022. The 5 core team educators attended, plus 9 students.

Quotes

  • [student:] This experience definitely changed the way I think about astronomers. I wasn't aware of how complex and tedious the work they did was. Definitely opens my eyes to the complexity of figuring out information about distant objects.
  • Astronomers must have a strong work ethic and be able to persevere through challenges. Astronomers must develop creative solutions to problems and be able to ask questions, including questions that arise as they work through data. They must be good at distinguishing patterns.
  • My advice for teachers is to allow students space to formulate their own ideas. Students need the opportunity to struggle and make mistakes alongside their teacher. It’s okay not to be the expert - it’s meaningful to model struggling right along with your students.
  • [student:] An astronomer requires a large work ethic. The thing about space is that not all questions have an answer. You have to work towards a finish line that you can't see and that may not even be there. Perseverance is a huge part of it too!
  • [student:] Also, make sure to work hard. Not only for your own good, but for the people who are working with you. You are a team and no team can be run by a single person.

Related Teams

Summer Visit - 2022 - fIRes