Chelen Johnson
This virtual team collects all independent research presented in 2013, and done by NITARP or Spitzer alumni with students outside of a formal NITARP team. In 2013, we have one article in The Physics Teacher, and one poster on young stars.
Finally much of the [AAS 2009] invited talk by Eugene Churazov on Galaxy Clusters and Black Holes I found to be understandable because he used many equations from ideal gas laws that are familiar to high school teachers and their students. In talking with Dr. Churazov after his talk, he re-emphasized how far one could go on this topic with these familiar and seemingly simple equations.
[I did not anticipate] meeting a Nobel Prize Winner – Saul Perlmutter – and getting a picture with him.
The most valuable learning in high school arises when students take ownership of the content. Project such as the analysis of NASA telescope data, provide some optimal examples of this type of learning experience.
