Chelen Johnson
This virtual team collects all independent research presented in 2010, and done by NITARP or Spitzer alumni with students outside of a formal NITARP team. Four different teams presented results in 2010!
NITARP is without a doubt one of the two most valuable pieces of professional development work I have done in 25 years of teaching, and by far the most rewarding content-related work. I think that what you are doing is really unusual and valuable.
Our kids did a fantastic job of interacting with the many astronomers and educators that came to see our poster. They were poised and knowledgeable and handled questions with ease. I heard many compliments not only about the students explanation of our work, but also about the great job they did constructing their poster.
So many of us science teachers do labs where the end is known (which is sometimes necessary to make sure they fit in a class period and that the students understand the concept we're trying to learn) but that's not really science.
