Published: June 15, 2007
This quarter, at the end of our school year, included student presentations of research projects. One student (Emily Petroff) did an independent project directly related to Spitzer research. Two teams of students did projects that included the use of a FLIR infrared camera. These students presented their work at the Aardvark Expo. Emily's project was titled "Variation In Star Formation Rate from Galaxy Cluster Center for cl1037." Her work was recognized at the Aardvark Expo with an award from the US Army, First Place in the Physics and Astronomy category, and an Aardvark Science Expo Best of Fair award. At ISEF she received the Priscilla and Bart Bok Second Place Award from the American Astronomical Society and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific; she also received the American Association of Physics Teachers Outstanding Physics Student of the Year Award. Emily also presented her work at the OES Science Symposium (April 27, 2007). She reported her work in the OES 2006-2007 Research Activity Journal (June 2007). Emily's cluster work is a direct benefit of the Spitzer Teacher Program and support from program mentors (Drs. Greg Rudnick, Rose Finn, and Vandana Desai). They plan to have data reduction of clusters completed by the end of the month. Emily will continue her project using data for cl1227 and cl1232 over the summer and into next year.
During this quarter, in the Research Activity, feedback was provided to students, including Emily, on the presentations they were preparing oral presentations for the Science Symposium, papers for the Activity Journal, and posters. Feedback on Emily's ISEF poster was provided by several teachers and by Dr. Greg Rudnick from the Spitzer Teacher Program. A secondary effect of the Program was in the presentation of posters. This year students were encouraged to prepare PowerPoint posters, such as those at the AAS meetings, rather than traditional student posters. These posters seemed easier to assemble.
Future plans include a continuation of student project(s) related to the infrared spectrum and to Spitzer program data, inclusion of the IR part of the spectrum in regular classes, and presentation of related teaching resources at the Oregon Science Teachers Association conference (October 12, 2007, Portland, apprx. 30 teachers).