Los Alamos Earth and Space Science Academy
The Los Alamos Earth and Space Science Academy is a professional development experience designed for teachers working at the middle school level. The program provides selected participants with a combination of classroom, laboratory, and field activities in Earth and space science subject matter. The goal of the program is to boost participant content knowledge by way of genuine research experiences at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The Earth science component will involve significant fieldwork in the geologically diverse and accessible Northern New Mexico landscape. Participants will perform sample collection and analysis activities in support of the Rio Grande Rift field study. In the process, participants will be able to appreciate the connection between fundamental Earth science processes and some of the significant problems facing society today. Research projects in Earth science currently underway at Los Alamos address problems such as:
- Underground storage of radioactive waste and waste carbon
- Flow of water in the subsurface
- Migration of toxic materials via geological features
- Airborne pollutants and polar melting effects
- Predicting and preparing for earthquakes
- Energy security
The space science component will consist of lectures and hands-on laboratory instructional materials designed for middle school teachers. The focus of the space science component will highlight a variety of interactions between the Sun, Earth, and other Solar System bodies. The Sun has an important role to play as a potentially significant contributor to global power production. At times the Sun can also wreak havoc on terrestrial power and data transmission systems.
An overview of relevant physics topics will be followed by detailed treatments of the following topics:
- The role of space science in the US Department of Energy mission
- Solar wind and space “weather”
- Magnetospheres at home and abroad
- Data collection and analysis in heliophysics
- How space science helps improve our understanding of Earth
Throughout the three summers of this program, teacher participants will be provided with opportunities to share what they already know about excellent science instruction as well as develop new pedagogical skills.
For information regarding the LAESSA contact Scott Robbins by phone (505-667-3639) or email (srobbins@lanl.gov).