Space Explorers

Summary: A multi-year personal commitment to minority high school students that focuses on Science, Math, Engineering and Technology (SMET) skills and careers. Components include the hands-on laboratories, residential experiences at Yerkes Observatory, activities at Adler Planetarium, and StarLab portable planetarium presentations to aprox. 2,000 elementary students a year.

The Summer Institute has been given a pedagogical overhaul to include more depth, a scientific theme, alignment with science standards, and more student-centered reporting.

A partnership with the Center for Adaptive Optics (CfAO) will help to ensure that the program will continue beyond the end of CARA.

We have begun pre-admissions college tours for juniors to partner schools in California.

The Space Explorers program is a multi-year commitment that aims to increase interest and abilities in math and science of African-American students from the inner city school system. This past year the Space Explorers Program has seen a number of changes and gone through a growth spurt due to new partnerships. However, the core structure of bi-weekly laboratories during the academic year and summer and winter residential experiences at Yerkes remains. As do the core principals of: (1) using hands-on (laboratory) activities; (2) providing multi-year involvement; (3) conducting residential experiences; and (4) assuring parental involvement (Matyas et al. 1991, Programs for Woman and Minorities, pp67-96, AAAS) and our critical partnership with the Office of Special Programs (OSP).

Activities during the past academic year were particularly technology rich. The autumn class focused on demystifying computers and included hands-on activities such as swapping boards, and installing CD-ROM drives. The second laboratory session was more closely linked to CARA research as the students, with the guidance of graduate student Dan Reichart, ventured into the invisible universe with radio astronomy. The term culminated with the students making a full sky map with a 4.5m radio telescope. The students filtered the raw data, identified sources, and then labeled sources and their location on the room sized celestial sphere they had constructed. The sphere was a particularly effective way to convey the three dimensionality of an astronomical search strategy, and it will be used by the undergraduate classes this Fall to teach the RA/Dec coordinate system.

Thirty-one Space Explorers attended the 1999 Yerkes Winter Institute which followed the traditional Yerkes Institute format of daytime labs and evening observations. In contrast, a number of changes were successfully introduced to the Yerkes Summer Institute. The changes were made for pedagogical reasons, primarily in recognition of the need to focus the content of the institute. The theme was changed from a celestial object to a common scientific phenomenon to conceptually link all the experiments. The theme for YSI'99 was waves and key concepts such as wavelength, frequency, transverse and longitudinal propagation were revisited and reinforced throughout the institute. Alignments with the local and national science standards were also highlighted for each lab. The overall number of labs was reduced, by moving from 8 to 6 daytime labs. This allowed more time to be devoted to each exploration, i.e., more depth and less breadth. In addition, the schedule was reorganized to allow groups to re-visit each lab after a meal break. This promoted greater reflection and sustained conversations. The daytime labs included: Polarization, Surf'n Waves (An

Introduction to Wave Properties), Spiral Galaxies/Density Waves, Speed of Light, Water Waves, and Sonar. In the latter part of the week, the thirty students were divided into six small analysis groups that each focused on a particular lab. In these groups students examined their own data and those of their peers during extended in-depth sessions. Most importantly, the formal group reporting was reorganized to include informal peer reporting in a scenario that we referred to as jigsaw sessions.

Student representatives from each analysis group were randomly assigned to a jigsaw group where they presented their analysis group's progress. Instructors and students alike found this peer interaction to be a high point of YSI'99. In addition to making each student more accountable, it helped to foster communication and critical thinking skills. Each student shared the results of their group's analysis. Other jigsaw members listened, asked questions and made and suggestions. Each analysis group also made presentations to Space Explorer parents where in essence the students became the instructors and their parents the students.

At weekly Adler workshops, the students focused on astronomy using the Project STAR curriculum (Coyle et al. 1993, Project STAR: The Universe in Your Hands, Kendal Hunt), developed their math skills, and trained in the operation of the StarLab portable planetarium. Older students also take leadership roles and present programs in elementary schools using a StarLab inflatable planetarium. This outreach effort greatly amplifies CARA's impact. During the past academic year 20 schools were visited and 1,718 students and 40 teachers and staff were exposed to astronomy and positive minority role models through this program.

Plans for the next year include expanding the program by incorporating a Wisconsin branch of the Space Explorers, organizing a summative evaluation of the first 10 years of the program, and using educator workshops as a vehicle to translate informal science activities developed with the Space Explorers into classroom curricula. At Yerkes the Space Explorer Program will be expanded to include the activities of Professor Kyle Cudworth and his Williams Bay branch of the Space Explorers. In collaboration with the newly formed STC Center for Adaptive Optics (CfAO), Hands on Universe, Adler Planetarium and Carthage College K-12 educators workshops for both in-service and pre-service teachers will be held that focus on optics and astronomy concepts. The ultimate goal of these enrichment experiences will be to develop classroom and multi-media curricula. We also plan to utilize these workshops and the Yerkes Institutes as vehicles to effectively involve CfAO researchers in outreach.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Antarctic exploration was the The Space Exploration of the day.

Antarctica was (and still is) a distant place visited by few, largely unknown and only recently brought to public awareness. Photographs were rare, moving pictures even more so and radio was in its infancy.

Exploration of this "Terra Incognita" was at the limit of possibilities, at the limits of logistical support, of physical endurance and technological capability.

Unlike space exploration however, determined individuals with relevant experience and the ability to generate and draw on support, particularly sponsorship, could mount an expedition. Any kind of scientific study was like dipping into a bran tub. You didn't know what you'd find, but you'd find something, it would be useful to science and probably hitherto unknown.

The curtain was opened on the "Heroic Age" when in 1895 the Sixth International Geographical Congress meeting in London adopted a resolution:

"That this congress record its opinion that the exploration of the Antarctic Regions is the greatest piece of geographical exploration still to be undertaken. That in view of the additions to knowledge in almost every branch of science which would result from such a scientific exploration the Congress recommends that the scientific societies throughout the world should urge in whatever way seems to them most effective, that this work should be undertaken before the close of the century."

Adventurous men were drawn to this arena like a magnet and over the period of just a few short years Antarctica was where some of the bravest and most worthy of explorers ever to have lived, met some of the harshest conditions ever endured.

Some of the expeditions succeeded in their aims, some didn't but succeeded in something that they hadn't set out to do. It was also of course the era that popularised the concept of the "heroic failure".

"Scott for scientific method, Amundsen for speed and efficiency but when disaster strikes and all hope is gone, get

down on your knees and pray for Shackleton."

Fortunately Antarctic exploration has been blessed with a whole host of men who were able to write about their experiences with eloquence and sensitivity. Uniquely in any field of exploration there was a coming together in a short period of a concentration of character, bravery and literary ability.

This is one of the reasons that the history of Antarctic exploration remains so popular and well known. The wealth of good quality records and original writings also makes the subject a rich one for researchers and historians.

Photography too is well represented in the early expeditions by Herbert Ponting with Scott's 1910-1913Terra Nova expedition and Frank Hurley with Shackleton's

1914-1917 Trans-Antarctic expedition aboard the Endurance. Their photographs not only provide us with an excellent and comprehensive historical record, but are superb examples of the photographers art, particularly when it is considered that they were accomplished with relatively primitive equipment in what were still very much the early days of photography.

Thus the subject becomes accessible and understandable. While distant, the early 20th century is still comfortably recent so that it doesn't seem like so "foreign" a time that is being described.

Contrast this for instance with space exploration and the moon landings that haven't resulted in a single quality piece of writing. Apart from seeing the video footage, we the public really know nothing of it, we don't understand the hardships, comradeship, rivalries or even the mundane day to day routines.

A final tragic chapter to many of these stories of the "Heroic Age" was that they took place in the years just before the First World War. Many of the adventurers and members of the exploratory parties joined their countrymen on the battlefields of Europe on their return from Antarctica. The Great War then took a terrible toll on their numbers. Despite their heroism and fortitude in the frozen south, many were due to die in the appalling industrialized waste of life that characterized this war.

The close of the Heroic age is generally taken coming with the death of Ernest Shackleton in 1922 from a heart attack while aboard the shipQuest at anchor at South Georgia. After this time Antarctic expeditions were fundamentally different, usually being much larger in scale and with back up if necessary able to summoned by radio. No longer would men set out completely alone and self contained on their adventure, the tale to be told either on their return or by the finding of their remains by later parties.

The Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration, though it happened a century ago now is still very real and very accessible thanks to the efforts and talents of

the men who chronicled and photographed the events as they happened.

Four names are pre-eminent in this era representing adventures that at times would be discounted as too fantastic if they had been written as works of fiction. In

alphabetical order, they are:

Roald Amundsen   Douglas Mawson   Robert Falcon Scott  Ernest Shackleton

Space Explorers: Astronomy Outreach at the Center for Astrophysical Research in AntarcticaJ. S. Sweitzer, D. A. Harper, L. Hawkins, R. G. Kron (U. Chicago), C. O. Brass and A. S. Whitt (Adler Planetarium)

The Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica (CARA) is an NSF Science and Technology Center that has been formed to take advantage of the South Pole as an observing site for infrared through millimeter wave astronomy. Besides its research mission, CARA conducts an educational outreach program for Chicago high school and grammar school students. The thirty high school students, called

Space Explorers, participate in an intense, multi-year program at three locations: Yerkes Observatory, on the U. of Chicago campus, and at the Adler Planetarium.

The Space Explorers program multiplies its efforts through the teaching and mentoring that the high school students do for younger students. Space Explorers reach nearly seventy students in the middle grades by leading astronomy clubs established in the middle schools that feed their high schools. Their largest impact, in terms of total numbers, is the 2,700 grammar school students that the Space Explorers teach yearly with the Adler Planetarium's portable Starlab planetarium.

The alliance of three unique organizations within the structure of an NSF STC has made this program possible. The U. of Chicago's Office of Special Programs offers the link to the students, parents and schools. The Adler Planetarium brings to the program unique facilities and expertise in astronomy education. Finally, the scientists, both within CARA and recruited from other University departments, enable the use of the U. of Chicago scientific resources. The Space Explorers program has been translated to a Wisconsin school district and is being studied as a model outreach program by educational institutions in three large cities. It is also serving as an excellent test-bed for exploring electronic learning circles, project based learning and adventure learning.

This program is supported by NSF grant DPP-8920223 and NASA contract NAGW-3252.

Antarctic Exploration 

Dear Fellow Explorers,

It's neat to think that there are some places on Earth we have not visited. Many people think of outer space as the next frontier–but there is still much to learn and understand about Antarctica, the deep ocean, the microscopic world–and even our own back yards! Sometimes I wonder if some of the places I work in Antarctica have been visited before; many of the maps we use of the ocean floor have large blank areas and there are no records that they have been explored.

Antarctica was the very last continent discovered. Though its existence was predicted for thousands of years, no one actually knew it was there! In the days of the Greek and Roman philosophers, people imagined that such a continent needed to exist at the bottom of the world to balance the top-heavy Northern Hemisphere. The Greeks named this mythical land "Antarktikos," land "opposite the Bear." The Great Bear constellation of "Arktos" was above the North Pole, and the Greeks and Romans imagined this hypothetical continent being opposite from it. (By the way, that Great Bear is known today as the Big Dipper.)

As explorers began to fan out across the globe from Western Europe, the mythical continent of Antarktikos was the target of many expeditions. The early explorers spent months, sometimes years, at sea searching for the elusive continent. They fought illness, hunger, loneliness, and bad weather, driven by dreams of tropical land masses and riches, seeking to fulfill desires for wealth, national pride, personal fame, and scientific discovery.

In the late 1700's, Captain Cook led a two year expedition that circumnavigated the Southern Ocean–and killed the dream that the Antarktikos was a tropical land mass filled with riches. Cook's crew never even saw Antarctica; they battled through thick pack ice, fog, and bad weather for two years before giving up and returning home to England. Cook and his crew concluded that if the continent did indeed exist, it was farther south, covered with ice, and virtually inaccessible. Despite their grim reports, many expeditions of sealers and whalers set out for the Southern Ocean to find the rich hunting grounds. Interestingly, these expeditions did not add much to our knowledge of the region because they wanted to protect their best fishing spots.

The next phase of exploration was driven by national pride and personal fame. Explorers set out for the glory of their own countries, each striving to be the first to reach the farthest point in the Southern Ocean, the first to discover the South Magnetic Pole, or the even more fertile fishing grounds that could bring wealth to the nation, the first to reach the South Pole, or the first to cross Antarctica.

These early explorers faced incredibly difficult conditions with far less preparation than we have today. The explorers of the 1800's and early 1900's knew far less about the lands they were exploring, and they had less technology to help them. (Of course, what we know now will be overshadowed by our technology and discoveries in the future!) Early explorers did not know the Antarctic environment and did not have the special foods, fabrics, and types of transportation we have in Antarctica today. Their courage, discoveries, and failures provided knowledge that would help future explorers prepare for their expeditions. Scott and his field team perished because, in part, they started for the pole too late in the summer season; knowledge of the seasonal temperature distribution would have aided their planning. Mawson's expedition lost one member and valuable supplies in a crevasse; today's expeditions often have maps of crevasse fields and experienced mountainers. Shackleton's ship Endurance was crushed by sea ice in the Weddell Sea, a difficult region to navigate; sea ice now can be monitored on satellite images and photography acquired by fly-overs, allowing ships to carefully plan their courses.

Scientific exploration, aided by new technology, really got underway in the 1920's. In 1929, Admiral Richard E. Byrd flew over South Pole–it was the first time much of Antarctica had been seen by air! Byrd's expedition ushered in rapid aerial surveys and aerial photos mapping of Antarctica and helped to establish advanced communications by radio.

Until 1950, explorers worked mostly in solitude, and mostly for the glory of just one country. But a group of scientists realized that exhaustive research could only succeed if teams began to pool talents and findings. In 1950 the International Council of Scientific Unions received a proposal for a collaborative study of Antarctica, called the International Geophysical Year (IGY). Sixty-seven countries were to participate, with Antarctic investigation as one of the two objectives–the second objective of the IGY was to explore aspects of outer space. The IGY began in 1957.

The cooperation of the IGY participants, and concerns that countries would make claims on the land, helped to bring about a more lasting form of international government. It began with the creation in 1957 of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) to manage the way scientists in Antarctica shared their research. Today, SCAR continues to offer guidance on issues of Antarctic scientific research and environment.

An even stronger resolution came about in 1959, when representatives of twelve nations met at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Washington, D.C. to create the Antarctic Treaty. The Treaty, which took effect since 1961, outlines international cooperation for scientific study in Antarctica. Among its mandates is the designation of Antarctica as a space for scientific, not military, research. The Treaty also puts aside any claims on Antarctica territories; the treaty does not resolve territorial claims and does not impact any existing claim in any way. In addition, no new claims can be made while the Treaty is in effect.

Today, many views of Antarctic ownership exist, but they fall into four basic groups.

Countries that believe Antarctica belongs to no nation, but is available for traditional claims on new territories (Argentina, Chile, Australia, France, New Zealand, Norway, United Kingdom)

Countries that do not recognize the claims (above), but reserve the right to make claims in the future (Russia, United States)

Countries that neither recognize claims by other countries nor make claims of their own

Countries that believe Antarctica is part of the common heritage of all humankind

Under the Antarctic Treaty, no country actually owns Antarctica or parts of Antarctica, and no country can exploit the resources of the continent while the Treaty is in effect. Periodically, the Treaty is reviewed and renewed. Other components are added, after the countries agree. Over time, the Antarctic Treaty has developed into the Antarctic Treaty System. The Antarctic Treaty System includes protection of seals and marine organisms and offers guidelines for the gathering minerals and other resources.

Twenty-six countries–the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties–oversee the Antarctic Treaty System. These nations have always had an active presence in Antarctica, and they maintain voting rights on Antarctic issues. Fifteen nations maintain "observer" status. Observer countries attend the meetings but cannot vote.

 Antarctica's international "government" is truly unique–what other area is totally governed by an international panel? What other region is protected for scientific investigation–for peaceful purposes only? I wonder why we can't use this model of government across the rest of our globe!

Exploration in Antarctica today is vastly different from its beginnings. Perhaps most notably, though the early explorers were all men from Western Europe, today, men and women (including me!) of all nationalities investigate the secrets of this last continent. Today's expeditions are founded on the discoveries made by earlier explorers; they are also made possible with advances in technology, rigid safety training and guidelines, and a cooperative international pursuit of understanding. And yet, while all of this has advanced our ability to comfortably visit this remote continent, the extreme conditions of the coldest, driest, windiest, highest continent, the same conditions that challenged the earlier expeditions, still challenge explorers today!