NASA, Center For Mathematics And Science Education, Team Up To Form Resource Center

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Arkansas teachers can bring their students closer to outer space through a new NASA center at the University of Arkansas.

The Center for Mathematics and Science Education (CMASE) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration will host the dedication of the Arkansas NASA Educator Resource Center (NASA ERC) at 1:15 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11 in Ozark Hall room 106.

Officials from the Arkansas Space Grant Consortium and from NASA will be at the dedication. NASA officials on campus will include John Wood, lead optical engineer at the Goddard Space Flight Center for NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, Tom Devlin, a nationally recognized NASA scientist and educator, and Steve Cullivan, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's aeronautics educator. NASA exhibits will be on display, including a life-sized mock-up of one of the space shuttles.

Through this center, Arkansas public, private and home school teachers will have access to NASA’s science education information for students in kindergarten through college.

"We house and disseminate NASA educational materials to teachers throughout the state," said Lynne Hehr, director of CMASE and the NASA ERC.

Through the university, teachers will find a treasure trove of items, including online Web information, slides, CD-Roms, posters, videos, teacher guides and other NASA materials, all basically free of charge, except for occasional copying fees, Hehr said.

All materials can be ordered online for a nominal postage and shipping charge or obtained directly by stopping at the center office on campus.

Equipment available for teacher use in the ERC includes, but is not limited to, a slide viewer, a TV and VCR for previewing videos and copying video tapes, a CD-Rom burner for copying CDs, a copy machine and computers with Internet access.

The Educator Resource Center Network is a NASA Headquarters program with about 60 programs currently in effect nationwide, said Barbara Long of the NASA Education Programs Department.

"The ERCs in Marshall Space Flight Center’s six-state region were selected on such criteria as staffing, facilities, programs and services offered, technology, collaborations and students served," Long said.

"NASA’s program fits in well with what we are already offering to teachers through CMASE," Hehr said.

The center has two permanently reserved parking spaces in Lot 71 for CMASE/NASA ERC use. Any teacher or administrator in Arkansas may request a permit for center visits, Hehr said.

The center also sponsors NASA K-16 educational science, mathematics and technology workshops, both on and off campus, with materials provided to all participants. Travel to various schools around the state upon request is provided at minimal to no charge. Staff from the center also go to public schools and other learning environments to provide in-class activities and presentations.

The center has an Arkansas NASA listserv for teachers wishing to be updated on NASA educational happenings both within the state and around the nation.

The Arkansas NASA Educator Resource Center operates in conjunction with several other states in the south central United States and is sponsored by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center education outreach program and NASA CORE, which also supplies materials from NASA Headquarters.

All NASA materials available through the center, as well as the order form and online NASA Web site information may be found at http://www.uark.edu/~k12info/nasa_erc_information.htm. The goals and objectives of the NASA/ ERC can be found at www.msfc.nasa.gov/education/erc.