2008 USA-HOU Conference

9:30 AM NASA Wide Angle Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) asteroid research project development (Session I)
Bryan Mendez – Overview All – Discussion of GOALS:
Define the WISE HOU collaboration
What will WISE provide? (how much data? software–automated?) What will HOU do with them?

10:30 BREAK

10:45 Begin to define WISE HOU curriculum
What are the existing resources (HOU Asteroid Research and IASC)?
What do we want to change?

11:50 LUNCH

SUNDAY 22 June 2008 AFTERNOON

1:20 Rich Lohman
— Construction of my home observatory

1:40 Carl Pennypacker
— Salsa J for Macs and PC’s

2:10 Jenifer Perazzo
—Progress on the HOU-5th grade Light and
Phases of the Moon Module My very intimate observatory

2:45 BREAK

3:00 Alan Gould
–Progress on revised HOU high school course: A Changing Cosmos

3:30 HOU-WISE project (Session II) workshop
Outline the curriculum
Identify/discuss WISE content that is new for
IASC/HOU asteroid search, e.g.
—Accurate diameter info
—Picking out NEOs
—Analyze Light Curve – Rotation
—Analyze Light Curve – Shapes/terrain
—Finding the lost asteroids/rediscovery
—Use 2Mass for rediscovery and rotation??

4:00 BREAK

4:15 HOU WISE Project workshop (continued)
Begin work on draft activities

4:45 Sharing activities, ideas, pertinent to HOU teachers

5:15 DINNER

7:45 PM Rich Lohman, Glenn Reagan, Alan Gould
—Introduction to HOU (getting new users up to speed…)
All Attendees
—Other break-out discussions as needed

9:30 PM – 4:17 AM :^) Observing with telescopes, weather permitting

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MONDAY 23 June 2008 MORNING

8:45 AM WISE asteroid research project development (Session III)
—Draft activities (continued)
—Scenarios for implementation
what is the context of the WISE activities in a HOU course?

10:30 BREAK

10:45 WISE asteroid research project (Session IV)
Plan for further formative development and field testing

11:50 LUNCH

MONDAY 23 June 2008 AFTERNOON

1:20 Carl Pennypacker
—International Year of Astronomy, the Galileo Teacher Training Program, and Reaching 100 nations with Global HOU

1:40 Steve Carpenter
—Progress on the “Modeling Jupiter Moons” unit.

2:15 HOU IP 2.0 Image Processing software update and workshop

3:00 BREAK

3:15 WISE – telecon with mission scientists – Clarify technical issues

4:15 Open-ended sharing–teaching methods and experiences

5:15 DINNER

7:45 PM Rich Lohman, Glenn Reagan, Alan Gould
—Introduction to HOU (more advanced session, if needed)

All Attendees
—Other break-out discussions as needed

9:30 PM – 4:22 AM :^) Observing with telescopes, weather permitting

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TUESDAY 24 June 2008 MORNING

8:45 AM WISE asteroid research project development (Session V)
—Further develop/refine draft activities
—Identify points for assessment items relevant to content
(in addition to attitudinal changes)
Attitudinal questions,
e.g. how exciting is it to have access to WISE data?

10:30 BREAK

10:45 Other HOU Research: IASC, Supernovae, Exoplanets,
Cataclysmic Variables, Blazars

11:50 LUNCH

TUESDAY 24 June 2008 AFTERNOON

1:20 Bob Holmes
–New 50 inch astrograph at ARI
–Student near earth object observations; awards for HOU students.

2:00 Carl Pennypacker
—“Building the Dome A Antarctic Observatory.”

2:30 Start wrapping up HOU-WISE asteroid research project development—define work to be completed rest of summer

2:45 BREAK

3:00 HOU freebies: HOU Explorer, English and Tri-Lingual Editions;
A Changing Cosmos; Hands-On Solar System;
Uncle Al’s Kepler Starwheels

3:45 Open-ended sharing–teaching methods and experiences

4:30 New resources from NASA Kepler EPO:
Name in Space; FOSS Transit Tracks;
Online Simulation: Exoplanet Transit Hunt

5:15 DINNER

7:45 PM All Attendees
—Other break-out discussions as needed

9:30 PM – 4:02 AM :^) Observing with telescopes, weather permitting

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WEDNESDAY 25 June 2008 MORNING

8:45 AM As needed:
—Continued work on
WISE asteroid research project development draft activities
—Open-ended sharing–teaching methods and experiences

10:30 BREAK

10:45
— Define features for next update of HOU IP (3.0)
— Telescope Network Developments

11:45 CONFERENCE ENDS