I n this paper we will report

on the most recent Summer

Science Academy [2012] – see

Figure 1, a four-week summer

course for middle school children,

created in collaboration with

teachers and administrators

in the Chinle Unified School

District. The concept of the

Academy was initiated in 2011,

and the first Academy was

conducted shortly thereafter, in

June 2011, with 14 children, 3

instructors, and a NASA teacher

workshop. The community

requested three topics: geology,

astronomy, and botany. The

2012 Academy built on the

curriculum already developed

with more robust field trips,

addressed to specific science

topics, additional quantitative

measurements and activities,

and with more written material

for the cultural components from

Navajo contributors. In 2012, the

Academy was conducted with

45 children and 4 instructors.

Following up on lessons learned

in previous reports, it is clear that

community involvement and buy-

in is critical to the success of the

program. This means that the US

Rosetta Project modified its goals

and curriculum to accommodate

the teaching desires of teachers

in the district, and the capabilities

of the Navajo medicine men who

agreed to participate. Metrics of

the program show that the use

of NASA material and imagery

has a positive impact on the

accessibility of the overall STEM

material.

www.nasa.gov

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Claudia J. Alexander

Background

The US Rosetta Project is the NASA contribution to the International Rosetta Mission, a mission sponsored by the European Space Agency (ESA). While the project’s outreach efforts span multi-media, and varieties of ages and ethnic groups, a special emphasis has been made to provide meaningful outreach to Native American communities on the reservation. Because language preservation is an issue of urgent concern to the reservation communities, and because Rosetta, uniquely among NASA missions, has been named after the inspiration of the Rosetta Stone, in which keys to missing understanding of elements of the ancient past were found in the language on the original Rosetta Stone, the US Rosetta Project has embarked upon outreach with a focus on STEM vocabulary in ancient US languages of the Navajo, Hopi, Ojibwe, and other tribal communities. The approach includes the use of NASA images, and science, described in the native language, alongside lay English and scientific English curriculum elements. Additionally, science (geology/chemistry/botany/physics) elements drawn from the reservation environment, including geomorphology, geochemistry, and soil physics, are included and discussed in the native language as much as possible — with their analogs in other planetary environments (such as Mars).

Jet Propulsion LaboratoryCalifornia Institute of Technology

Methods for 2012

An important component of the 2012 program was feedback from the teachers of the 2011 program; their desire for input to the topics and methods addressed. An emphasis for the 2012 program was:

• less classroom lecture; more field trips and hands-on; student journals Accordingly, the 2012 program of 19 days included 10 field trips. The curriculum, nonetheless, focused on geology, botany, and astronomy.

Results

• Topics included: Strange Distinctions of Earth and Mars, Impact Craters and Water Systems, What’s in a Star, and more. Fig. 2 provides metrics of student growth in STEM subject knowledge.

• The first week involved Summer of Innovation activities in the classroom, then into the field for data, research, plant sample collection, combining science with Navajo culture.

• The communities have expressed considerable excitement at the potential for engaging students with space-age imagery in their own cultural environment [1].

• A significant lesson learned is the importance of a connection and liaison to cultural authorities within the community itself. [2]

• One positive outcome is tangible effort within the community to establish a contemporary, technical, vocabulary [3, 4]. Such steps are important for making STEM topics ‘ours,’ in a cultural sense, rather than ‘theirs,’ and has the added by-product of growing the language.

Summary

In a small, but growing effort, the US Rosetta Project, together with partners in the Chinle Unified School District on the Navajo reservation, are building a summer enrichment program that unites cultural knowledge with NASA images and science, to make STEM topics both accessible and culturally relevant to middle school aged children on the reservation.

Through field trips, children learn about the science of their own land; they learn what is closest and dearest to the traditional teachings of their own home. With each lesson comes the scientific explanation of weather, erosion, the periodic table, etc.

Among the results, the community has expressed excitement, and feels engaged, in the STEM learning process.

References/ Acknowledgements

Work on this project was supported by NASA at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology.1. M. Martin, “Chinle Summer Science Academy

Melds Navajo & NASA Astronomical Knowledge,” Indian Country Today, Sept 15, 2012.

2. C. Alexander, A. Angrum, M. Martin, G. Grant, “Language Preservation: using the Language of Science as a bridge to the Native American Community,” Proceedings: 2010 Meeting of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 2010.

3. C. Alexander, “Language as a Bridge: Using STEM Vocabulary and Ancient Language in Outreach to Small Culturally Distinct Populations,” European Planetary Science Congress, 2010.

4. C. Alexander, A. Angrum, M. Martin, N. Ali, J. Kingfisher, A. Treuer, G. Grant, J. Ciotti, “Language of Science as a Bridge to Native American Educators and Students,” EOS transactions, American Geophysical Union, 2010.

Co

rrec

tly

Ans

wer

ed

Student Progress

10

18

16

14

12

8

6

4

2

0

Pre-test

Post-test

21 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Geology, Astronomy Questions on a Knowledge Quiz

Figure 2. Metrics for the 2012 Academy.

Above: Modeling erosion with sand.

Right: Studying native plants outdoors.

Figure 1. Announcement for 2012 program.

STEM Summer Academy on the Navajo Reservation