MANCHESTER — The children's librarian says she's getting ready to launch some new programs this fall — and "launch" is the appropriate term.
Sara Collins has been taking lessons from NASA. To further the library's youth education programs this coming school year, Collins has attended lectures at Boston University about future lunar missions and is participating in webcast presentations about polar ice.
The lectures, presented by NASA scientists and specialists from affiliated organizations, are part of an educational outreach program that is organized by the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI), a support organization of NASA, that, in addition to supporting the scientific community and conducting planetary research, organizes free workshops for educators across the nation.
Collins said she found out about the workshop from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, an agency that supports libraries across the state. They had sent an e-mail notification to all the libraries in the state informing them of a workshop at Boston University.
According to Katy Buckaloo, the administrative assistant for LPI's educational program, there are 12 educational categories called "modules." These modules generally focus on Mars, ice worlds and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, a sensor platform that will be launched this fall. The modules are presented in select states, such as Massachusetts, and are announced through statewide e-mails to libraries and registered educators. Anyone interested in receiving notification of the LPI's events should email Buckaloo at buckaloo@lpi.usra.edu. She warns, however, that she personally will not be able to inform people about future programs. The information will come when the mass e-mail is released.
Collins said the lessons from NASA offered a chance to pursue something fresh. The workshop was limited to 30 people, so Collins had to take a test to distinguish herself from those who might be interested from the 1,800 other libraries served by the Board of Library Commissioners. Collins said she had to prove her commitment, interest, and experience in educating children about the sciences.
Fortunately, she was able to draw upon years of teaching children's programs at the library which, she said, have sent kids home to their parents proudly exclaiming that they had become scientists.
The workshop consisted of a two-day seminar in March about the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and its six instruments, including one developed at Boston University called a Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation.
With goals as distant as a 2028 moon landing, Collins said that LPI's educational programs are intended to help foster an appreciation for the sciences among the current generation. Today's students, after all, may be the scientists launching future explorations such as the 2028 moon mission.
These programs inform instructors, like Collins, who will provide the initial positive experience that will hopefully turn some elementary students into astrophysicists and aerospace engineers.
"I think it is really neat," said Collins about the courses. "I always like learning new things."
In addition to providing basic information about the projects, instructors are provided with fun, hands-on activities with which they can instruct children. For example, one project involves building a model of the LRO, a device which looks like a box with a solar panel and a satellite dish attached, out of candy.
The course about polar ice that Collins is taking over an interactive webcast also provides eight to 10 experiments to help children discover water's different states of matter as well as learn about ice on the Earth and on other planets.
Though Collins has not fully planned which activities she will use, she expects to begin activities at the library this fall, starting with orbiter studies in October and move on to ice experiments between October of this year and March 2009.
The free programs are aimed at children ages 8 to 12, and anyone interested in signing up a child for the library's lunar program, said Collins, should keep an eye out for the mid-August program flier.
Information will also be posted on the library Web site at www.manchesterpl.org.
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