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KidSat
Page3

including the KidSat mission control gateway and the student mission operations centers in the schools. CTY will lead the curriculum development, the teacher training and the project evaluation.

Where Are We Now?

In mid-1994 we received seed funding from NSF and NASA. Groups of students and teachers were brought together in San Diego and Pasadena to discuss curriculum topics, to gather resource material from NASA (including thousands of photographs of the Earth taken by astronauts), and discuss instrument requirements. A small group of 5 core teachers are now under NSF-funded contract to establish the first three sets of prototype curricular materials. 

In January, 1995, NASA approved funding for a 3-year pilot KidSat program, and manifested the first KidSat instrument on a Space Shuttle flight in March, 1996. UCSD and NASA have begun to define the requirements for the KidSat mission control center and the gateway to participating schools. 

KidSat will initially involve schools from 4 regions in the country: San Diego, Pasadena, Charleston, and Omaha. During the 1995/96 academic year we will begin pilot programs in schools in San Diego, Pasadena and Charleston. In the second and third years, the program will be evaluated, revisions will be made, participation in San Diego, Pasadena and Charleston will be expanded, and schools in Omaha will be added.

Funding for KidSat

KidSat is an ambitious education project, with several unusual elements. We are seeking support from NASA, NSF, and private sources. NASA has agreed to fund the core program, and the costs associated with flying the instruments in space. We have been invited to submit a major proposal to NSF's Education Division, and will request funding for the development of certain curricular materials and lesson plans, and for aspects of teacher training and staff development. 

We seek private support to develop the link between the instrument in space and the participating schools. This will leverage NASA funding, and include support for gateway to the participating schools, the establishment of prototype student mission operation centers at the schools, and student and teacher training in use of the resources supplied to those schools. It will also support development of key aspects of the curriculum, and reproduction and dissemination of curriculum guides, and multi-media material through summer teacher training institutes.