"SPACE ALPHABETIZATION"- A PROGRAM BRIDGING SPACE & EDUCATION UTILIZING THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION TO EDUCATE AND TRAIN THE WORLD FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM
- Paper ID
IAC_03_P_5__T_5_06
- author
- company
Space Outreach
- country
U.S.A.
- year
2003
- abstract
Space and the International Space Station (ISS), the biggest projects ever to be endeavored by humankind, provide unique solutions to foster and improve education, thanks to their exciting and fascinating characteristics. To communicate the influence and benefits of Space activities, Space Outreach, a non-profit organization, is promoting Space and ISS knowledge and utilization through the Space Alphabetization Program. The pilot project will use Space and the ISS as unique educational tools to perform the useful transfer of know-how related to the space field to students, with a final goal to make them able to perform a true space experiment on the International Space Station. At it’s first run, the Space Alphabetization Program is targeted to Italian High Schools. The program was started under the high patronage of the Educational Council of the Provincia di Salerno, the local government of the Salerno area, whose Chairman believes in the importance of the interaction between space and education. The program aims to create a permanent link among school programmes, research centres, the scientific world, and the general public, to help set the basis for a constant utilization of the International Space Station (ISS) as a powerful educational tool. In particular, the Space Alphabetization Program will provide students with the opportunity to conduct experiments in Space using several platforms in a gradual fashion, which will serve as a foundation for the future utilization of the ISS for educational experiments. Key features of the program will include short courses, real-time student involvement in actual space missions, on-line tutorials and other educational tools. By encouraging young people to “think out of the box,” the program will motivate students to learn math, science, and other subjects in a multidisciplinary, international framework using Space as a tool and a laboratory.