From: LARRY KLAES (ljk4_at_msn.com)
Date: Tue Oct 04 2005 - 17:43:40 UTC
>From: "NASANews_at_Ames" <nasanews_at_mail.arc.nasa.gov>
>To: ames-releases_at_lists.arc.nasa.gov
>Subject: NASA'S ASTRO-VENTURE HELPS STUDENTS DESIGN HABITABLE PLANETS
>Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2005 09:15:34 -0700
>
>Jonas Dino Oct. 4, 2005
>NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
>Phone: 650/604-5612 or 650/604-9000
>Email: jonas.dino_at_nasa.gov
>
>NEWS RELEASE: 05-52AR
>
>NASA'S ASTRO-VENTURE HELPS STUDENTS DESIGN HABITABLE PLANETS
>
>If you could design your own planet, would it be habitable? Through NASA's
>Astro-Venture Web site, students can find out.
>
>On Oct 1, 2005, the educational technology team at NASA Ames Research
>Center, located in California's Silicon Valley, added the eagerly awaited
>'Design a Planet' and 'Biology Mission' modules to the Astro-Venture Web
>site. Asto-Venture is an interactive, multimedia-enhanced learning
>environment, in which students in grades 5 to 8 role-play NASA careers as
>they search for and design a planet habitable to humans.
>
>"This multi-year project has developed a large following of teachers and
>students who have long been awaiting these final two multimedia modules,"
>said Christina O'Guinn of the NASA Ames educational technology team. "This
>is now a complete interactive educational package that will engage students
>in the exciting topic of astrobiology."
>
>In the 'Design a Planet' module, students can create their very own
>habitable planet by choosing from various planet and solar system
>characteristics such as star type, planet mass and the presence of active
>volcanoes and liquid water. Based on these characteristics, a planet is
>'created' with feedback about whether it is habitable for humans, for
>extremophiles, or is uninhabitable. Extremophiles are microbes on Earth
>that live in extreme environments where humans and other animals could not
>survive, such as the hot springs in Yellowstone, or the ice in Antarctica.
>
>After designing their planet, students and educators can submit their
>solutions and interact with astrobiologists through a one-hour NASA Quest
>Webcast on Nov. 17, 2005 at 11:00 a.m. PST. Funded by the NASA Astrobiology
>Institute at NASA Ames, scientists from the Virtual Planet Laboratory,
>Pasadena, Calif., will answer student questions and show students how
>scientists are using computer modeling to search for habitable planets
>outside our solar system.
>
>The Biology Mission module shifts the focus from the needs of humans, to
>the needs of other types of living creatures, allowing students to study
>organisms that serve as models in scientists' search for life elsewhere in
>the universe. The students join three NASA researchers as they study
>microbes that live in extreme environments such as the bottom of the ocean,
>within Antarctic ice, and in one of the world's highest lakes.
>
>Astro-Venture highlights NASA careers and astrobiology research in the
>areas of astronomy, geology, biology and atmospheric sciences. Students
>play the roles of NASA scientists and researchers and use scientific
>inquiry to learn about the conditions that make human life on Earth
>possible and how to identify those conditions on other worlds.
>
>Launched in early 2002, Astro-Venture has been updated with new modules and
>revised educator guides based on the results of a nationwide pilot test of
>24 classrooms representing nearly 1,000 students. Now completed,
>Astro-Venture offers nine multimedia modules, four educator guides and more
>than 50 career fact sheets.
>
>Astro-Venture is co-funded by the NASA Astrobiology Institute, the Virtual
>Planet Laboratory, the NASA Education Technology and Products Office and
>the NASA Explorer Schools Program.
>
>For more information about Astro-Venture, visit:
>
>http://astroventure.arc.nasa.gov/
>
>For more information about educational products and NASA Quest challenges
>developed by the Ames educational technology team, visit:
>
>http://quest.nasa.gov/
>
>For more information about the NASA Astrobiology Institute at NASA Ames,
>visit:
>
>http://astrobiology.arc.nasa.gov/
>
>For more information about the Virtual Planetary Laboratory, visit:
>
>http://vpl.ipac.caltech.edu/
>
>-end-
>
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>
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