Summary of AMANDA Outreach with the K Through Infinity (KTI) program -------------------------------------------------------------------- The goal of the AMANDA KTI team is to bring the excitement of cutting edge university research into the high school classroom. This goal is achieved by teacher professional development workshops, development of AMANDA related classroom learning activities, lecture materials and online resources, and classroom visits by the graduate student fellows and participating professors. The KTI program is funded by an NSF GK-12 grant. Three AMANDA graduate student fellows, Jodi Cooley, Katherine Rawlins, and David Steele, participate in the program along with AMANDA Professors Francis Halzen and Jim Madsen, and Faculty Associate Matthew Briggs. Other members of the team include Professor Brenda Dingus, and graduate student Robert Atkins from the MILAGRO gamma ray experiment, and Wisconsin Rapids High School science teacher Steven Stevenowski. The teams activities are funded jointed by KTI, AMANDA, and MILAGRO. We have conducted two summer professional development workshops in conjunction with the UW-River Falls Masters in Science Education program. The summer 2000 and 2001 workshops, entitled "Astronomy in the Ice", both comprised an eight day series of lectures and activities on neutrino astronomy, particle physics, statistics, and antarctic exploration. After a three hour period of morning lecture and discussion, the instructors and workshop participants worked together to develop a classroom learning module related to the topics discussed in the lecture. At the conclusion of the work shop we produce a CD-ROM containing all of the lecture materials along with copies of all of the finished lab activities prepared in collaboration between the instructors and participating teachers. These materials are also posted on our AMANDA outreach webpage: http://alizarin.physics.wisc.edu/outreach The workshop creates a unique collaborative bond with the participating teachers. Unlike most college courses, our collaboration with the teachers did not end with the end of the course. We periodically follow up with teachers to evaluate the use of the learning modules in their classrooms and to offer assistance. We write a semi-monthly newsletter to inform the workshop participants of the latest developments in AMANDA research, and each participating teacher is guaranteed a classroom visit by one of the instructors. Over two summers, 43 teachers from across the midwest (South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois) have participated. To date, we have approximately 15 secondary schools and have reached an estimated 600 students in grades 7 through 12. We plan to continue the summer workshop, classroom visits, and development of new learning modules. We are working on Windows compatible visualization software to allow hight school students to view AMANDA event data as a tool for future classroom modules. Answers to Specific Bullets --------------------------- o K-12 activities contributing to research and teaching skills of undergraduates, graduates, post-docs.... Graduate students have been co-instructors in the "Astronomy in the Ice" professional development workshop for secondary school teachers. The goal of the workshop is to introduce AMANDA and astrophysics topics into the secondary school classroom through collaboration with secondary school science teachers. We conducted two workshops, one in August 2000, the other in June 2001. o Outreach Activities, activities designed to reach out to members of communities who are not normally aware of your activities The "Astronomy in the Ice" course targets secondary school teachers directly. Teachers then share what they have learned with their students using materials developed during the workshop. We have found that the mystique of the antarctic makes AMANDA an ideal vehicle to generate enthusiasm for learning about neutrino astrophysics. In addition to targeting teachers and students, we hope that some of this enthusiasm rubs off from students to their parents. o Publications-- including teaching aids, equipment and outreach products. The "Astronomy in the Ice" workshop has produced lab manuals for learning modules related to neutrino astronomy and AMANDA. Labs include directions for the construction of inexpensive experimental apparatus using commonly available materials. Lab topics include "Water Analogs of Shockwaves and Cherenkov Radiation," "Using a Bubble Chamber to Detect Cosmic Rays," "Probability and Statistics in Neutrino Astronomy," and "AMANDA Event Visualization and Data Analysis." All workshop materials are available in electronic format from the AMANDA outreach website (cited below). o Human resource Development and teaching in scientific areas. Participating secondary school teachers walk away from the "Astronomy in the Ice" professional development workshop with teaching tools and feeling confident to teach aspects of particle physics, statistics, and astrophysics related to AMANDA. Graduate students also benefit from communication and teaching skills developed as instructors of the workshop. o Improving Performace, Skills and Attitudes of Underrepresented Groups Two of the AMANDA KTI graduate student fellows are women. According to high school teachers, seeing successful women in a career in science through classroom visits by these fellows has had a positive motivating effect on female students. o Integration of Research and Education The classroom learning modules developed in the "Astronomy in the Ice" workshop are based on astrophysics and AMANDA related topics. One module involves the use of actual AMANDA data for students to analyze. AMANDA outreach website: http://alizarin.physics.wisc.edu/outreach o Contibutions to teaching resourses. Lecture material and learning modules available electronically a the AMANDA outreach website: http://alizarin.physics.wisc.edu/outreach o Future plans. We plan to continue the "Astronomy in the Ice" workshop, development of new learning modules, data visulization software, and classroom visits.