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In this workshop, Maine middle and high school teachers will learn how to use X-ray astronomy tools and images to investigate hot regions of the universe where black holes, exploding stars, and colliding galaxies reside. Chandra images provide fascinating gateways for students and teachers to learn important ideas in astronomy and physical science such as gravity, scale, electromagnetic spectrum, mass, density, stellar evolution, energy, etc. while learning how to use real data to construct understanding.

This workshop will be designed to help teachers bring the excitement of real-world astronomy into their own classrooms as well as utilize web-based data in a real and meaningful way. Teachers will learn to use a simple version of the same powerful software professional astronomers use to transform raw data into important and meaningful conclusions. The data will come from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, a NASA space telescope sensitive to light in the X-ray range of the electromagnetic spectrum. These real-life data from Chandra are at the core of "inquiry based" classroom activities to be presented at the workshops.

For example, The Chandra X-ray Observatory is ideal for students observing such things as black holes and supernovas. Black holes are invisible to normal telescopes because light cannot escape their immense gravity. But this gravity also attracts surrounding dust and gas. "When matter falls toward the black hole, it becomes heated to very high temperatures and emits X-rays. So if you see X-rays coming from an area of the sky in which there's no star visible ... then that's a possible candidate for a black hole.

Ultimately, it will be the students who get the most out of this institute. Through teachers who can provide fascinating exposure to the real-world science of the darkest objects in the Universe, students will discover the illumination that learning science can bring! Content connections, through Maine's Learning Results as well as National Standards will be made to Standards E,G,H,I,J,K,L, and M, showing how Chandra science content can be a bridge to achieving standards in a highly engaging, authentic way. This is an excellent workshop for teachers using laptops in middle school science.

Workshop coordinator: Donna Young