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R. Danner, R. Alvidrez (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
NASA's Origins program sets out to answer such fundamental questions as ``Where did we come from?" and ``Are we alone?" ultimately searching for evidence of life on extra solar planets. This search has the potential to engage a large public audience, students and teachers. The students who are now in fifth grade might see the first proof of life on extrasolar planets when they are adults. Many of these students belong to minority groups.
Today's minority students are members of the fastest growing segment of the American population, but they are currently called out by NASA as ``under served" and ``under utilized" groups. Because of this situation, four NASA missions, poised to further our understanding of extrasolar planets (Keck Interferometer, Space Interferometry Mission, StarLight and Terrestrial Planet Finder), have made minority students their focus for educational outreach.
This talk will illustrate the approach these four missions are taking to engage a large section of minority students, creating a model and materials that can have a positive impact on science education nation wide.
If you would like more information about this abstract, please follow the link to http://origins.jpl.nasa.gov. This link was provided by the author. When you follow it, you will leave the Web site for this meeting; to return, you should use the Back comand on your browser.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: rolf.danner@jpl.nasa.gov