Science & Exploration

Teachers summer workshop at ESTEC

10/05/2010 786 views 0 likes

ESA / Science & Exploration / Human and Robotic Exploration

ESA is providing many innovative and inspiring aids to teachers to enhance their curriculum with space related subjects. Now ESA is inviting educators to a summer workshop at ESTEC in the Netherlands this summer from 28 to 30 June 2010.

ESA’s Directorate of Human Spaceflight has been using the International Space Station as a ‘classroom in space’ for many educational events and for the production of educational material made available to teachers, science educators and all interested. ISS will continue in orbit till at least 2020 – and the educational side of the ISS will be even stonger in the future as the focus of the ISS activities is being turned from construction to routine operation.

European teachers have had access to HSF education resources consisting of both printed materials and web based resources which have been directly developed as a result of linking educational activities performed on the ISS to curriculum topics in their classrooms.

Most of the material is available online at ESA's Directorate of Human Spaceflight education pages; links to some services are on the right.

Summer workshop series

To facilitate this on-going support to European educators and to bring in new ideas, the Directorate of Human Spaceflight will begin a series of the summer workshops, and the first of these will be held at ESA’s largest establishment ESTEC in the Netherlands this summer from 28 to 30 June.

Secondary school teachers from all the ESA Member State countries are invited to apply for a limited number of places. The countries are Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.

The event will include:

Workshops from science communicators and educators
Hands on activities to take back to use in the classroom
Resources from Human Spaceflight education (in your language choice)
A say in what you would like to see as a future education resource from ESA Human Spaceflight
A chance to brainstorm on education experiments that could be performed on the ISS
Visit to ESTEC and Space Expo, a space themed science center with space related exhibits and museum located near ESTEC premices
A talk from an astronaut.

Teachers will be able to share amongst themselves best practices in using space in the classroom from their experience.

Interested secondary school teachers are asked to fill in a application form in which they will need to send a short testimonial as to why they would make a suitable candidate for this workshop. The deadline for registration is 1 June and the successful candidates will be informed by 4 June 2010.

The final decision will be based on the motivation text sent in by teachers as well as to ensure a fair representation from all Member State countries. There will be a discretionary payment made towards transport costs however all other internal workshop costs and accommodation will be covered by ESA.