The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Mobile Teacher Resource Center has begun its journey across the United States.
The 22-ton tractor-trailer, which made its debut last month at the National Science Teachers Association’s annual convention in Atlanta, contains lesson plans, slides, and videotapes on aeronautics, astronomy, and space exploration that teachers can copy for classroom use. It also will provide posters and other materials related to nasa expeditions.
The project was aimed at reaching teachers who may not have access to similar resource centers at nasa field offices, according to Bill Anderson, an executive assistant at the agency’s George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, which developed the project.
“We have taken the concept and put it on the road,” Mr. Anderson said. “We want to get materials into the hands of teachers, and help them teach mathematics and science.”
He said the agency has plans to launch a fleet of mobile centers to help spread the materials to a wider audience.
For information about the mobile center’s itinerary, write: Public Affairs, George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. 35812.
The Macmillan/McGraw-Hill School Publishing Company and Business Week magazine, which recently awarded grants to 184 teachers for innovative teaching strategies, have collected their ideas in a new publication.
“Blueprint for Success” includes 170 curricular projects, arranged by grade level and subject area, along with names of people to get in touch with for additional information.
“Teachers can adopt or adapt the strategies,” said Charlotte K. Frank, Macmillan/McGraw-Hill’s vice president for research and development.
“Blueprint for Success” is available, free of charge, by writing on school stationery to Ms. Frank, Macmillan/McGraw-Hill School Publishing Company, 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10020.
To help educators interested in teaching about urban and rural development and planning, the American Planning Association has launched a quarterly newsletter.
The first issue of “Resources,” published this spring, includes articles about the availability of planning-related school materials, a U.S. Senate bill that would establish an office of environmental education, and a review of the Foundation for Architecture’s book, Architecture in Education.
Free subscriptions are available by writing: Planners Education Network, American Planning Association, 1776 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036.--rr
