Unique Perspectives Leave Teachers Wanting More -- "Making the Sun-Earth Connection" Teacher Workshop, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

The reviews are in! We recently held a very successful two-day "Making the Sun-Earth Connection" Teacher Workshop in partnership with the National Park Service at the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) in Thousand Oaks, California.

In their feedback and comments, teachers clamored for a repeat Workshop. One teacher enthused, "…a wonderful workshop. As a highly experienced teacher who has endured multiple workshops, this one was a pleasure that I was sorry to see come to an end. You found presenters who challenged us mentally, causing us to rethink our knowledge about facts, scientific as well as cultural…I would definitely like to participate in the future!"

The workshop’s success can be credited to the multiple perspectives which were integrated in the telling of the Sun-Earth Connection story. Ruth Paglierani, Dr. Greg Schultz and Jackie Wong -- all from UC Berkeley/SECEF (NASA’s Sun-Earth Connection Education Forum) -- provided NASA science and NASA teaching resources. A park service scientist presented "Seasons in the Sun" and explained plant adaptations to the Sun in Mediterranean climates. Dr. Bryan Penprase of Pomona College brought a local perspective to the topic of archaeoastronomy in his presentation on Sun-watching and solar practices of Native Americans in Southern California and the Southwest. And lastly, two Native American speakers looked at the Sun-Earth connection from the Navajo and the Chumash perspectives. Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, popularly known as "Los Angeles’s backyard wilderness" to millions of park visitors in the Los Angeles area, was a magnificent location in which to experience the Sun-Earth Connection.

Our integrated approach brought 23 teachers—many of whom train other teachers at their schools or are science resource specialists—and five Park Service Interpreters to the for-credit workshop. Discussions are underway for expanding the audience to larger numbers of teachers and recruiting more broadly among the Interpreters and Education Specialists from the many National Parks of Southern California. This workshop was an outgrowth of the NASA-NPS Earth-to-Sky Partnership, started in 2004 and funded by the NASA Explorer Institute, which seeks to identify innovative ways to combine education, interpretation and science.

Rena Bob, Saguaro National Park; Lisa Okazaki, Santa Monica Mountains NRA; Julie Tumamait-Stenslie, Chumash Educator; and Jackie Wong, SECEF, taking a break from the “Making the Sun-Earth Connection” Workshop.

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Center, Satwiwa

Teacher experimenting with Ultraviolet beads.

Teachers creating Solar Eclipse Books for elementary classrooms.

A Chumash Sun symbol created by teachers during the Making the Sun-Earth Connection Workshop