An Exciting New Project

August-September is a time of renewal for teachers and students across the country. It's a time to start fresh and try new things. I have always looked at this time of year as my "New Year." This year, as I began to think about what I might do with my students this year, a new opportunity came my way. As I readied myself for heading to bed, I was greeted by my wife's iPad thrust in my face and being asked, "have you seen this?"


I found myself looking at a call for applications to a teacher workgroup to create curriculum for a hurricane research project. The project, "Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinal " or HS3, is a joint venture between NASA Dryden Flight Center, NASA Wallops Flight Center, NASA Ames Reseach Center and AERO Institute. NASA will deploy two Global Hawk drone aircraft into active storms to collect data that will help increase our understanding of the factors that influence storm development.

Those who know me are probably as surprised as I was that I had not seen this opportunity. Since Hurricane Mitch, I have developed and taught a semester-long hurricane study as part of my 5th grade science curriculum. This project was a perfect match for me. A couple of minor problems: the Institute was scheduled to start in less than a week in California and the Mars Science Laboratory landing was about to occur and we were committed to the weekend in Washington DC and NASA Goddard. Encouraged to take a risk, I spent the next seval hours pulling together my application (while she went to bed), not knowing how it would all work even if I were accepted. At 3:00am, I hit "send" on the final email in the application process and went to bed. Later that morning about 10:30am, my phone rang with the caller id displaying an unknown number from California! The half-hour phone conversation inviting me to particiapte left me even more sure this was a perfect opportunity for me, and even more nervous about how to make it happen. 24 hours of serious family teamwork and financial and logistical planning later, I was able to accept the offer.

As I write this post, Mars Science Laboratory is less than 100,000 miles from Mars and a pair of tropical storms (Ernesto and Florence) are brewing in the Atlantic. So, a few hours after MSL EDL (Mars Science Laboratory Entry, Descent, and Landing) predawn tomorrow morning, my family will whisk me off from Goddard to the airport for my flight to California. 

In the coming days, weeks, and months, I will use this blog to share what I learn about the HS3 Mission, the process of developing a new curriculum, and my students' experience of it as we head throught the second half of the 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season. 

For more on the NASA HS3 Mission

• NASA HS3 Mission site