![\"\"](\"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Czajkowski-Portrait.jpg\")
<\/a>\u201cThe main goal of our program is to have students create and do real science projects \u2014 authentic science, not something staged in a lab,\u201d said UToledo’s Dr. Kevin Czajkowski.<\/p><\/div>\n
An average of 5,000 students each year participated in the project over the last five years from across the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main goal of our program is to have students create and do real science projects \u2014 authentic science, not something staged in a lab,\u201d Czajkowski said. \u201cSome of the projects students have done are very cutting edge.\u201d<\/p>\n
For example, a Toledo high school student worked with an air quality scientist at NASA Langley Research Center in Virginia to look at how forest fires in California affect air quality in Ohio.<\/p>\n
\u201cWorking with a national expert in the area of air quality, the local teenager collected and analyzed data. The team discovered the forest fires made our skies murky, milky white in Toledo, but didn\u2019t affect air quality at the surface,\u201d Czajkowski said.<\/p>\n
During the 50th<\/sup> anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing in 2019, the program enlisted local middle and high school students in a competition to recreate the historic lunar landing using robots and drones.<\/p>\n Plus, every year students from Ohio and Michigan, ranging from kindergartners to college seniors, come to UToledo to present research projects related to the Earth\u2019s environment. The most recent conferences have continued virtually during the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing science literate is to be able to ask questions and find out information, gather data and analyze the results,\u201d Czajkowski said. \u201cOur project also is a way to encourage students to pursue STEM degrees.\u201d<\/p>\n UToledo\u2019s project is one of 27 funded with an annual $39 million commitment from NASA\u2019s Science Mission Directorate to implement the next phase of Science Activation \u2014 a community-based approach to connect NASA science with students.<\/p>\n \u201cNASA science seeks to serve new communities and expand connections with our premier scientists and engineers. We do that through innovative partnering, and I couldn\u2019t be prouder of the cadre of awardees,\u201d said\u00a0Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA\u2019s Science Mission Directorate.<\/p>\n The UToledo-led project, called \u201cMISSION EARTH: Fusing GLOBE with NASA Assets to Build Systemic Innovation In STEM Education,\u201d leverages the resources of both NASA and Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE), which is an international science and education program that connects students, teachers, scientists and citizens from different parts of the world to conduct real, hands-on science about their local environment and put it in a global perspective.<\/p>\n UToledo\u2019s partners in the project during the last five years include WestEd, a research and service agency in San Francisco with expertise in high school career readiness; Boston University, which has expertise in elementary and college engineering practices; and Tennessee State University, which provides its expertise in college service learning. University of California, Berkeley; NASA Langley Research Center; and the technology company Science Systems and Applications Inc. (SSAI) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center also are partners on the project.<\/p>\n The team will expand to include more schools and locations nationwide through 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve already started a Great Lakes campaign, working with Defiance College, Northern Michigan University and State University of New York at Fredonia,\u201d Czajkowski said. \u201cOur idea is to have these new partners duplicate what we\u2019re doing here at UToledo and at Boston University, Tennessee State, West Ed and UC Berkely in California.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of us are creating hubs and then working with other partners in our area. We find that you need a local person to work with the teachers and students.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" UToledo’s Dr. Kevin Czajkowski is spearheading the development of new curriculum that relies on helping learners of all ages conduct real science using the resources of NASA and education partners nationwide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":875,"featured_media":63927,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,6,1,7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63923"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/875"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63923"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63967,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63923\/revisions\/63967"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>