Prof. Paul Cassak

West Virginia University

Space Plasma Science Kits for Rural Elementary Schools in West Virginia

Paul Cassak (West Virginia University), Julie Bryan (Spark! Imagination and Science Center)

This talk will summarize our recent plasma physics communication activity. We designed and created high-quality hands-on space plasma science kits, and are giving them free of charge and in perpetuity to elementary schools in economically challenged rural counties in the US state of West Virginia. West Virginia is below average in science standardized test performance, ranks last in the US in percentage of inhabitants with a bachelor’s degree, and is the only US state entirely within the Appalachian region (Appalachians are underrepresented in STEM). Elementary school teachers in rural West Virginia often lack experience and comfort with STEM and lack the financial resources to incorporate it into classes, leaving rural West Virginia students short on STEM instruction. We created kits to teach students about numerous aspects of space plasma science, from what a plasma is, to how the magnetic field structure of Earth differs from the Sun, to the use of filters for solar observations, to what causes aurora. We also provide high-quality lesson plans for the teachers to use with the kits. We have delivered kits to over 25 rural elementary schools and have funding to reach another 80. We do presentations about space plasma science in some of the classrooms. The reach of this project has been hundreds of students, with an eventual reach in the thousands.


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