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2007-2008
Math Sprint Team
Faculty Mentor Dr. D. Johnson
Full
Report in PDF Format
Power
Point
Abstract
The Effect of Math Sprint Competition in Student Achievement on SOL
Mathematics Tests at Camelot
Elementary School
Abstract
Given
Virginia’s Standards of Learning (SOL) (1995) mandates,
Virginia’s elementary teachers and school leaders utilized research
for teaching methods that encouraged gains on the end of course mathematics
tests. The relationship between teacher motivation methods and student
achievement on Virginia’s
End of Course SOL Test for elementary deserves investigation. Virginia’s
elementary students in grades three, four and five must maintain an annual
pass rate to meet Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) as recommended by the
national “No Child Left Behind Act” of 2001. Camelot Elementary
School is a Title I school housing high
concentrations of minority students who normally achieve lower test score
gains than students in other schools. Camelot has a student population
receiving at least seventy percent free and reduced lunch nested in a low
middle class neighborhood in Chesapeake,
Virginia.
This research was based on school effectiveness by developing and testing
hypotheses about the specific relationships between student competition and
state wide testing results in elementary mathematics in grades three and
five at Camelot Elementary School in Chesapeake, Virginia.
The study compiled data from the “Math Sprint Competition”, a
series of student group related reviews of state released test items in a
math test relay format. Research focused on methods for motivating an
experimental group of students motivated by the use of a math sprint
competition from 2005 to 2007 versus a control group of elementary students
in mathematics for grades three and five from 2002 to 2004. Student
learning activities were compared from teaching methods that included:
direct instruction, problem-based learning, technology aided instruction,
cooperative learning, manipulative, models, and multiple representations,
communication, and study skills.
A group of twenty-four elementary teachers from Camelot Elementary
School participated in this research to
ascertain how frequently they used research-based teaching methods and
determined the influence of teaching methods on their students’
achievement. A multiple regression analysis was used to show results from a
40-item state wide test for each grade level. Individual Pearson Product
Moment Correlations were conducted to determine which variables possess
strong and statistically significant relationships. This analysis
determined if gains on the end of the year SOL scores were a result of an
impact of the series of math sprint competitions used as motivators before
each benchmark assessment leading to the SOL tests in 3rd and 5th grade
mathematics.
Summer 2007
Inspire the Next Generation of Explorers Team
Faculty Mentor: Dollie M. McCown
NASA Langley Aeronautics Research Summer Scholar
Full
Report in PDF Format
Power
Point
Abstract
Enhancing the knowledge of the community about the National Aeronautics
Space Administration (NASA) through outreach programs and workshop
participation; reaching the youth, home school parents and their students.
This summer, as a Langley Aeronautics Research Summer Scholar (LARSS), I
was given the assignment of setting up outreach programs in the community
where I would present NASA information and opportunities; providing
different options in advancing in the NASA arena.
The most rewarding method of reaching out to the community was through
setting up site visitations and presenting NASA information in a fun and
exciting way. To be more precise, a point of contact was made to all site
supervisors and staff members of different community centers and summer
camp programs to arrange a time to come out and present the NASA
information to the summer camp students and staff. After doing so, there
were meetings held with my supervisor, Dollie M. McCown and Aerospace Education Specialists Rudo Kashiri and Dynae Fullwood to analyze
beneficial activities to implement during the presentations.
Furthermore, materials had to be collected including NASA trinkets that
would be given at the end of each presentation to leave a lasting
impression on the audience. In order for this to become possible, I had to
advance in networking with other NASA employees to locate the things that I
needed to be successful. Kimberly Land played a major role in assisting me
with all NASA valuable, fun and exciting materials.
Not only did I go out into the community and present information about
NASA, I had the opportunity to present the problem of the day at the
National Institute of Aerospace workshop. This really excited and pleased
me to be given such a rewarding task that will be a great asset for my
future career in teaching. The problem of the day was to have the different
teams design a robotic arm using the craft materials given and have them
perform the task of picking up a rubber toy astronaut and dropping it into
a cup symbolizing a cargo bank. This was a very instrumental task because
this provided an idea of one of Barbara Morgan’s task that she will
be performing on the STS 118.
The overall outcome of this project was that information about NASA was
presented to the community in a way that they would want to engage in NASA
activities and become a part of the NASA team. Everything I expected to
happen happened. There were no real difficulties faced; the majority of the
activities designed went according to plan. All of the students that were a
part of the informal outreach programs really enjoyed themselves and left
with a broader mindset about NASA. Mission
Accomplished!
This projects contributed to NASA’s missions and goals by revealing
past, present and future information and allowing the community,
particularly the children to analyze why NASA does what it does and how
they can better each mission when they get older. I found that there were a
lot of potential scientists, engineers, mathematicians and educators that
could contribute a lot to NASA’s mission especially space
exploration.
2006-2007
Antarctic Temperature Mapping Team
Mentor: Malcom LeCompte, Ph.D
Full Report in
PDF Format
Power Point
Abstract
Firn is compacted, near-surface snow persisting
longer than one season but not yet compressed into glacial ice. Knowledge
of firn surface temperature (TS) trends across
the Antarctic ice sheet is useful for documenting and quantifying change
and providing a temporal and spatial context for research during the
Antarctic International Polar Year (IPY). Automatic Weather Stations (AWS)
provide episodic near-surface temperature (TAWS, ≈ TS) trends at a
limited number of sites on the Antarctic continent while satellite passive
microwave radiometers aboard the Defense Meteorology Satellite Program
(DMSP) Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) obtain a nearly continuous
daily record of surface brightness temperature (TB) across the entire
continent. To a good approximation, TB is equal to the product of the
surface emissivity (ε) with its actual temperature, TAWS.
The ratio of spatially and temporally coincident TB and TAWS yields an
estimate of ε at a specific time and place and can be used to
extrapolate TS trends across temporal and spatial gaps in the limited AWS
record. The spatial and temporal variability of firn
emissivity is not well understood but known to be a much less variable than
daily TS. Tabulating continuous daily ratios of TB / TAWS yields a firn ε trend, from which TS data gaps can be
filled from TB data or vice versa.
The first step in calculating emissivity trends from satellite and in-situ
measurements was to compile a record of TAWS across the region of interest.
The 2006-7 Antarctic Temperature Mapping team compiled extensive records of
TAWS from selected stations on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS)
bordering an interior region without AWS coverage. Daily average TAWS
records for the AWS sites were obtained from the AWS Project data archive
at the University
of Wisconsin's Space
Science and Engineering Center (SSEC). The stations whose temperature
records are included in this compilation are: Brianna (1994-1997), Byrd
(1981-99), Elizabeth (1996-99), Erin (1996-99), Patrick (1986-91), Ski Hi
(1994-98), Swithenbank (1998-99), and Theresa
(1994-99). The AWS temperature data itself constitutes an important record
of the
WAIS climate since 1980, and is worthy of closer examination before
addressing the project's second phase: tabulating SSM/I TB observations and
calculating associated emissivity trends using TAWS values. For each AWS, a
seasonal surface temperature average was determined and compared with those
derived for the opposite season and with each other. In addition, for the
sites with longer operating records; data from the first half of its
operational life was compared with data recorded during its second half.
These same trends were used to deduce firn
emissivity. As a preliminary step to this next activity, ε trends at
Ski Hi AWS site were derived from archived TAWS data coincident daily TB
observations. Daily SSM/I values of TB for the Ski Hi site were obtained
from Dr. Chris Shuman at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
Future work will use SSM/I TB data to establish continuous emissivity and
TS trends at other AWS and between spatial and temporal data gaps. This
work is thus a preliminary step to deriving surface temperature trends
across the entire Antarctic ice sheet over the last 28 years.
Summer
2006
Data/Visualization Team
Mentors: Dr. Raj Chaudhury
& Dr. Lin Chambers
NASA SPHERE Summer 2006 - Christopher Newport
University (CNU)
Full
Report in PDF Format
Powerpoint
Abstract
This summer the Data/Visualization Team was responsible
for creating a google map of local and remote
GLOBE sites and their data on environmental phenomena that are linked using
Google Maps and GPS (Global Positioning Service). Also the team created a
walking tour of CNU and the Shenandoah Valley.
The LAS stores satellite data on cloud coverage, surface Temperature, tropospheric ozone and other parameters, which is
monitored by ground stations. This information will be linked to the google map to display the climate factors of each
specific area. This information is useful for everyone, it makes it easy to
identify geographical locations and their associated data from both
satellite and ground stations.
2005-2006
Estimating Firn Emissivity,
from 1994 to 1998
Mentor: Malcom LeCompte, Ph.D
Full
Report in PDF Format
Abstract
Estimating Firn Emissivity,
from 1994 to1998, at the Ski Hi Automatic Weather Station on the West
Antarctic Ice Sheet Using Passive Microwave Data
Firn is the compacted snow layer that has remained at or near the
surface of an ice sheet for longer than one season but has not yet
compressed into glacial ice. Knowledge of firn
surface temperature trends across the Antarctic Ice Sheet is useful for
documenting and quantifying change and for providing a temporal and spatial
context for Antarctic research performed during the upcoming International
Polar Year (IPY). The spatial and temporal variability of firn emissivity and the factors that control it are not
currently well known although satellite passive microwave radiometer data
has been proven to be useful to obtain reasonable surface temperature trend
estimates across limited temporal and spatial gaps in AWS coverage. Over
the last decade, techniques using passive microwave data have been
pioneered by a number of investigators; including Jezek
et al., (1993) and. Shuman et al., (1995).
In collaboration with Dr. Christopher Shuman, at NASA
Goddard Space Flight Center’s Cryospheric
Sciences Branch, the 2005-2006 Polar Science Research Team compared
archived surface temperature data from an Automatic Weather Station (AWS)
on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet with brightness temperature data collected
by the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) aboard the Defense
Meteorology Satellite Program (DMSP) polar orbiting meteorology satellite
series. The ratio of passive microwave brightness temperature and AWS
in-situ near surface temperature provides the firn
emissivity estimate necessary to extrapolate surface temperature trends
across temporal and spatial gaps in AWS coverage. This relationship is
generally known as the ‘Rayleigh-Jeans Approximation’ (Hall and
Martinec 1985)
As ‘ground truth’ data for our study, AWS
temperatures at 3 hourly intervals for the “Ski Hi” AWS site
(75º South Latitude, 71 º West Longitude) in West Antarctica were obtained
via internet file transfer from the AWS Project data archive at the Space
Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) at the University of Wisconsin in
Madison. The passive microwave time series of daily DMSP SSM/I brightness
temperatures, geographically and temporally overlapping the Ski Hi site
were obtained via Internet ftp file transfer from the National Snow and Ice
Data Center (NSIDC) at the University
of Colorado in Boulder. These 25x25 km remote sensing
data were tabulated in a Microsoft EXCEL spread sheet to derive daily
average surface temperatures at Ski Hi AWS location. The daily ratio of the
SSM/I brightness temperature to the AWS surface temperature provided an
emissivity trend from which to extrapolate surface temperatures The Ski Hi
AWS operated from late February 1994 until late November 1998. The team
developed mathematical/statistical techniques to robustly estimate the
surface emissivity trend over this time period, and use it to obtain
estimates of surface temperature during data gaps in the AWS archive longer
than one day. This work was the first step to deriving a surface
temperature trend across the Antarctic ice sheet from 1987 through the
present. Additional efforts may include assessing the previous passive
microwave sensor (SMMR) that operated from 1978 to 1987 and also
temperature retrievals from IR sensors
such as AVHRR and MODIS.
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