Projects and Interests
Mars 2020 Rover Landing Site Determination You or your team (no more than 3) will review the 3 landing site finalists for the next Mars Rover scheduled to land in 2020. You will determine which of them to be the final choice. Columbia Hills, Gusev …
For the past few years I’ve been lucky to have acquired enough equipment and hard-fought knowledge to incorporate astrophotography into my Astronomy curriculum. I figured out ways to offer students the same learning with or without access to a telescope, AND do real science that …
My goal this semester was to do more open-ended “thought experiment” problem solving projects that develop student ideation skills rather than just offering plug and chug calculations as enrichment. I spent 4 days developing this latest project alongside Chris Duel and the kids ate it …
This company Replogle makes novelty moon globes for an amazingly looooow price. You can get one here. I was given one as a gift and realized that there was a pretty good coordinate system printed on it, along with the locations of the Apollo mission …
Astronomy topics don’t often lend themselves to many hands on activities. Physics and Chemistry are well known for having lots of labs, but Astronomy has fewer in comparison. One of my enduring goals is to make hands on activities for various Astronomy topics. When studying …
When studying gravity it is critical that students understand more than just apples falling on Newton’s head. The study of gravity can be mind blowing for students because you get to introduce the concept of the fabric of space and time and time dilation! This simple …
Fusion is another tough topic to teach using hands on materials. There are plenty of simulations and diagrams. I wasn’t quite sure how to really approach a standard method of teaching fusion. The students have a pretty good idea of what is happening but I …
Here are documents related to my entry in this particularly difficult challenge put forward by NASA. Challenge can be found at: https://herox.com/SpacePoop My entry form responses: NASA-Space-Poop-Challenge-Responses-ODELL My presentation slides: SST-sketches-ODELL Space-Poop-Challenge-presentation-slides My crappy sketches (get it?): Space-Poop-Challenge-ODELL To be eligible …
Every year in my physics class we have a culminating science project due at the end of the year. This project replaces the old final exam since the students are constantly being bombarded with other standardized tests like TAKS, STARR and EOC. I wanted for …
