GK-12: Sensors!

for paper accepted for 2005 FIE conference. Full paper submission requested. PI John Vetelino and Co-PI Constance Holden attend annual NSF Engineering and Computing Education Grantee Meeting, Feb. 16-18. Poster session on current RET-GK-12 participating teachers presented. Evaluators Kevin Boyle and Mark Anderson complete 'GK -12 Sensors! Project Assessment Report û 2003-2004.' March 2005: PI John Vetelino and Project Manager Joe Arsenault attend the GK-12 Annual meeting in Arlington, VA. Poster session on past and current program activities presented. Paper on the GK-12 Sensors! program submitted to the 2005 IEEE Frontiers in Education (FIE) conference. NSF REU site proposal is funded. Forty-eight undergraduate students from UM and throughout the U.S. will be coming to UM over the next three years to interact with graduate fellows. In summer 2005, all REUs will interact with both RETs and GK-12 fellows, and will present their research work to both teachers and fellows during an August 2005 workshop at UM, and at their secondary school alma maters during fall 2005. GK-12 Fellows Eeva Hedefine and Bradley Neumann, with Jim Smith, submit two funding requestsùone to the City of Bangor Fire and Police departments, one to the office of U.S. Senator Susan Collinsùfor continuation and completion of multi-year project concerning using spatial information to enhance homeland security and emergency response for the City of Bangor. GK-12 Fellows Eeva Hedefine and Bradley Neumann, with BHS history teacher Jim Smith, meet with Jonathan Ford (representing the office of Maine U.S. Senator Susan Collins), Bangor city officials, Rebecca Hupp (Director, Bangor International Airport), participating BHS teachers and students, and GK-12 Sensors! Co-PI and program coordinator, to discuss the spring 2005 and future plans of the Emergency Response Project, a collaboration between BHS, the City of Bangor and UM. Article on GK-12 Sensors! cooperating teachers published in the Bangor Daily News. GK-12 Sensors! and RET 2005 annual conference poster sessions posted to UM Department of Electrical and Computing Engineering website: http://www.eece.maine.edu/research/posters.html GK-12 Sensors! fellows Brad Neumann and Eeve Hedefine present a paper on their GK-12 Sensors! activities entitled 'Applying GIS Technologies to Enhance Emergency Response' at the National Science Teacher Convention (NSTA) in Dallas, TX. Participating teacher Patricia Bernhardt presents a paper on GK-12 Sensors!-related integration of RET research into middle-school classrooms at NSTA in Dallas, TX. March-April 2005: PI John Vetelino and Program Coordinator Joe Arsenault collaborate with other University of Maine System NSF GK-12 programs in a campaign to generate awareness of and support and advocacy for LD 119, a bill presented to the 122nd State of Maine legislative session that would provide ongoing funding for GK-12-type fellowships. April 2005: Paper submitted to 2005 IEEE FIE Conference accepted. PI John Vetelino, Co-PI Stephen Godsoe, Program Coordinator Joe Arsenault and Fellow Bradley Neumann attend State of Maine Joint Standing Appropriations Committee hearing of LD119. Neumann and Godsoe testify in support of the bill. 2004 RET and GK-12 Sensors! participating teacher Tracy Vassiliev presents a paper entitled 'Effects of Heavy Metals on Lobsters' at the National Shellfish Meeting, April 10-14, in Philadelphia, PA. Joint Standing Appropriations Committee recommends LD119 to legislative vote. Suzanne Hart assumes position of program evaluator. May 2005: The Bangor, Maine GIS Emergency Map of Bangor International Airport (BIA) is presented to Bangor, Maine departments of Fire Annual Report: 0139324 Page 17 of 26 and Police and to Bangor International Airport, by fellows Brad Neumann and Eeva Hedefine, teachers Jim Smith and students in Smith's Senior Seminar. The City of Bangor implements GIS Emergency Map of Bangor International Airport as part of a mock disaster at BIA. No-Cost Extension Request through June 2006 is filed with UM Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. Fellows formalize new modules for review and submission June. Maine State Bill LD119 is read in concurrence and agreed to as an Engrossed Bill by House and Senate, making it official state policy to have a UM System GK-12 program. Final decision on allocation of funds to be made by Appropriations Committee. Research and Education Activities: 2004 Summer Activities In the spring of 2004, the University of Maine, with John Vetelino as PI and Constance Holden as Co-PI, received funding for a three-year NSF grant, RET-Sensors (NSF-0401439). As a result, during the summer of 2004, ten middle and high school teachers from mostly rural areas were brought to UM and provided unique opportunities to be involved in research in sensor theory, design, fabrication, testing, and/or applications. The RET portion expanded the GK-12 Sensors! program into nine rural Maine high and middle schools: Brewer High School (BrHS) in Brewer, ME; Bucksport High School (BuHS) in Bucksport, ME; Central High School (CHS) in East Corinth, ME; Hampden Academy (HA), a high school in Hampden, ME; Hermon Middle School (HMS) in Hermon, ME; James F. Doughty School (JFDS), a middle school in Bangor, ME; Maine Central Institute (MCI), a high school in Pittsfield, Maine; Reeds Brook Middle School (RBMS) in Hampden, ME; and William S. Cohen School (WSCS), a middle school in Bangor, ME. Teachers spent eight weeks becoming acquainted with cutting-edge sensor science and engineering through daily interactions with sensor faculty, senior researchers, graduate students, UM GK-12 Sensors! fellows, and Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) students in the UM Laboratory for Surface Science & Technology (LASST). The RETs were involved in research on biosensors, chemical sensors, and fluid-phase sensors. Examples of RET research ranged from developing sensing systems for measuring motor oil degradation to detecting low levels of algae toxins and heavy metals in Maine lobsters. In addition to working with a specific sensor research group, teachers became familiar with other state-of-the-art sensor-related science and technology facilities in the university and neighboring small sensor businesses. The RETs also enrolled in ECE 465, an upper-level undergraduate course entitled Introduction to Sensors, which presented the theory and applications of various types of semiconductor, acoustic, magnetic, thermal and optical sensors, in order to give teachers a sound background in sensors. Teachers received academic and recertification credit for the course. The summer program concluded with the August Summer Workshop, during which the RETs shared their summer research experience in formal presentations and offered ideas for integrating sensor science and technology into their curricula. All 2004 RET participants became 2004-05 GK-12 Sensors! cooperating teachers, continuing working relationships established during the summer RET program with GK-12 fellows. RET Sensors! established a formal bridge to GK-12 Sensors! and, as a result, a strong linkage between UM and participating secondary educational institutions. Furthermore, in school systems where GK-12 Sensors! has been established at the high school level, the RET-Sensors! program provides an opportunity to extend its presence into the systems' middle schools by offering fellowships to interested teachers in participating school systems. Expanding its presence from six to eleven schools, four of which were middle schools, GK-12 Sensors! anticipates achieving greater impact on student interest in pursuing careers in science and engineering. Introducing sixth, seventh and eighth graders to graduate researchers and engaging students in hands-on science and technology inquiries, and maintaining such exposure throughout high school, provides continuity of exposure throughout their secondary education. 'Introduction to Sensors' Course at BHS Bangor High School introduced a course on sensor science and technology into its 2004-2005 curricula. 'Introduction to Sensors' is a hands-on, inquiry-based course being offered to Honors students. Co-PI Stephen Godsoe and third-year fellow Lester French designed the course using material gathered from sensor research performed in the Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology (LASST) at the University of Maine (UM). The year-long course features lectures, labs and other hands-on exercises, and field excursions such as visits to the United Technology Center's (UTC) Photonics Laboratory (Bangor, ME) and various sensor-research laboratories at UM. Early fall 2004 lectures introduced sensors and sensor systems by considering the human body as a sensor system. New concepts and technologies introduced in lecture were supported with in-class examples and demonstrations of sensors, including altitude sensors, accelerometers and piezoelectric sensors (from LASST). In the lab, students built optical interferometers, learned soldering skills, built and tested a photoelectric pulse plethysmograph Annual Report: 0139324 Page 18 of 26 heart-rate monitor, and developed projects involving Lego Mindstorm robots equipped with pressure and light sensors. In spring 2004, hands-on activities included building a microphone using a thin-film pressure transducer and working in teams to propose, design, and build a physical sensor. Students are excited and have shown significant initiative in working on their class projects. Bangor, Maine GIS Emergency Mapping Project and the Bangor, Maine GIS Emergency Map of Bangor International Airport In addition to portable modules, fellows have been organizing community outreach programs, such as the 2004 Bangor, Maine GIS Emergency Response Mapping Project, which enabled students to produce valuable maps detailing the location of fire hydrants, shelters, and other emergency resources for local police and fire departments, and the 2005 Ba