From: edgett@esther.la.asu.edu (Ken Edgett)
Subject: Mars thoughts
Date: Thu, 24 Oct 1996 22:37:34 -0700 (MST)
Greetings Mars Educators! I got back from Russia last week (planetary science conference). It was very interesting there (Moscow). After Russia, I did a day at the Phoenix NSTA meeting. Sheri Klug did a great session on PTK Live from Mars. While driving back from Tucson after pre-DPS education workshops there early this week, I had a cool thought. You might recall that after the "Life on Mars" story broke in August, the President said there would be a bipartisan summit meeting in November to discuss Space, particularly Mars. I think this meeing is now moved to December, but I am not sure. The meeting is being convened by Vice Pres. Gore. Anyway, my thought was this-- WE have the opportunity to input into this process. What do you and/or your students want to tell Al Gore and the space summit about where you think we should be going with the US space program? What benefits do you see coming from Mars exploration (e.g., education enhancement) ? I remember in grade school we often had letter-writing activities... perhaps it would be an interesting assignment to have students write to Al Gore about Mars/space. This is just a thought and an idea intended to for educational purposes only-- not a political statement or endorsement of any kind on my part. I'd be curious as to your thoughts on this idea and/or whether your students plan to do something like this. I am not sure what the address is, but it must be easy to find (e.g., the White House). Ken Edgett Arizona Mars K-12