A Teacher Professional Development Program on Comets

Various elements of a workshop centered on the EPDXI flyby of comet 103P/Hartley 2 were combined to meet several goals: participation in the Galileo Teacher Training Program, relation to a NASA mission, introduction to the Year of the Solar System, and continuing relations with teachers to pass current information on to their communities. The program elements include a residential workshop for teachers at McDonald Observatory, a short workshop at the Texas state science teachers' meeting, evaluation, and continuing electronic communication with participants. Evaluation results indicate the workshop successfully prepared teachers to implement activities and disseminate the new information with their students and their colleagues.