Report of JAXASpace Education Center On Its Activities in 2010-2011
Report of JAXASpace Education Center On Its Activities in 2010-2011
Report ofJAXA Space Education Center
On Its A
ctivities in 2010-2011
REPO
RT OF JA
XA
SPAC
E EDU
CATIO
N C
ENTER
ON
ITS AC
TIVITIES IN
2010 - 2011(Inform
ation as of February 2011)
TAB
LE OF C
ON
TENTS
I.
INTRODUCTION ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥05
II. BASIC FA
CTS ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥06
A. Establishm
ent of the Center ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥06
B. Goals and principles ‥
‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥06
C. O
rganizational structure and major activities
‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥09
D. Collaborations for space education
‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥10
III. SUPPO
RT FOR FORMAL ED
UCATION ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥12
A. Objectives and strategies
‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥12
B. A
chievements
‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥15
C. Establishing strategic footholds ‥
‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥20
IV. SUPPO
RT FOR INFORMAL ED
UCATION ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥22
A. Objectives and strategies
‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥22
B. Program
me structure ‥
‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥23
C. A
chievements
‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥28
V. SUPPO
RT FOR EDUCATION AT HOME ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥30
A. Background and strategies ‥
‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥30
B. A
chievements
‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥30
VI. INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES ‥
‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥32
A. Objectives and strategies
‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥32
B. Focusing on children in A
sia : Asia-Pacific Regional Space A
gency Forum ‥33
C. Collaborations w
ith advanced space-faring nations: International Space Education Board
‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥36
D. Pursuing cooperation w
ith developing countries outside Asia ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥38
E. O
ther collaborations : providing education opportunities outside Asia for
graduate students ‥
‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥41
VII. DISSEM
INATION OF IN
FORMATION AND PUBLICA
TIONS ‥
42 A. Objectives and strategies
‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥42
B. A
chievements
‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥43
VIII. STRATEGIC ALLIANCES AND ESTABLISHM
ENT OF FOOTHOLDS ‥44
IX. CONCLU
DING REMARKS ‥
‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥46
5
As the Space Education C
enter of Japan Aerospace Exploration
Agency (JA
XA
) entered its sixth year of operation following its
establishment in M
ay 2005, it continued to enhance its activities both in term
s of quantity and quality to ignite children’s curiosity tow
ard the nature, life and the universe and to inspire them to
achieve higher goals. Recognizing “space” as the unique source of
interest, imagination and inspiration, the C
enter has continued to dem
onstrate the effective use of space subjects, materials and
resources at schools, in local comm
unities and at home to stim
ulate children’s interest in not only science and technology but also vari-ous hum
an conducts and their surrounding environment.
A grow
ing number of individuals, groups and organizations w
ithin and outside Japan are now
sharing the Center’s goals and principles
in carrying out space education activities, resulting in the increased partnerships and strategic alliances w
ith various entities to reach out to m
ore young people. The time betw
een the year 2010 and the year 2011 could be m
arked as the period of strategic expansion of space education efforts based on the system
atic support provided by the C
enter to all stakeholders.
This report reflects the major developm
ents in the activities of the Space Education C
enter and its achievements in 2010 and 2011 and
indicates directions to be pursued in the coming year.
I. INT
RO
DU
CT
ION
6
The Space Education Center w
as established on 1 May 2005 by an
executive decision by the President of the Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency (JA
XA
). The Center form
ally opened on 19 M
ay 2005 at JAX
A Sagam
ihara Cam
pus.
JAX
A, as w
ell as its predecessors before its establishment in
October 2003
1, had carried out educational activities as part of the public relations and outreach activities. Those activities focused on increasing public aw
areness and understanding of the work of JA
XA
and highlighting societal benefits of space activities, w
ith the aim to
gain public support for the activities of JAX
A.
The recognition of the fundamental difference betw
een public out-reach and education resulted in the establishm
ent of a separate group dedicated to space education activities. O
riginally located within the
Public Affairs D
epartment, the space education group carried out
activities using attractive space materials to stim
ulate young peo-ple’s interest in science and other subjects relevant to their daily lives and ultim
ately to have positive impact on their grow
ing-up process. T
his group served as the predecessor to the Space Education C
enter and, to some extent, laid the foundation for the
work of the C
enter.
1 JAX
A w
as established by merging the follow
ing three separate space-related entities: National Space D
evelopment A
gency (NA
SDA
), Institute of Space and A
stronautical Science (ISAS) and N
ational Aeronautics Laboratory (N
AL).
Space subjects, resources and materials inherently have unique
power to attract young people’s attention and to encourage them
to take on challenges and aim
for higher goals. While the Space
Education Center considers it im
portant to attract young people to pursue career options in space-related areas, so as to expand the pool of future space scientists and engineers, the key m
ission of the C
enter is to effectively use space materials to have positive im
pact on the m
inds of young people in their development process, helping
them to expand their potential and to becom
e socially responsible individuals.
JAX
A Sagam
ihara campus
Opening of the S
pace Education
Center:Prof. Y. M
atogawa, First D
irector of the C
enter (left), and JAX
A President K
. Tachikaw
a (right)
II. BA
SIC FA
CT
S
A. E
stablishment of the C
enter
B. G
oals and principles
7
There are a few principles that the Space Education C
enter follows
in its activities.
The Center considers it im
portant that the young people understand the thinking process behind w
hat they acquire as knowledge. Taking
advantage of their simple curiosity tow
ard the nature, life and envi-ronm
ent that surrounds them, the C
enter offers them w
ith opportuni-ties to experience the joy of discovering som
ething new and previ-
ously unknown to them
and solving mysteries by them
selves. In this process, the C
enter also aims to increase young people’s apprecia-
tion of science and technology and to enhance their capacity for log-ical thinking.
“Preciousness of life” continues to be the most im
portant message to
be conveyed to young people through all activities of the Center.
The abundance of goods and services that meet various needs of
people in Japan might indicate the richness of the society. H
owever,
that may not necessarily be true if one pays close attention to the
minds of people, especially those of young people. A
n alarming
number of young people in Japan have been observed to have lim
it-ed m
otivation to do anything, to be pessimistic about their ow
n future and even to treat people’s lives lightly, including their ow
n lives, and get involved in serious crim
es. The people involved in the establishm
ent of the Space Education Center had becom
e deeply concerned about those young people, and they w
anted to do some-
thing about it.
Space subjects and materials w
ere found to offer an excellent tool to inspire and m
otivate young people, to start gaining self-confidence and aim
ing for higher goals in their lives. It was observed that after
learning that there had been a lengthy chain of relays of one life to another before a certain life w
as born and that the lives on the Earth today had com
e a long way from
pieces of galaxies and starts, many
of the young people started to think deeply about the origin and evo-lution of lives and gained appreciation of the im
portance of life.
8
By letting young people learn about the origin and evolution of the
universe and life and showing how
long we have been searching for
Earth-like planets without success, the C
enter aims to increase their
appreciation of all forms of lives on the Earth.
The spirit of “Never G
ive Up” is another im
portant message alw
ays em
phasized in the activities of the Center, as this spirit is considered
essential for anybody who w
ants to achieve something significant in
this challenging world. The history of space exploration is full of
examples that show
how im
portant this is.
Through its activities, the Center also guides young people to under-
stand how im
portant and how rew
arding it is to be part of the society to build a better future together. N
o individual can carry out space activities by them
selves, but together, a large number of people w
ith various backgrounds can even build global system
s that could bene-fit large populations around the w
orld. The Center aim
s to increase young people’s appreciation of the pow
er of collective efforts tow
ard comm
on goals.
With the above goals and principles, the C
enter carries out its activi-ties to help young people becom
e full of curiosity, adventurous spirit and craftsm
anship, always aim
ing for the best in whatever they do.
9
The Space Education Center consists of the Space Education O
ffice, w
hich serves as the implem
enting body of the Center, and a group of
experts who adm
inistratively belong to other offices and depart-m
ents but have been appointed as technical advisers to assist in the planning and execution of the C
enter’s activities. As of February
2011, the Space Education Office consists of 17 staff m
embers,
including 7 regular staff and 10 invited or contracted staff.
The Center carries out the follow
ing four major activities:
i) form
al education support, to assist teachers and schools in car-rying out classroom
activities using space materials;
ii) inform
al education support, to assist local comm
unities in orga-nizing educational events for young people on off school days to learn about space-related subjects and to participate in hands-on activities;
iii) hom
e education support, to assist parents in enhancing comm
uni-cations and interactions w
ith their children at home through
joint hands-on activities using space-related materials and
resources;iv)
international activities, to promote and support space education
activities outside Japan through collaborations with other coun-
tries and international organizations.
C. O
rganizational structure and major activities
Formal education support
Informal education support
Hom
e education support
International activities: Space
Education Seminar in B
angladesh
10
Bam
boo battery experiment dem
on-strated by a Japanese teacher at Seabrook Interm
ediate School on the occasion of SEEC
Astronaut D
oi and samples used for
an educational experiment relating to
space and life
SEEC session w
ith teaching demon-
strations by Japanese teachers sup-ported by the Space Education C
enter
D. C
ollaborations with other offices and departm
ents within JA
XA
Other offices and departm
ents of JAX
A also carry out activities that
have educational elements. The Space Education C
enter collaborates w
ith those offices and departments.
For example, the C
enter works in cooperation w
ith the planning and outreach group of the Public A
ffairs Departm
ent. This Departm
ent is responsible for sending JA
XA
staff as lecturers to give talks on a range of space-related topics on various occasions upon request. Particularly during the one-m
onth period celebrating Space Day in
Japan, on 12 September, a num
ber of JAX
A staff are sent to schools
to talk about space subjects.
The Space Education Center also w
orks in cooperation with the
Space Environment U
tilization Center, w
hich carries out education-related activities in association w
ith Space Shuttle flights and the use of the International Space Station (ISS). The Space Education C
enter has recently announced the opportunities for schools to par-ticipate in “Seeds in Space” project. U
sing seeds of the flowering
plant named “M
iyakogusa”, or Japanese lotus corniculatus, and “A
sagao”, or morning glories, this project allow
s the participating schools to com
pare those seeds that have been flown on the ISS w
ith norm
al seeds on the Earth in the growing process.
Resulting from
the collaborations with the H
uman Space System
s and U
tilization Mission D
irectory of JAX
A, the Space Education
Center continues to provide opportunities for teachers of prim
ary and secondary schools as w
ell as kindergartens in Japan to partici-pate in the annual Space Exploration Educators C
onference (SEEC),
held at Space Center H
ouston, in Houston, U
nited States of A
merica. The C
onference offers opportunities for teachers to learn about and exchange inform
ation and experience on using space m
aterials to teach across the curricula, not only for science, but also for language, arts, m
athematics, history and other subjects. O
n the occasion of SEEC
2011, in February 2011, JAX
A have provided the
opportunity for Japanese teachers to make lectures at local school in
Houston as new
approaches.
Call for opportunities to participate in
“Seeds in Space” project
11
Supporting senior high school class in environm
ental study together with
Satellite Applications and Prom
otion C
enter
The Satellite Applications and Prom
otion Center produces useful
information m
aterials with im
ages taken by JAX
A-operated satel-
lites for distribution to the public. The Space Education Center
works in collaboration w
ith the Satellite Applications and Prom
otion C
enter to carry out educational activities that use images taken by
JAX
A satellites.
The Space Education Center seeks for collaborations w
ith various entities outside JA
XA
that are engaged in education. Close collabo-
rations with teachers and schools are considered m
ost essential. The C
enter has continued to explore opportunities for collaborations w
ith associations of teachers, boards of education as well as publish-
ers of textbooks and companies of educational m
aterials, in its efforts to better integrate space subjects and m
aterials into the exist-ing curricula for form
al education and to produce education materi-
als that better meet needs of schools and teachers. Significant prog-
ress has been made in this area particularly in the past year. D
etails of collaborations w
ith those entities are provided in Chapter V
III of the present report.
In pursuing collaborations to expand space education activities, the C
enter takes a comprehensive approach. The C
enter seeks for col-laborations not only w
ith those entities that are involved in space science and technology and their applications, life science and Earth science, w
hich have clear links with space activities, but also w
ith others that are engaged in studies on hum
anities and civilizations as w
ell as arts and philosophies.
12
Space activities encompass the accum
ulation of human know
ledge and provide a com
mon thread that links m
any different aspects of hum
an activities. Many m
aterials that resulted from space activities
catch attention of young people and appeal to their curiosity. The challenge is to find a best w
ay to make those m
aterials available for use under m
ost conducive learning environment for young people.
Through its formal education support, the Space Education C
enter aim
s to expand and enhance the use of attractive space materials by
schools and teachers to assist the students in learning various sub-jects according to the curriculum
guidelines. The Center considers it
essential to work closely w
ith school teachers as they are in a better position to understand young people’s needs and feelings through their daily interactions.
There are a several strategies pursued by the Center to achieve that
goal.
One is to provide custom
ized support to the teachers who have con-
tacted the Center w
ith request for support. After the initial contact,
the Center’s staff hold num
erous consultations with those teachers to
articulate their needs and interest, identify goals and develop plans for activities for their classes. O
nce the plan has been developed w
ith the teacher, the Center identifies appropriate experts of JA
XA
from
a range of space science and technology fields as well as expe-
rienced educators and pedagogy experts and calls upon them to
provide knowledge and expertise to develop teaching and learning
materials. W
hen the teacher carries out classroom activities accord-
ing to the plan, the Center sends its staff and appropriate experts to
provide on-site support to the teacher. Upon request, the C
enter assists the teacher in evaluating the results of the activities. D
epending on the interest and request by the teacher or the school, the C
enter also assists in establishing partnerships with other
schools or promoting collaborations w
ith relevant entities in the local com
munity.
III. SUPPO
RT FOR
FOR
MA
L EDU
CATIO
N
A. O
bjectives and strategies
13
Supporting the class for environmen-
tal education, Kudan Junior H
igh School, C
hiyoda, Tokyo
Through this entire process of support (see the chart for “School Support: Process” below
), the Center ensures that initiatives com
e from
the teacher, and not the Center.
The Center’s support is not lim
ited to science classes. It covers a w
ide range of disciplinary fields taught at school, including social science, Japanese language and the arts. D
epending on the needs of and objectives pursued by the teachers, the C
enter’s support covers various types of classroom
activities, ranging from norm
al classes according to the curricula guidelines, integrated learning classes as w
ell as extracurricular activities. Following the expansion of its sup-
port to include kindergartens from 2007, the C
enter has been sup-porting an increasing num
ber of kindergartens, elementary schools
and junior and senior high schools, as well as faculties of education
of universities.
In order to ensure that the efforts made by those teachers and
schools that have received support from the C
enter to expand space education activities w
ould not be isolated and that their efforts w
ould be supported by the supervisory bodies overseeing the school m
anagement and activities, the C
enter has strengthened its efforts to establish collaborations w
ith boards of education in the local com-
munities, to jointly provide training opportunities for teachers to
learn about space education and to acquire skills to bring space into classroom
s.
Such training opportunities are also provided to potential candidates for teachers w
ho are studying in the faculties of education at univer-sities. The C
enter pursues collaborations with faculties of education
Supporting the Japanese language classJunior H
igh School attached to N
agasaki University
Space foods produced by students of O
bama Fisheris H
igh School, Obam
a, Fukui
14
as it is considered more desirable that the school teachers already
know about the benefits of space education and have basic skills to
conduct classroom activities using space m
aterials before they becom
e too busy to meet regular teaching requirem
ents and to deal w
ith administrative w
ork required at their schools.
In light of the recently revised curriculum guidelines issued by the
Ministry of Education, C
ulture, Sports, Science and Technology (M
EXT) in M
arch 2008, for K-12 grades, the C
enter has been focus-ing its efforts to help teachers to follow
the revised guidelines to adjust the contents of the classes as w
ell as methods by using rele-
vant space materials.
With the idea to foster “the strength to live”, the revised guidelines
aim to help the students develop independent m
inds to identify issues, analyze, think, judge, and take appropriate actions w
hile car-ing about and collaborating w
ith others. In terms of substantive con-
tent, the revised guidelines have expanded the subjects relating to science and m
athematics.
For the Center, it presents an excellent opportunity to introduce its
space education materials for a w
ider use by school teachers. The idea behind the revised guidelines resonates w
ith the principles of the C
enter, and it has developed a number of teaching m
aterials, m
ethods and programm
es through its support to teachers and schools in the past years particularly for science classes.
While som
e parts relate to mathem
atics and science had already begun to be follow
ed at schools from A
pril 2009, the revised curric-ulum
guidelines are to be implem
ented in elementary schools from
2011 and for the junior high schools in 2012. Textbook com
panies have begun to produce new
textbooks and supplementary learning
materials to follow
the revised guidelines. This presents a good opportunity for the C
enter to introduce space subjects and materials
into classroom teaching in a system
atic manner. The C
enter has been actively offering its support to textbook com
panies and those com-
panies producing supplementary learning m
aterials to use, for exam-
ple, images taken by JA
XA
satellites and spacecraft or photographs of space activities of JA
XA
.
Collaborating w
ith the Faculty of Education, N
agasaki University, to
train future teachers
Teachers training course
15
1. Introducing space education at schools across the country
Providing customized support to teachers and schools consum
es a large am
ount of staff time and efforts. A
classroom activity plan con-
sists of normally m
ore than one classes, and the period required to im
plement the plan could last for one full academ
ic year, requiring at least a several visits by the C
enter’s staff and experts. The Center
has, nonetheless, continued this labour-intensive approach to support school education w
ith the team of 5 staff m
embers.
The number of schools that received custom
ized support from the
Center increased from
20 in the first fiscal year, May 2005 to M
arch 2006, to 67 in the fifth fiscal year, A
pril 2010 to March 2011.
B. A
chievements
FY 2005Schools
SchoolsFY 2006
SchoolsSchools
FY 2007Schools
SchoolsFY 2008
SchoolsSchools
KindergartenElementary SchoolsJunior High SchoolsHigh SchoolsTOTAL
0151420
0301,158
3551,543
1831527
112337457898
1,804
11861742
941,634
8171,4994,044
214142050
1501,1771,088
5943,009
FY 2009Schools
Schools3 34181267
2502,1051,348 5374,240
NO
TE: Japanese fiscal year starts from A
pril 1 to next March 31.
<Num
bers of schools supported by the Center and the students benefited from
the support>
It should be noted that in the past year, some schools that had
received support from the C
enter in the preceding years have contin-ued classroom
activities with the use of space m
aterials without sup-
port from the C
enter. Through administered transfers from
one school to another, som
e of those teachers who had been supported
by the Center in the past have begun their classroom
activities with
the use of space materials at their new
schools by themselves. There
are apparently more schools that have started or that are carrying out
classroom activities using space m
aterials than the above statistics indicate.
Another m
ajor development is the increased opportunities for teach-
ers training in space education through collaborations with, for
example, boards of education or faculties of education. The C
enter
16
2. Creating a starting point for intellectual curiosity: K
obe Y
MC
A C
hitose Kindergarten, K
obe, Hyogo
The Space Education Center has been supporting kindergartens since
February 2007 to carry out space education activities. In January 2011, the C
enter continuously support the joint learning exercise by parents and children at K
obe YM
CA C
hitose Kindergarten. The chil-
dren enjoyed the explanation of various type of rockets and making
and launching straw rockets and unbrella rockets from
readily avail-able m
aterials around them w
hile learning about the basics of science of flight.The excitem
ent prevailed throughout the programm
e, which the cen-
ter had designed with the hope that it w
ould serve as the turning point for their grow
ing curiosity.
FY 2005Sessions
Students/Teachers
SessionsStudents/Teachers
SessionsStudents/Teachers
SessionsStudents/Teachers
FY 2006FY 2007
FY 2008
For candidates for teachers
NilNil
NilNil
1156
3234
For teachersTOTAL
111010
12121,2011,201
78242398
39421,1861,420
SessionsStudents/Teachers
FY 2009
2265
36381,1631,428
<Num
ber of teacher training sessions and participants>
NO
TE: Japanese fiscal year starts from A
pril 1 to next March 31.
started its support for the faculty of education by organizing one space education training session in 2007. D
uring the fiscal year 2008, three such sessions w
ere organized with the support of the
Center. A
s for the current fiscal year, two sessions have been orga-
nized, benefiting 265 students. In addition, the number of training
sessions for those teachers who are already teaching at school, has
also increased in comparison to years past from
one in the fiscal year of 2005 to 39 in the fiscal year of 2008. It has already reached 36 as of January 2010.
The joint learning exercise by parents and children at K
obe YM
CA
17
3. Opening the door into outer space: Yokoham
a-City Idogaya
Elem
entary School, Yokohama K
anagawa
Starting from the academ
ic year 2010, the Center has supported the
integrated interdisciplinary programm
e for the sixth-grade students of Idogaya Elem
entary School. Through this programm
e, the stu-dents learned about life in space, such as space food and space suit, after group research on the subject of “W
hat is space like?”. They also took part in hands-on activities, to carry out a vacuum
test and to m
ake umbrella bag rockets. They enjoyed unusual experience
studying the environment in space and flight m
echanism.
4. Protecting our environment and saving our planet: M
inami-
Tane Junior High School on third grade selected class of sci-
ence.
With the them
e of “The global environment as seen from
space”, there w
ill be talks about the Solar system, explanations of w
hy there is life on earth, and they w
ill be made aw
are that the earth is a m
iracle planet. Also, as the global envionm
ent as seen from
space, they will use satellite im
agery to see the envionmental prob-
lems such as global w
arming and desertification from
the view-
point of man-m
ade satellites.They w
ill be given the understanding of the earth’s current situa-tion as seen from
space and the awareness of w
hat they must do
with the problem
s about the global environment. A
fter the lecture of JA
XA
, they researched the envionment of K
agoshima and other
regions using satellite data.
Carrying out a vacuum
test and mak-
ing umbrella bag rockets.
Thinking about the global environ-m
ent from a point of view
from outer
space
18
6. Strengthening partnerships with universities to support
teachers training: Faculty of Education, Shim
ane University
Having recognized the advantages of enhancing understanding of
space education among the students w
ho wish to becom
e teachers, the Space Education C
enter has pursued collaborations with interest-
ed universities with faculties of education. This is also part of the
Center’s efforts to contribute to enhancing education in the local
comm
unity.
One such exam
ple is its collaboration with the Faculty of Education
of Shimane U
niversity. The Center w
orked together with faculty
mem
bers of the University to organize a sem
inar on space education as part of the teacher-training course for the students of the Faculty of Education. For the students of the elem
entary and junior high schools attached to the U
niversity, the Center supported the organi-
zation of special lectures by sending space experts. The Center also
provided education materials for the teacher training courses orga-
nized by the University and sent space experts as lecturers.
5. Learning science technology related to space exploration
from experts: Tokai U
niversity Boyo H
igh School
It was adopted as a Science Partnership Project(SPP) conducted by
Japan Science and Technology Agency(JST). A
s Tokai University
Boyo H
igh School's continuing theme “Space”, they learned about
science technology related to space exploration. The specialist gave the students lectures and experim
ents for several times focused on
food and environment. The students visited relative facilities and
presented their studies.
Experiments focused on food
Seminar for future school teachers
Science Academ
y
Teachers training for the renewal of
teaching licences
19
7. Advancing space education on the occasion of a rare celestial
phenomenon: solar eclipse on 22 July 2009
The Space Education Center took the advantage of the total solar
eclipse that occurred on 22 July 2009, the longest one during the tw
enty-first century lasting a maxim
um of 6 m
inutes and 39 seconds off Southeast A
sia, to stimulate interest of children in learning m
ore about celestial bodies and their phenom
ena. On that day, the total
eclipse of the Sun was visible from
within a narrow
corridor that tra-versed half of the Earth, crossing also the Ryukyu Islands of Japan. A
partial eclipse was visible from
the entire parts of Japan.
Besides carrying out its ow
n special project to encourage the general public to take photographs of pin-hole im
ages of the total solar eclipse, the C
enter provided support for the special classes that addressed the solar eclipse on that day.
As part of the tele-education program
me betw
een Ogasaw
ara V
illage, located in the archipelago of “Ogasaw
a Group” at som
e 1,000 kilo-m
eters directly south of Tokyo, and Tamarokuto Science
Museum
of Nishi-Tokyo C
ity, participants on both sides observed and took photographs of the pin-hole im
ages of the solar eclipse. W
ith the high-definition images and video conference system
pro-vided by the W
ideband Internetworking Engineering Test and
Dem
onstration Satellite of JAX
A, know
n as “KIZU
NA
”, the partici-pants then com
pared their photo-images of the solar eclipse.
At C
hohshi High School of C
hiba Prefecture, the students conducted solar radio observation using the parabora antenna that they had built together. B
y observing the solar eclipse using scientific meth-
ods, they could deepen their understanding of the phenomenon.
Image taken by N
ational Astronom
ical O
bservatory of Japan, with transm
is-sion supported by N
ational Institute of Inform
ation and Com
munications
Technology (NIC
T) and JAX
A
Observing solar radio by their ow
n parabora antenna
20
As part of the executive directions set by the m
anagement of JA
XA
, the Space Education C
enter has been tasked since the fiscal year 2008 to establish strategic footholds in all nine regional blocs of Japan, i.e. H
okkaido, Tohoku, Kanto, H
okuriku and Shinetsu, Tokai, K
inki, Chugoku, Shikoku, K
yushu and Okinaw
a, by March 2012.
This is to ensure that the kind of classroom support provided by the
Center continues to be expanded and further enhanced in an
effective manner to benefit all prim
ary and secondary schools in the country w
ithout requiring direct and intense support by the Center
itself. While it does not need to be a school, and it could w
ell be a science m
useum or a board of education in the local com
munity, a
strategic foothold should endorse the goals and principles of the C
enter and should actively pursue the development of space
education materials and teaching m
ethods to be introduced to schools w
ithin the block under its responsibility. The Center w
as also tasked to ensure the steady increase in the num
ber of schools that new
ly introduce aerospace subjects into their classroom
teaching by using the materials or teaching m
ethods developed by the strategic foothold in their bloc.
As of February 2011, the C
enter has concluded agreements w
ith seventeen entities to serve as its strategic footholds, in H
okkaido, Tohoku, K
anto, Hokuriku and Shinetsu, Tokai, K
inki, Chugoku,
Kyushu and O
kinawa blocs.
C. E
stablishing strategic footholds
21
TohokuTohokuC
hugokuH
okkaidoH
okuriku/ShinetsuK
anto
Hokuriku/Shinetsu
Kyusyu/O
kinawa
Kyusyu/O
kinawa
Kanto
Kanto
TokaiC
hugokuC
hugokuK
inkiK
inki
Tohoku
2 Kodom
o = Children, Yugakukan = Study H
ouse, Shimin = C
ivic/Citizen
Akita
Miyagi
Shimane
Kushiro
Shimosuw
aTokyo
Kom
atsuK
agoshima
FukuokaTokyoTokyoShizuokaK
urashikiK
ureW
akayama
Osaka
Aom
ori
Akita U
niversityM
iyagi technical College/Sendai Technical College
Shimane U
niversityN
PO K
odomo Yugakukan Shim
in Stage2
Shimosuw
a-Town B
oard of EducationW
aseda University
Kom
atsu-City B
oard of EducationK
agoshima-C
ityK
yusyu University
Tokyo-Gakugei U
niversityK
okubunji-City B
oard of EducationShizuoka Science M
useum - R
U・K
U・R
UK
urashiki-City B
oard of Education K
ure-City Yam
ato Museum
Wakayam
a-Prefecture Board of Education
Osaka-Prefectural Education C
enter
21-Mar-08
19-Sep-0827-O
ct-082-D
ec-082-D
ec-0829-M
ay-09
1-Dec-09
10-Jan-108-M
ar-1010-M
ar-101-A
pr-1012-Jun-101-Jul-1018-A
ug-1015-N
ov-1020-D
ec-10
1-Aug-09
Bloc
Area
EntityD
ate of SignatureList of strategic footholds (as of February 2011)
Aom
ori-City Junior H
igh SchoolsW
orking Group on Science
22
Supporting informal education continues to be another pillar of the
activities of the Space Education Center. U
sing unique programm
es and m
aterials that it has developed, the Center supports educational
activities carried out by other entities rather than schools outside the form
al curricula, normally during off school days.
Through its inform
al education support, the Center aim
s to m
aximize the synergies of space education efforts undertaken by
various entities, including not only local governments but also
relevant non-governmental and non-profit entities. The center aim
s to achieve this objective w
hile ensuring that its goals and principles continue to be follow
ed by those entities involved in space education activities around the country and building upon w
hat has been achieved by its “C
osmic C
ollege”.
In the past year, the Center has follow
ed a few strategies as
described below.
Based on its belief that the responsibilities of fostering local children
lie with the local com
munities, the C
enter encouraged more local
comm
unities to take the lead in organizing space education events for local children w
hile the Center itself plays only a supportive and
advisory role. This is to allow for the m
assive expansion of space education activities to reach out to all parts of Japan w
ithout increasing the level of resource requirem
ents of the Center. B
y ensuring that the local com
munities are involved from
the beginning of the planning, the C
enter has made efforts to increase the sense of
ownership and responsibilities am
ong the local comm
unities organizing those events.
The Center has increased its efforts to establish partnerships w
ith interested industries to organize space education activities. W
ays and m
eans to establish partnerships have varied depending on the interest of the industries and the circum
stances of the activities concerned.
The Center’s efforts have shifted from
the planning, organization and m
anagement of events to the enhancem
ent of its support system
IV. SUPPO
RT FO
R IN
FOR
MA
L ED
UC
ATIO
N
A. O
bjectives and strategies
23
for space education instructors and leaders, who play key roles in
space education events organized around the country. In addition to providing training opportunities and technical advice, the C
enter has begun to provide m
aterial support to those instructors and leaders w
ho are active in carrying out space education activities.
1. For young people: from kindergarten to high-school students
Most of the activities for young people that the C
enter supports con-tinue to be carried out as part of “C
osmic C
ollege”, which aim
s to achieve the follow
ing objectives: i) to increase interest of young people in science and technology; ii) to help establish voluntary groups of young people that are fond of science and technology; iii) to m
otivate young people to raise questions, think and find solutions by them
selves; iv) to encourage collaborations with others; v) to
lead young people to appreciate the importance of life. The C
osmic
College offers three courses, covering from
kindergarten to high school students. In addition to those C
osmic C
ollege courses, the C
enter also supports a few other recurrent space education events
and non-recurrent special events for young people.
In supporting the organization of Cosm
ic College courses, the
Center has continued to w
ork closely with the Young A
stronaut Club
(YAC
)-Japan, an incorporated foundation originally established in 1986 and currently w
ith 129 branches across the country and about 3,000 m
embers to carry out educational activities addressing space
and science.
a. Cosm
ic College: K
ids Course
The “Kids C
ourse” is for the children younger than the second year in the elem
entary school students and their parents to participate. The program
me aim
s to increase interest of the participating chil-dren in and their fam
iliarity of the surrounding nature. Through hands-on activities involving observations, experim
ents and handi-craft w
ork, the programm
e is designed to cultivate young children’s scientific thinking and to build the basis for logical thinking process.
B. Program
me structure
Kids C
ourses
24
b. Cosm
ic College: Fundam
ental Course
The “Fundamental C
ourse” is for the school students between the
third-year in the elementary school and the third-year in the junior
high school. The programm
e aims to enhance the students’ interest
in the surrounding natural objects and phenomena. Through hands-
on activities involving scientific observations, experiments and
handicraft work designed for the study of nature, the program
me
aims to enhance their scientific and logical thinking capabilities.
c. Cosm
ic College: A
dvanced Course
The “Advanced C
ourse” is for the junior and senior high school stu-dents. The program
me norm
ally lasts for a few days. Through
hands-on activities involving scientific observations, experiments
and handicraft work, the program
me leads the students to pose sci-
entific questions and to come up w
ith answers for those questions by
themselves. The program
me aim
s to enhance their scientific and logical thinking capabilities.
The High School C
ourse, which used to be a separate program
me of
the Cosm
ic College, has been integrated into the A
dvanced Course
since April 2009.
d. Other recurrent activities
At Sagam
ihara Cam
pus, the Space Education Center organizes the
five-day training programm
e for high school students, during their sum
mer vacation period, to learn how
to design scientific missions
through team w
ork and to experience the mission evaluation, requir-
ing them to present their m
issions and respond to questions from the
audience, including leading space scientists and engineers of JAX
A.
This programm
e is known as “Space M
ission High School”, or
“Kim
ission”, which is a com
bination of “Kim
i”, or “you” in Japanese, and “m
ission”.
Fundamental C
ourses
Advanced C
ourses
Group discussions and presentations
during “Kim
ission”
25
As m
uch as the circumstances allow
and upon request, the Center
assists other departments and offices of JA
XA
in organizing, or co-organizing w
ith other research entities, their educational activities for young people. Such activities include Space Schools, organized by the Institute of Space and A
stronautical Science (ISAS), to pro-
vide the students with opportunities to interact w
ith its leading space scientists, M
icrogravity Experim
ent Contests, by the Space
Environment U
tilization Center, to provide the selected students
with opportunities to conduct m
icrogravity experiments during the
parabolic flights, and Science Cam
ps, hosted by Space Centers of
JAX
A in Tsukuba, Tanegashim
a and Kakuta and organized by Japan
Science Foundation, for the students to visit space facilities, listen to lectures by the leading space engineers and to experience m
aking and launching of m
odel rockets.
Microgravity experim
ent by the students
Science Cam
p
Lecture of “School of Space facilitated” by ISA
S
e. Special events
The Space Education Center collaborated w
ith the local government
of Aichi Prefecture, YA
C and K
odomo-U
chu-Mirai A
ssociation (K
U-M
A)
3 in organizing the Japan Water R
ocket Contest 2010 at
the same venue as the Expo 2005 A
ichi Japan. With the participation
of about 500 primary and secondary school students, the students
who had been selected through the regional contests held in nine
regional blocs of Japan competed for the accuracy of launch and
flight distance of the water rocket.
The Center supported the “C
anSat Kohshien”
4 by covering the event live by the dedicated TV
channel operated in collaboration with
YAC
. Each participating high school student team built a “C
anSat”, nano-scale quasi-satellite m
odel weighing 350 to 1050 gram
s with all
basic functions of a satellite fitted into a soda can of 350 ml, and its
carrier to be placed onboard the model rocket provide by the organiz-
er. The six participating teams com
peted for the duration of the C
anSat Kohshien
All Japan W
ater Rocket C
ontest 2010
3 “Kodom
o”, “Uchu” and ”M
irai” mean ”C
hildren”, ”Space”, ”Future”, respectively, in Japanese.4 “K
ohshien” is the name of the prestigious ballpark in H
yogo Prefecture where the traditional Japan H
igh School Baseball C
hampionship is
held every summ
er with the participation of about 50 high school team
s selected through the prefectural tournaments.
26
Space Education Leaders Seminar
Space Education L
eaders Skill-Up
Course
2. For educators and instructors of space education
As for instructors of space education activities, the C
enter has been offering Space Education Leaders Sem
inars since April 2008, fol-
lowing the restructuring and m
erging of the Educators Course of the
Cosm
ic College and the Leaders Sem
inar, which had been separately
organized to provide training opportunities for any individuals inter-ested in carrying out space education activities. In 2009, the C
enter began to offer training opportunities for those instructors w
ith expe-rience to further enhance their know
ledge about space education and their skilks. The support system
for the space education instructors w
ho have completed the Sem
inars has also been enhanced, to facili-tate com
munications am
ong them and to provide m
aterial support for their space education activities.
a. Space Education L
eaders Seminar
The Space Education Leaders Seminar is for any individual interest-
ed in carrying out space education activities with or w
ithout experi-ence in inform
al education activities. The programm
e aims to trans-
fer to the particidants basic knowledge and skills that are required
for instructors of space education activities. Am
ong other things, the participants learn about the goals and principles of the C
enter, role of leaders and understanding children’s needs, as w
ell as crisis man-
agement and safety m
easures. The Center issues licenses for Space
Education Leader (SEL) to those individuals who have com
pleted the Sem
inar.
The Space Education Leaders Skill-Up C
ourse is for those individu-als w
ho have completed the above Sem
inar and who w
ish to im
prove their skills in conducting space education activities. Through this C
ourse, the participants obtain the latest news on the
developments w
ith space activities, basic knowledge in the aero-
space area required to carry out space education activities as well as
know-how
and skills for activity managem
ent, teaching skills and m
ethods to develop educational materials.
image-capturing of the target m
arker on the ground after the release of the C
anSat 300 meters above the ground until its landing.
27
b. Space Education L
eaders Support System
As part of its support to the instructors and leaders w
ho have com-
pleted the Space Education Leaders Seminar in the past four years,
the Space Education Center has a rental system
for its education m
aterials and equipment for use during their space education activi-
ties. The rental period is up to one month, and the use of m
aterials and equipm
ent of the Center requires the C
enter’s prior approval. A
fter the completion of the activities concerned, the users are
requested to provide feedback on the rented materials and equip-
ment.
Starting from D
ecember 2009, the C
enter provides an on-line forum
to facilitate the comm
unications among the space education instruc-
tors and leaders as well as w
ith staff of the Center. The “Space
Education Com
munity Site” allow
s the registered users to exchange inform
ation, ideas and educational materials as w
ell as to receive the latest inform
ation on the Center’s m
aterials produced and most
recent and upcoming activities.
The Center has also started in the past year a new
system of support
for the instructors and leaders. The Center now
provides financial support on a selective basis for those w
ho carry out space education hands-on activities for young people, at 18 years old or younger, or activities in support of such activities for young people. Interested instructors and leaders m
ust have completed the Space Education
Leaders Seminar in the past three years and their activities to apply
for funding support must not be co-organized or co-sponsored by
JAX
A. The expenditure item
s to be supported by this system include
those relating to travel, educational materials, expendable item
s, rental of the m
eeting rooms and facilities, com
munications, trans-
portation and insurance for the participants. An application subm
it-ted by an individual is eligible for funding support up to 50,000 Japanese yen, and a group of tw
o or more individuals is eligible up
to 200,000 Japanese yen, and the amount w
ill depend on the size and quality of the proposal.
Small w
ind tunnel for rent
Space suits for rent
Com
munity site registration through
the homepage of the Space Education
Center
28
The pool of space educators and instructors w
ho have newly
received training from the C
enter through the Cosm
ic College
Educators C
ourse until February 2011 and through the Space Education Leaders Sem
inar continued to expand. As for the current
fiscal year, FY2010, the num
ber of participants of the Space Education Leaders Sem
inars as well as its Skill-U
p Courses that
have been organized to date is 557 in total as of February 2011.
Reflecting the success of the C
enter’s strategy to transfer the central responsibilities as the organizers to the local com
munities, the num
-ber of space education events organized around the country contin-ued to increase w
hile the level of financial resources remained the
same and the num
ber of staff increased from 4 to 11 in FY
2010.
C. A
chievements
FY 2005Events
ParticipantsEvents
ParticipantsEvents
ParticipantsEvents
ParticipantsFY 2006
FY 2007FY 2008
Kids CourseFundamental CourseAdvanced CourseHigh School Course*TOTAL
6101118
6005656543
1,273
14101126
1,3185056135
1,919
26342Nil62
3,0682,27863Nil5,409
3961NilNil100
2,0482,257Nil
Nil4,305
EventsParticipants
FY 2009
46813Nil130
3,2174,96592Nil8,274
NO
TE: Japanese Fiscal year starts from A
pril 1 to next March 31.
* High School C
ourse was m
erged with A
dvance Course from
April 2008 and reorganized.
<Num
ber of events and participants of Cosm
ic College courses>
FY 2005FY 2006
FY 2007FY 2008
Cosmic College:
TOTAL
Space EducationLeaders Seminars**
Cosmic College:Educators Courses*
349Nil
213
562
192Nil
233
425
174Nil
600
744
Nil
388 Nil
388
FY 2009
Nil
538 Nil
538*
Cosm
ic College Educators C
ourse and Leaders Seminar w
ere reorganized and merged to becom
e
Space Education Leaders Seminar from
April 2008.
** Space Education Leaders Sem
inars include those organized for the purpose of training instructors
of the Seminars.
<Num
ber of space education instructors and leaders>
29
As the num
ber of space education events continues to increase, the dem
and for use of the teaching materials developed by the C
enter also increased. In the past year, the C
enter reorganized its system of
managing its num
erous learning and teaching materials, packaging
some m
aterials for ready-use and imm
ediate rental for selected activities and m
onitoring the frequency of use. The packaged mate-
rials include those activities to make and fly w
ater rockets, syringe rockets, um
brella-bag rockets and hot-air balloons, conducting m
icro-gravity experiments and experim
ents with atm
ospheric pres-sure and com
paring models of the M
oon and the Earth, to name a
few exam
ples.
30
As natural evolution of its support for inform
al education through collaborations w
ith local comm
unities, the Space Education Center
has increased its efforts to bring space home in the past year. Its sup-
port for home education is provided m
ainly through its collabora-tions w
ith Kodom
o-Uchu-M
irai Association (K
U-M
A) in organiz-
ing “Space Schools for Families”, for participation by parents and
children together.
The programm
e of “Space School for Families” consists of a several
gatherings throughout the year, called “schooling”, where the partic-
ipating parents and children learn together about various space-relat-ed subjects and conduct basic experim
ents, and the homew
ork to be done betw
een the schooling, using the learning materials distributed
during the schooling. While sim
ilar to the programm
e of regular schools, this program
me is unique in providing opportunities for the
parents and their children to share time together at hom
e to discuss space-related topics and to conduct experim
ents as homew
ork. Through “Space School for Fam
ilies”, the Center aim
s to enhance parent-child relationships and to help create conducive environm
ent for learning at hom
e.
V. SUPPO
RT FO
R E
DU
CAT
ION
AT HO
ME
A. B
ackground and objectivesThe series of “Space School for Families” in collaboration w
ith K
U-M
A began as a separate and distinctive program
me since the
last fiscal year, starting from A
pril 2009. During the last fiscal year,
fifteen courses were organised totaling 2,000 participants. For the
current fiscal year, from A
pril 2010 to March 2011, 20 courses have
already been organized totaling 3,187 participants.
The success of this new program
me is reflected not only in term
s of the quantity of the courses and participants, but also in the feedback from
the parents who participated in this program
me. The C
enter has received positive com
ments from
a number of parents w
ho
B. A
chievements
31
appreciated the opportunities to do something to think, to conduct
simple experim
ents and to discuss with their children at schooling
sessions and at home. Through the program
me offered by the Space
School for Families, som
e parents discovered and treasured what
their children really enjoy doing.
For the Space School for Families, series of teaching guides on typi-
cal hands-on activities continue to be produced, covering various scientific topics under the follow
ing 12 themes: i) flight and float-
ing; ii) light; iii) soil and sand; iv) water; v) air (atm
osphere); vi) heat, tem
perature and combustion; vii) electricity and m
agnetism;
viii) force and motion; ix) breeding of anim
als and cultivation of flow
er and plants; x) field observations; xi) sound; and xii) Sun and its com
panions. As of February 2011, about 20 kinds of teaching
guides have been developed.
FY 2007
FY 2008
FY 2009
Course
ParticipantsN
ilN
il3
1,03715
2,000
<Num
ber of Course and Participants of Space School for Fam
ilies >
32
The Space Education Center continues to expand collaborations
with entities of other countries and international organizations to
promote space education. In this effort, the C
enter uses as much as
possible the existing framew
orks for cooperation in space activities and endeavours to create synergies of efforts m
ade through different fram
eworks.
Through its international activities, the Center places em
phasis on enhancing benefits for prim
ary and secondary school teachers and children through space education, particularly in A
sia and the Pacific. The space education initiatives taken w
ithin the framew
ork of the A
sia-Pacific Regional Space A
gency Forum (A
PRSA
F) for prim
ary and secondary school teachers and students, therefore, are given high priority.
While recognizing benefits of introducing program
s and materials
developed by other space agencies with established education
programs for use by Japanese teachers and schools, the C
enter also m
akes efforts to share its space education principles and approaches as w
ell as materials particularly w
ith developing countries that are increasingly interested in and capable of carrying out space activities.
As for developing countries in other regions, the C
enter supports their space education activities through initiatives taken by the U
nited Nations Educational, Scientific and C
ultural Organization
(UN
ESCO
) and other entities of the United N
ations system as w
ell as developm
ent agencies, such as Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JIC
A).
Cooperation w
ith space-faring nations in space education activities is pursued m
ainly through the framew
ork for cooperation provided by the International Space Education B
oard (ISEB).
VI. IN
TE
RN
ATIO
NA
L AC
TIV
ITIE
S
A. O
bjectives and strategies
33
The Space Education Center has supported educational activities of
Asia-Pacific R
egional Space Agency Forum
(APR
SAF) since 2005
and has served as the Secretariat of APR
SAF Space Education and
Aw
areness Working G
roup since 2006. Currently consisting of
mem
bers from 17 countries and 3 international organizations and
one associate mem
ber organization5 , the W
orking Group has
become increasingly active in the past few
years with the aim
of: i) effectively using space m
aterials to enhance education for young people; ii) providing education and training opportunities for young people in space science and technology; iii) contributing to enhanc-ing m
utual understanding among countries in the region through
exchange opportunities for young people; and iv) increasing public aw
areness of the societal benefits and importance of space activities.
In addition to organizing space education events for primary and
secondary school teachers and students, the Working G
roup has strengthened efforts tow
ard: i) making m
ore teaching and learning m
aterials available in local languages; ii) aligning its space educa-tion efforts w
ith global educational initiatives taken by the entities of the U
nited Nations system
and other international organizations; and iii) contributing to enhancing inter-regional cooperation by m
aking it possible for countries of other regions to benefit from its
space education initiatives.
Starting from 2005, the W
orking Group has organized the W
ater R
ocket Event each year, imm
ediately following the A
PRSA
F ses-sion. This annual regional Event has provided opportunities for young people betw
een 12 and 16 years old not only to learn about basics of rocket science and space activities in general, but also to learn about other countries and their cultures, to build lasting friend-ship beyond national borders based on com
mon interest in space. In
2010, two A
PRSA
F Water R
ocket Events were held. The fifth
APR
SAF W
ater Rocket Event had been held in K
hlong Luang, Pathum
Thani, Thailand, on 23 and 24 January 2010, imm
ediately preceding the A
PRSA
F-16, with the participation of 53 students and
B. Focusing on children in A
sia: Asia-Pacific R
egional Space Agency Forum
Working G
roup mem
bers during A
PRSA
F-17, held in Melbourne,
Victoria, Australia, N
ovember 2010
APR
SAF-17 W
ater Rocket E
vent, M
elbourne, Victoria, A
ustralia, N
ovember 2010
5 Australia, B
angladesh, Cam
bodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, M
alaysia, Myanm
ar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, R
epublic of K
orea, Singapore Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam
, Asian Institute of Technology, the U
nited Nations Educational, Scientific and C
ultural O
rganization (UN
ESCO
), the United N
ations Com
mittee on the Peaceful U
ses of Outer Space (U
N C
OPU
OS) and its secretariat, the U
nited N
ations Office for O
uter Space Affairs (U
NO
OSA
), are currently mem
bers of the Working G
roup.
34
23 teachers and leaders from 15 countries, and the sixth A
PRSA
F W
ater Rocket Event w
as held in is Melbourne, V
ictoria, Australia,
on 20 and 21 Novem
ber 2010, imm
ediately preceding the A
PRSA
F-17, with the participation of 33 students from
12 countries w
ith 34 teachers/leaders from 13 countries. The seventh A
PRSA
F W
ater Rocket Event is planned to be held in Singapore, on 3 and 4
Decem
ber 2011, imm
ediately preceding the APR
SAF-18.
The Working G
roup has organized the Poster Contest under a select-
ed theme each year since 2006 during the A
PRSA
F session, for chil-dren of the age betw
een 8 and 11 years old. From am
ong those post-ers subm
itted by the participating countries, the participants of the A
PRSA
F session vote to select the best poster, for APR
SAF B
est Poster Aw
ard, and the second and third best posters for APR
SAF
Special Poster Awards.
In 2010, two A
PRSA
F Poster Contests w
ere held. On the occasion
of APR
SAF-16, to contribute to the celebration of Iternational Year
of Astronom
y in 2009, the Working G
roup had produced a calendar for A
pril 2010 – March 2011 using the posters subm
itted for the A
PRSA
f-16 Poster Contest, held under “O
ur Universe – G
reat D
iscoveries”.
On the occasionof A
PRSA
F-17, to contribute to the celebration of life on earth and of the value of biodiversity for our lives on the occasion of International Year of B
iodiversity in 2010, the Working
APR
SAF-13 W
ater Rocket E
vent, Jakarta, Indonesia, 2006
APR
SAF-14 W
ater Rocket E
vent, Bangalore, India, 2007
APR
SAF-15 W
ater Rocket E
vent, H
anoi, Vietnam, 2008
APR
SAF-12 W
ater Rocket E
vent, K
itakyushu, Japan, 2005
alendar for 2011-12, with posters sub-
mitted to A
RPSAF-17 Poster Contest
Poster by an Indonesian student who
won A
PRSAF-17 Best Poster Aw
ard
APR
SAF-16 W
ater Rocket E
vent, K
hlong Luang, P
athum T
hani, Thailand, January 2010
35
Group produced a calendar for A
pril 2011 – March 2012 using the
posters submitted for the last C
ontest, held under “Space technology to H
elp the Earth”.
28 posters had been submitted from
10 countries, and winners of the
Awards have been announced during the A
PRSA
F-16, Bangkok,
Thailand from 26 to 29 January 2010. 23 posters had been sum
itted from
9 countries, and winners of the Aw
ards have been announced during the A
PRSA
F-17, Melbourne, V
ictoria, Australia from
23 to 26 N
ovember 2010.
The theme for the next Poster C
ontest is "The next 50 years in Space", and it is planned during the A
PRSA
F-18, Singapore, from 6
to 9 Decem
ber 2011.
Poster Contest in H
a Noi, V
ietnam,
2008 under the theme “W
onders of the U
niverse”
Poster Contest in B
angkok, Thailand, January 2010 under the them
e “Our
Universe – G
reat Discoveries
Poster Contest in Melbourne, Victoria,
Australia N
ovember 2010 under the
theme “Space Technology to H
elp the Earth”
Poster Contest in B
angalore, India, 2007 under the them
e “50 Years in Space”
Studying Flight mechanism
of flying seeds in the sim
ple window
tunnel dur-ing hands-on session of the Space Education Sem
inar, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Recognising the need for providing opportunities for students and
teachers of primary and secondary schools particularly in develop-
ing countries to enhance their understanding of space science and technology and their applications and to participate in hands-on space education activities, the W
orking Group convened space edu-
cation forums and sem
inars in Vietnam
and Indonesia in 2006 and Sri L
anka in 2009. The last sem
inar was held in D
haka and E
nayetpur, Bangladesh on 17-19 January, co-organized by
Bangladesh A
stronomical Society (B
AS) and JA
XA
.
36
Establishing ISEB in October 2005
ISEB mem
bers during IAC
2010, held in P
rague, Czech R
epublic in Septem
ber/October 2010
C. C
ollaborations with advanced space-faring nations: International Space Education Board
The Space Education Center represents JA
XA
in the International Space Education B
oard (ISEB) and collaborates w
ith other ISEB
mem
bers to promote space education. Established in O
ctober 2005 by the C
anadian Space Agency (C
SA), the European Space A
gency (ESA
), the National A
eronautics and Space Adm
inistration of the U
nited States (NA
SA) and JA
XA
as its Founding Mem
bers, ISEB
now includes C
entre National d’Etudes Spatiales (C
NES), the
French space agency, as a Mem
ber from O
ctober 2006, and V
ictorian Space Science Education Centre (V
SSEC) as an A
ssociate M
ember from
October 2010. The objectives of ISEB
are: i) to increase science, technology, engineering and m
athematics literacy
achievement in connection w
ith space; and ii) to support the future w
orkforce needs of space programs. W
hile ISEB m
eets once a year w
ith the participation of heads of education of its mem
ber agencies during the annual IA
C, the activities of ISEB
are being carried out and coordinated by its R
epresentative Working G
roup, consisting of one officer each from
the ISEB m
ember agencies. The m
embership
In order to expand the pool of skilled and informed educators
who can effectively use w
ater rockets to enhance education for young people and to establish a netw
ork of those educators, the International W
ater Rocket Education W
orkshop was host-
ed by Victorian Space Science C
entre (VSSEC
) in Melbourne,
Australia, from
30 June to 3 July 2008. Teachers, educators and space experts from
12 countries in Asia and the Pacific as
well as Latin A
merica participated in the W
orkshop, which
resulted in establishing an Internet-based Wiki site to serve as
an on-line forum for any interested teachers and educators to
exchange information, view
s and education materials relating
to water rockets.
(See Wiki site: http://w
iki.vssec.vic.edu.au/waterrockets/index.
php?title=Main_Page).
With a look back over the years, the W
orking Group has creat-
ed a report on water rocket activities for educational purposes
to seek for sponsorship by not only space-related public enti-ties, but also com
mercial entities in Septem
ber 2010.
Flight testing various types of water
rockets
Brochure on W
ater Rocket A
ctivities for Educational Purposes
37
JAX
A Student Presentation, at CO
SPAR
2010, Bremen, G
ermany
GEN
SO Project concept
Interactions with H
eads of Agencies,
IAC
2010, Prague, Czech R
epublic.
Lunch tim
e event at International Student Z
one, IAC
2010, Prague, C
zech Republic.
is open to any public organization carrying out space activities and pursuing education program
mes.
In 2010 and 2011, the following projects w
ere carried out within the
framew
ork of ISEB: i) international student program
mes at the
International Astronautical C
ongresses (IAC
’s) held in Prague, C
zech Republic in Septem
ber/October 2010 and at the Scientific
Assem
bly of the Com
mittee on Space R
esearch (CO
SPAR
) in B
remen, G
ermany in July 2010; ii) international participation in
NA
SA A
cademy; iii) “G
lobal Educational Netw
ork for Satellite O
perations” (GEN
SO) project; and v) C
anSat activities. The use of the International Space Station for educational purposes is also rec-ognised as an im
portant initiative that needs to be undertaken.
The term of the chairm
anship is one year, and it rotates among the
Founding mem
bers. Following its successful initial year under the
chairmanship of ESA
, ISEB w
as chaired by NA
SA from
October
2006, by CSA
from Septem
ber 2007 and by JAX
A from
October
2008, by ESA from
October 2009, N
ASA
is currently serving as the chair again.
The Space Education Center continued to support the activities of
ISEB by participating in the organization of IA
C and C
OSPA
R
Student Programm
es, and sending Japanese students for those Program
mes and supporting the participation of Japanese graduate
students in GEN
SO project w
orkshops and NA
SA A
cademies, held
at Goddard Space Flight C
enter in summ
er 2008, 2009 and 2010, and A
mes R
esearch Center in sum
mer 2009.
Particularly during the chairmanship of JA
XA
, the Center contribut-
ed to advancing the objectives of ISEB by establishing the Task
Group for Student Program
mes, reorienting the w
ork of the R
epresentative Working G
roup to focus on policy and coordination issues, coordinating the IA
C Student Program
me and ensuring the
participation of a large number of Japanese students. The total of 43
students participated in the Programm
e. Recognizing that the activi-
ties of ISEB had been carried out predom
inantly for university and graduate students, the C
enter proposed to initiate a joint activity for the benefit of prim
ary and secondary school teachers and students.
38
The Center suggested the exchange of education m
aterials as an exam
ple in this regard, as it did with E
SA by translating into
Japanese the set of educational DV
Ds of ESA
on the scientific experim
ents on the International Space Station for use by schools in Japan.
During IA
C 2009, the Japanese students w
orked with the K
orean Local O
rganizing Com
mittee to carry out hands-on activities for
local Korean children as part of the Space Festival, w
hich took place in parallel to IA
C 2009. The Japanese students also w
orked with
Korean students supported by the K
orea Aerospace R
esearch Institute (K
AR
I) to organize a joint KA
RI-JA
XA
Student Session, introducing each other’s space projects undertaken by university and graduate students, including C
anSat experiments.
During IA
C2010, the Japanese students carried out hands-on out-
reach activities for local Japanese Elementary School in Prague as a
new approach.
JAX
A Student H
ands-on Session at local Japanese S
chool during IA
C2010 , Prague, C
zech Republic.
D. Pursuing cooperation w
ith developing countries outside Asia
1. Supporting UN
ESC
O efforts
Upon invitation by U
NE
SCO
, the Space Education C
enter participated in the w
orkshops organized by UN
ESCO
in and for the developing countries. Follow
ing its participation for the first time in
the UN
ESCO
workshops w
hen they were held in m
ultiple cities of C
olombia in N
ovember and D
ecember 2005, the C
enter has participated to date in those w
orkshops held in multiple cities in
Ecuador, Peru, Tanzania and Vietnam
.
From 2008 to 2010, the C
enter introduced water rockets as
educational activities and supported hands-on session for school children to experience the launch of w
ater rockets at the workshops
Participants of the workshop w
ith the D
eputy Minister of E
ducation and Vocational Training (center), D
ar-es-Salaam
, Tanzania
39
Head of the space agency of Peru
conducting the first water rocket
launch, Lima, Peru
Mayor of Ibarra opening the w
ater rocket com
petition
Water rocket lecture and launch in
Salinas, Ecuador
held in Dar-es-Salaam
and Arusha, Tanzania, in M
ay 2008, Lima,
Peru, in June 2009, and the Philippines in February 2010.
At the regional space cam
p held in Ibarra, Ecuador, in May 2008 for
teachers and students from five Latin A
merican countries, i.e.
Argentina, B
razil, Chile, Ecuador and Peru, the C
enter also helped organize the session to build w
ater rockets and the water rocket
launch competition. Lectures on w
ater rocket theory at an advanced level w
ere also offered at the space camps held in Salinas and Puerto
Aroyo, G
alapagos, Ecuador in June 2009, where college students
participated.
....and in Puerto Ayora, St. C
ruz, G
alapagos, Ecuador
2. Supporting water rocket activities around the w
orld
The partnership with U
NESC
O has turned out to be effective in
promoting w
ater rocket activities for educational purposes, using the m
aterials provided by the Space Education Center. It has opened the
door for collaborations with those other developing countries
including those outside the region of Asia and the Pacific w
ith em
erging space capabilities with w
illingness to initiate space education activities to reach out to a large num
ber of school teachers. A
s part of such collaborations, the Center has continued to
support water rocket events as w
ell as associated teachers seminars
held in Argentina, B
razil, Chile, C
olombia, Ecuador, N
igeria, Philippines and V
ietnam.
40
While the C
enter has introduced its teaching methods and m
aterials in developing countries, it has also benefited from
inputs provided by enthusiastic teachers and educators in developing countries. B
uilding upon the Educator’s Manual for W
ater Rockets developed
by the Center and translated into Spanish in cooperation w
ith U
NESC
O, teachers in som
e countries, such as Argentina, have
developed advanced teaching materials to m
eet the needs of their classes.
The map below
shows the countries to w
hich the Center provided
technical and materials support for their w
ater rocket activities. The C
enter continues to receive various ideas from teachers and
educators in those countries.
Teaching physics in Argentina using
water rockets
Teachers training in Brazil
Water rocket w
orkshop in Chile
Water rocket com
petition during “Space A
dventure”, Baranquilla, Colombia
41
Welcom
ing the group of science teachers from
African countries, 2008
3. Supporting Japan International Cooperation A
gency (JICA
) as part of its training program
me
In response to requests by Japan International Cooperation A
gency (JIC
A), the C
enter received groups of African science teachers in
September in 2006, 2007 and 2008 to introduce space education.
The Center provided short hands-on sessions for those teachers to
use space materials and resources to stim
ulate interest of students in science classes. In total, the C
enter provided such opportunities to 24 science teachers from
nine African countries, i.e. K
enya, Gam
bia, G
hana, Lesotho, Malaw
i, Nam
ibia, South Africa, Tanzania and
Uganda.
In addition, liaison council of JAX
A-JIC
A has been started since
January 2008, and regarding Space Education for developing coun-tries has been com
e up for discussion in the 3rd meeting in February
2011.
In cooperation with the International Space U
niversity (ISU), the
Space Education Center continues to provide scholarships for
Japanese university and graduate students to participate in the Space Studies Program
(SSP), nine-week course held betw
een June and A
ugust by ISU at a different location each year around the globe,
and the degree programs for M
aster of Science in Space Studies and M
aster of Science in Space Managem
ent (MSS/M
SM), one-year
course held at ISU m
ain campus in Strasbourg, France. Starting
from 2008, the C
enter also provides funding support for Japanese university and graduate students to participate in the annual sym
po-sium
organized by ISU in February.
With m
ore than 3,000 alumni w
orldwide and several hundred facul-
ty and lecturers drawn from
around the world, ISU
offers unique program
mes that are international, interdisciplinary and inter-cultur-
al in nature. Based on the M
emorandum
of Understanding conclud-
ed between JA
XA
and ISU in D
ecember 2003, JA
XA
supports activities of ISU
by receiving MSS/M
SM students as interns at
JAX
A research facilities, sending JA
XA
staff as lecturers for SSP and M
SM/M
SM and participating in the B
oard of Trustees of ISU.
E. O
ther collaborations: providing education opportunities outside Japan for graduate students
ISU C
ampus in Illkirsch, France
(Photographs: Courtesy of ISU
)
ISU SSP in 2010
(Photographs: Courtesy of ISU
)
42
Web site of the Space Education Center:
http://edu.jaxa.jp
The Space Education Center uses Internet-based services and publi-
cations as the main tools to dissem
inate information.
As for the Internet-based services, the C
enter provides information
on its activities, including announcements for upcom
ing events, cam
paigns, and reports on the past activities, and distributes update on-line education m
aterials and programm
es. Information and
explanatory notes on various space-related topics are also available through the Space Inform
ation Center, an on-line inform
ation ser-vice that can be accessed through the C
enter’s web site.
The web site of the C
enter (http://ww
w.edu.jaxa/jp) aims to achieve
the following objectives: i) to serve as the focal point to dissem
inate inform
ation on space education activities and to provide a forum for
exchanging ideas and information am
ong educators; ii) to provide education m
aterials, images and pictures that can be easily dow
n-loaded for use by educators in classroom
teaching; iii) to make
available in a most efficient m
anner the teaching and learning mate-
rials developed through the Center’s support to schools as w
ell as reports on the classroom
activities supported by the Center. Its w
eb site continues to be upgraded, and it now
contains movie files and
video clips.
In the past year, the Center focused on the follow
ing strategies: i) to create conducive environm
ent for any school teachers, leaders and instructors of space education activities as w
ell as any individuals interested in space education to com
municate and interact w
ith each other and to exchange ideas and education m
aterials; ii) to actively pursue other m
eans of disseminating inform
ation rather than on-line services; iii) to use m
ovie clips to report on the activities so as to m
ake the users of the web site feel as if they w
ere at the venues of those activities; iv) to reorganize the Space Inform
ation Center to
make it m
ore user-friendly and to make the content easier to under-
stand by the general public.
VII. D
ISSEM
INAT
ION
OF IN
FOR
MAT
ION
AN
D PU
BL
ICAT
ION
S
A. O
bjectives and strategies
43
The Space Education Center continues to upgrade its w
eb site, and the next upgrade is planned for release in next spring 2011. O
ne of the m
ajor achievements in the past year is the establishm
ent of the “Space Education C
omm
unity Site”, in support of those who have
completed the Space Education Leaders Sem
inar as well as those
teachers interested in introducing space materials into their class-
rooms. In addition, the num
ber of astronomy observation cam
paign through w
eb site continues to increase since the first campaign on
Solar eclipse in 2009. The C
enter has continued to issue short journals via Email, or “M
ail M
agazine”, once or twice a m
onth, taking up a space-related topic that m
ay be of interest to young people and disseminating the latest
news on the C
enter’s activities. As of February 2011, 78 issues have
been disseminated since the first issue in June 2006. The num
ber of subscribers m
ore than doubled in the past four years, from about
1,000 to 3166 as of the end February 2011.
As alternative m
eans to Internet-based services, the Center has con-
tinued to issue paper-based publications on a regular basis. The C
enter has continued to distribute news letters called School W
all N
ewspapers, to about 15,000 elem
entary and junior high schools in the country. For “Science for K
ids”, a monthly journal for children,
the Center has continued to contribute articles on its activities. The
fifteenth issue of the quarterly journal, “Sora e no Tobira” (“Door
toward Space” in Japanese), has been issued by M
arch 2011.
Starting from A
pril 2009, the Center significantly increased the fre-
quency of the real-time television broadcasting to provide live cov-
erage of not only the rocket launches but also space education events organized by the C
enter. The Center aim
s to provide such live cover-age through “Space Education TV
Channel” tw
ice a month on aver-
age. From A
pril 2010 to February 2011, 34 programm
es were broad-
casted through the “Space Education TV C
hannel”, attracting the m
aximum
of 99,735 viewers per program
me. A
ll these broadcasted program
mes have been archived and m
ade available on-line.
B. A
chievements
School Wall N
ewspaper
Quarterly m
agazine, “Sora e no Tobira”(“D
oor toward Space”)
Campaign nam
ed “Let's observe a total lunar eclipse!” through W
ebsite
Space Education TV Channel
Campaign nam
ed “I found that the first tw
inkle star (Venus) in the dark morning
sky.” through Website
44
Reaffirming its conviction that the collaborations w
ith all stakeholders w
ould be the key of success in further expanding space education activities at various levels of school education and m
any different places and on occasions, the Center further strengthened its collabora-tions w
ith other offices and departments of JA
XA
, industries and national research institutes w
hile continuing its collaborations with the
non-governmental, non-profit organizations engaged in space educa-
tion activities.
As a result of its increased efforts to collaborate w
ith interested indus-tries, som
e of the courses of the Cosmic College w
ere co-organized w
ith Discovery Channel, D
enshi Kaihatsu G
akuen and The Minam
i-nihon Living Shim
bun Co., Ltd.. In the case of the Discovery Channel,
which broadcasted advertisem
ents of the Cosmic College course, ten
courses has been organized together. With Fam
ily Mart, C
osmic
Colleges w
ere organized during the Space Cam
p programm
e in Tanegashim
a Space Center and Tsukuba Space Center.
In the past year, the Center began to vigorously pursue collabora-
tions with national research institutes, such as Japan A
gency for M
arine-Earth Science and Technology (JA
MST
EC
), National
Astronom
ical Observatory of Japan (N
AO
J) and RIK
EN, to have
their researchers and experts involved in not only co-organizing edu-cational events but also in the developm
ent of programm
e contents and planning for future activities.
Significant progress has been made in the collaborations w
ith pub-lishing com
panies producing textbooks and supplementary learning
materials in the past year. In response to 127 requests from
45 such com
panies, the Center has provided im
ages and data resulting from
space activities and projects of JAX
A for use in the textbooks and
supplementary learning m
aterials for not only science but also other classes, including those for Japanese and English languages, geogra-phy, agriculture and hom
emaking.
To provide a systematic fram
ework of support by leading research-
ers and experts from various disciplinary areas w
ho are comm
itted to space education efforts, the C
enter is establishing Space Education A
dvisory Board. The A
dvisory Board w
ould provide advice on the overall executive directions to be pursued by the
VIII. ST
RAT
EG
IC A
LL
IAN
CE
S AN
D E
STAB
LISH
ME
NT O
F FOO
TH
OL
DS
Collaborations w
ith Family M
art in Tanegashim
a Space Center
Collaborations with D
iscovery Channe
45
Center as w
ell as its major policies concerning the im
plementation
of its programm
es, support for space education leaders and develop-m
ent of educational materials. U
nder this Advisory B
oard, the estab-lishm
ent of two w
orking groups, one on space education materials
and the other on space education activities, is also envisaged.
46
Asteroid Explorer "H
ayabusa" overcame m
any difficulties, and successfully returned to the Earth on June 13, 2010 after a grand journey that lasted seven years.
Hayabusa has m
et and overcome a series of technical glitches, such
as reaction wheels failure, onboard R
CS (R
eaction Control System
) fuel leak accident, com
munication blackout, and Ion engine failures.
Many people have been encouraged by the journey w
hich was a
miraculous achievem
ent made possible by leading-edge technologies,
teamw
ork and excellent ideas among engineers. The m
ission of H
ayabusa was to return sam
ples from asteroid ‘Itokaw
a’ to the Earth w
ith clues that would reveal som
e of the mysteries of the origin of our
solar system. It also im
pressed us with a “never-give-up attitude”.
It has enormous influence on the school scene.
Towards enforcem
ent of the Japanese government's new
teaching guidelines, w
hich are completely revised every 10 years, from
the Japanese fiscal year 2011, JA
XA
has been collaborating with
publishing companies producing national school textbooks and
supplementary learning m
aterials, and providing images and data
resulting from JA
XA space activities for use in the textbooks and
materials not only for science but also other school subjects, such as
Japanese, English, Hom
emaking, A
griculture, and Geography and etc.
JAX
A has actively continued to conduct Space Education Leaders
Seminars for school teachers and volunteer social educators.
We in the C
enter are, of course, aware of the need to increase
children's interest in space-related science and engineering.
By m
aking full use of attractive space materials in Japan and
overseas, we hope to actively prom
ote space education activities in order to spark a bright flam
e in children's hearts and minds for years
to come.
IX. C
ON
CL
UD
ING
RE
MA
RK
S
Japan Aerospace E
xlopration Agency (JA
XA
)Space E
ducation Center
3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Chuo-ku, Sagam
ihara, Kanagaw
a, 252-5210, JapanTel: +81-50-3362-7590 Fax:+81-42-759-8612http://edu.jaxa.jp
Photo/Illustrat ion Courtesy
ISS and KIB
O (c) N
ASA
/JAX
A, SR
MS and O
BSS (c) N
ASA
/JAX
A, A
fter Hayabusa Sw
ing-by (c) A
kihiro Ikeshita, Towards A
steroid Itokawa (c) A
kihiro Ikeshita
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