Thornburg Center for Space Exploration

Introducing:
The Thornburg Center for Space Exploration

Our mission is to inspire students and improve STEM education through the design and implementation of an international multi-year elective or after-school program on Space Exploration. It is not enough to just learn STEM content; learners need to be aware of why there are people who choose to spend their lives working in these areas with passion and dedication. This program achieves these broad goals by promoting an environment that fosters innovation, creativity and the development of deep understanding and appreciation for science, technology, engineering and mathematics through the use of inquiry-driven projects done by students. These projects are conducted at school sites with the active guidance and support of highly-qualified educators from the students' schools, along with rich materials from international sources related to the topics of their inquiry.

November 3, 2008

News from our Brazilian partner. ARS

We are proud to announce that students affiliated with our Brazilian partners, Grupo Atual in Caruaru, Pernambuco, and ARS Consult in Recife, Pernambuco, are launching their second rocket (Calango II) in Mid-November.

Portuguese announcement: “O Grupo Atual de Educação, a ARS Consult e o Thornburg Center for 
Space Exploration sentir-se-ão honrados com a presença de V.Sa. para assistir  ao lançamento do 
Foguete Experimental Calango II, que faz parte do projeto de iniciação científica desenvolvido pelo 
Colégio Atual de Caruaru com alunos do ensino fundamental e médio."

September 29, 2008
We have just announced a new contest for Middle and High-school students in which they will identify some of the new kinds of jobs that might be available in the year 2020! Details of the contest can be found here.

August 7, 2008
We are thrilled to have four schools leading the way with our program this year: one Middle School and three High Schools. The first round of teacher workshops have been completed, and we can't wait to see students developing interest in STEM fields with the aid of their wonderful teachers and our program. For those who are interested the the connections among the four STEM topics, there is a new brief paper you will want to read.

July 16, 2008
Our first training weeks for our four pilot sites start next Monday. Our initial sites include one middle school and three high schools. Those of you who attended the NECC conference in San Antonio had a chance to see our program up close. As always, we are pleased to come to your area to give a presentation on our work to see how it could be used to improve STEM skills development for the children in your schools. Those who have seen our first-year's curriculum have found it to be an excellent piece of work.

May 30, 2008
Our continued growth is reflected in many recent updates to our pages for leaders, teachers and students. With our Fall training starting soon, we are getting even more student resources ready to post.

May 3, 2008
Our site is now acquiring some structure and will grow significantly in the coming months. Click on the labels above to see some of the resources we are assembling for school leaders, faculty, and students. Some of the links are not active yet as the materials are still in development. By summertime in the US, we expect many of these resources to be ready.

April 19, 2008
We have continued to refine our program as it is developed, gaining strength every day. Our Frequently Asked Questions document continues to get refined as visitors to our site ask deeper questions. You should check it every week or so. After a meeting with NASA next week, we will be contacting sites that are on our "pilot" list so we can keep moving forward!

April 14, 2008
We've presented the outline of this project at two conferences and received tremendous encouragement. 2008 is the pilot year for this project, and full-rollout happens in 2009. If you have schools at the Middle or High School level that might be interested, please have them contact us! Also, the Frequently Asked Questions document gets refined on a regular basis, so please download a fresh copy to see the scope of our current program.

March 1, 2008
Today marks the start of a new and exciting venture - the creation of the Thornburg Center for Space Exploration. As our first project we are developing a three-year STEM curriculum on Space Exploration.

Year One explores the challenges of leaving the gravitational pull of Earth and space activities going as far as the moon.
Year Two explores our solar system
Year Three explores the stars and galaxies

Each year has a rich project-based approach that provides students with exposure and in-depth development and application of skills in the area of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Our program is developed as an after-school program to be implemented by schools initially in the United States and Brazil. This site will grow in size and depth as the project advances. We are already looking for a pilot school and are well on the way to defining the first year's curriculum.

Of course, please direct any questions you have to our founder: Dr. Thornburg

Who we are:
The Thornburg Center for Space Exploration was created by the founder of one of the longest-running and most distinguished groups of consultants, speakers and authors whose primary focus is on education from Kindergarten to twelfth grade. Our international team of designers, educators, and technologists are building a world-class project to benefit students all over the world as they develop skills in the STEM areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.