3-D Printing Models of Cell Organelles and Flowers (Lower and Upper Primary, Middle School)

This hands-on module features active learning using 3-D printing technology to teach middle school students about physical scientific models and cell organelles. This activity has already proven a success at NIMBioS’ “Adventures in STEM Camp” for middle school girls. Access to 3D printing has been a growing trend in K-12 schools. In this curriculum module, aligned with Next Generation Science Standards, students learn about physical models and how they are used in science, then design and print their own representations of different cell organelles or flowers. This activity follows the 5E instructional model

MGGPOD: a Monte Carlo Suite for Modeling Instrumental Line and Continuum Backgrounds in Gamma-Ray Astronomy

Intense and complex instrumental backgrounds, against which the much smaller signals from celestial sources have to be discerned, are a notorious problem for low and intermediate energy gamma-ray astronomy (~50 keV - 10 MeV). Therefore a detailed qualitative and quantitative understanding of instrumental line and continuum backgrounds is crucial for most stages of gamma-ray astronomy missions, ranging from the design and development of new instrumentation through performance prediction to data reduction. We have developed MGGPOD, a user-friendly suite of Monte Carlo codes built around the widely used GEANT (Version 3.21) package, to simulate ab initio the physical processes relevant for the production of instrumental backgrounds. These include the build-up and delayed decay of radioactive isotopes as well as the prompt de-excitation of excited nuclei, both of which give rise to a plethora of instrumental gamma-ray background lines in addition to continuum backgrounds. The MGGPOD package and documentation are publicly available for download from http://sigma-2.cesr.fr/spi/MGGPOD/. We demonstrate the capabilities of the MGGPOD suite by modeling high resolution gamma-ray spectra recorded by the Transient Gamma-Ray Spectrometer (TGRS) on board Wind during 1995. The TGRS is a Ge spectrometer operating in the 40 keV to 8 MeV range. Due to its fine energy resolution, these spectra reveal the complex instrumental background in formidable detail, particularly the many prompt and delayed gamma-ray lines. We evaluate the successes and failures of the MGGPOD package in reproducing TGRS data, and provide identifications for the numerous instrumental lines.Comment: 60 pages, 13 figures, 7 tables, accepted for publication in ApJ

The Hard X-Ray Emission from Scorpius X-1 Seen by INTEGRAL

We present the results of our hard X-ray and gamma-ray study of the LMXB Sco X-1 utilizing INTEGRAL data as well as contemporaneous RXTE PCA data. We have investigated the hard X-ray spectral properties of Sco X-1 including the nature of the high-energy, nonthermal component and its possible correlations with the location of the source on the soft X-ray color-color diagram. We find that Sco X-1 follows two distinct spectral tracks when the 20-40 keV count rate is greater than 130 counts/second. One state is a hard state which exhibits a significant high-energy, powerlaw tail to the lower energy thermal spectrum. The other state shows a much less significant high-energy component. We found suggestive evidence for a correlation of these hard and soft high-energy states with the position of Sco X-1 on the low-energy X-ray color-color diagram. We have searched for similar behavior in 2 other Z sources: GX 17+2 and GX 5-1 with negative results

All About Cod (Grade 2/Lower Primary)

Designed for use in the second grade classroom, this activity will help students learn to summarize data in a table and a bar graph, practice addition and subtraction in the context of a word problem (story), and solve word problems involving money

Fungus Among Us! (Preschool, Lower and Upper Primary)

This module was designed for kids, adults, and families to be shared in an informal environment. It introduces the idea of how fungi and plants can work together in a symbiotic relationship, via a game that includes collecting data and graphing

All About Cod (Grades 3-5/Upper Primary)

Lesson plan All About Cod for Grades 3-5. Aligned with TN Math Standards and includes individual plans for Grades 3, 4, and 5