EDUCATION (Tech App, STEM/STEAM, Knowledge Visualization, Fine Arts, Digital/New Media, Photography)

Raul Yzaguirre School For Success (RYSS) - NASA International Space Station (ISS) Photographs of Earth II [2012-2013] RYSS College Prep Academy students (grades 6 - 8 ) requested photographs of Earth from the NASA International Space Station via the  EarthKAM (Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle school students )  mission program. They identified the locations on Earth via various orbital paths for the onboard camera to take their photographs. The program is a  NASA  educational outreach program enabling students, teachers and the public to learn about Earth from the unique perspective of space. During EarthKAM missions (periods the EarthKAM camera is operational), middle school students around the world request photos of specific locations on Earth. The project was initiated by  Dr. Sally Ride  (America's first woman in space) in 1995 and called KidSat. The KidSat camera flew on three space shuttle flights (STS 76, 81 and 86) to test its feasibility. In 199...

Seventh grade students in 8th period vocabulary class traveled with the Houston Audubon Society to four different sites in Southeast Houston to make photographs and take notes in their journals re: vocabulary as it relates to Early Texas/Houston History (Grade 7 Texas History) and nature (Grade 7 Science). The four sites: Dawson Lunnon Cemetery, Glendale Cemetery, Mason Park and Sims Bayou Nature Center. [September 2012] The students wrote about their photographs in Microsoft Word. This is called Literacy Through Photography [LTP]. It is a teaching philosophy and methodology that encourages children to explore their world as they photograph scenes from their own perspective. They use their images as catalysts for verbal and written expression. In connecting picture making with writing and critical thinking, LTP promotes an expansive use of photography across different curricula and disciplines, building on the information that students naturally possess. ( Center for Documentary Studi...

R aul Yzaguirre School for Success [RYSS] - Crespo Fine Arts Academy Mentorship Workshop [January 13, 2010] Thirteen middle school students from  Raul Yzaguirre School for Success [RYSS]   traveled to the  Crespo Elementary Fine Arts Magnet School  to mentor 26 fifth grade students in the use of graphics software to create digital art. The RYSS students learned how to use the software from Tom R. Chambers, Technology Applications teacher. They used the software during the first semester of the school year to make digital art for a vocabulary building project based on the Grade 7 TEKS/TAKS Science vocabulary. The digital art creations of Chambers' students have been on display in galleries for the last two years, locally, as well as internationally at the 4th and 5th Annual Carnival of e-Creativity and Change-agents Conclave in the new Himalayan Indian state of Uttarakhand, India. Chambers takes student engagement and empowerment so seriously that most of what is lear...