Challenger Learning Centers are also committed to working with educators to help them develop the necessary skills, confidence, and competence to teach space science in their classrooms.

Learning Centers have a rich history of becoming a catalyst for professional development among teachers in our learning communities. Challenger Learning Centers are often hosts to education programs from NASA, Harvard University, and other prestigious institutions.

Challenger Learning Center Missions

After their class has secured a mission slot with a Learning Center, educators are required to participate in a preparatory teacher workshop. During the one-day training program, teachers receive instruction on lessons and activities created by Challenger Center that correlate to their scheduled mission. Pedagogy is checked at the door as teachers participate in the same hands on activities that their students will soon complete.

These curriculum materials are specially designed to prepare students for their upcoming mission, and include skills-building activities in the areas of teamwork and communication. Curriculum materials also help students to understand the thematic topic of their simulated space flight.

ARIES - Not Available in Woodstock 2006

An acclaimed new science program for grades 3 through 9, developed at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and presented by Charlesbridge Publishers and select Challenger Learning Centers.

ARIES: Astronomy-Based Physical Science draws on students' natural curiosity about the universe around them to provide a foundation of knowledge with which they can approach physical science. This discovery based hands on science curriculum is correlated to state and national science standards, and provides the basis for a complete physical science program. Topics include:

• Earth in Motion
• Energy
• Waves
• Motion and Forces

Understanding that curriculum materials are most effective when taught by instructors who are fully confident with them, Challenger Learning Centers present workshops in support of ARIES. Taught by master teachers, these workshops introduce educators to the program's instructional models and pedagogy, and allow them to work thoroughly with the various lessons and activities.

EdVentures in Simulation

The foundation of a Challenger Learning Center mission is the idea of simulation—methods inspired by the way NASA trains America's astronauts. Students do not pretend to be scientists or astronauts. Instead, they are placed in situations that require them to problem solve and communicate as if they were scientists and astronauts.

EdVentures in Simulation, a teacher workshop program developed by Challenger Center, gives educators the ability to apply our instructional simulation philosophy to any subject with amazing results in student engagement.

The program demonstrates to teachers how they can use simulations in every subject and for every grade level. Using simulation plans that were created by other educators, workshop participants take these models and develop a simulation plan to take back to their classroom. The workshop explains how simulations can be applied in subjects as diverse as social studies, physical sciences, mathematics, and communications.