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What
is AIMER?
The American Indian Mobile Educational Resources (AIMER) classroom is a
mobile computer
laboratory that is used to teach concepts of physics and
astronomy and engineering to
pre-college Native American students at K-12
schools on rural Indian reservations in Arizona.
The project
is
operated
in partnership with the Environmental Education Outreach Program (EEOP)
with support from the
Department
of Physics and Astronomy, the
College
of Engineering & Natural Sciences and the
Raytheon
Corporation. AIMER was originally made possible in 1995 by a computer grant
from the Intel Corporation and generous
support from NAU's Office of the Vice Provost for Research. The
classroom
trailer houses five, Pentium-class computers with associated
peripherals and carries
a portable computer operated 8-inch Meade telescope
that is used in
public evening programs
for the local reservation school
communities.
How
is AIMER used?
AIMER
can be requested by a teacher at any reservation school in Arizona to
supplement his
or her classes during the academic year at no charge to
the school. Scheduled on a first-come,
first-served basis, the computer
facility is set up on the
school grounds,
where it resides for several days, long enough to give each student a
30 to 45 minute session with the introductory
astronomy programs
by the
EEOP Program Coordinator.
In follow-up sessions,
students can investigate
the astronomical programs in more depth or learn the basics of programming
using various robots
(including the Lego Mindstorms, Pbasic Arobot and ICH Rugwarrior). Evening community
telescope shows often accompany the classroom activities. AIMER
is also
used for Flagstaff and NAU community events such as the
Flagstaff
Festival of Science and
as a teacher training facility
in summer workshops held on campus.
What
kinds of software can students and teachers use?
Astronomy programs such as "Dance of
the Planets" and "Starry Night" give students experience
in astronomical
simulations and provide hands-on experience to use in identifying objects
in
telescopes. Mindstorms, RobotLab, Pbasic and ICH
provide students with experience programming with Lego Rovers, Robotic
Arms
and Arobot Rovers.
Where
can I find more information?
Contact us at (928)
523-8864 for more information.
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