Presenters
Presenters: Tasnim Alshuli1*, Cherilynn Morrow PhD2*, PhD, John M. Keller, PhD3 , Nicole Johnson, PhD3, and Don Kolinski.4
1*University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.
2*NASA PUNCH Mission & Lead author of Petroglyph Inquiry &
Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado.
3Fiske Planetarium, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado.
4High Altitude Observatory, Boulder, Colorado.
Abstract
The Outreach team embedded in the NASA PUNCH mission to study the Sun is seeking collaborators (reviewers and field-testers) to help us optimize a standards-aligned, web-based inquiry that is enjoyable for blind, low-vision, and sighted learners. The “Petroglyph Inquiry” guides learners to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of a hypothetical interpretation of an ancient rock-carving in Chaco Canyon as an Ancestral Puebloan impression of the 1097 total solar eclipse with a solar storm in progress. The Inquiry is authentic without right or wrong answers. It engages learners with a guided, hands-on exploration of seven thermoform tactile-art representations of the Sun’s outermost layer called the solar corona. The tactiles represent the variety of ways the corona has been observed throughout human history, from naked eye to NASA spacecraft. Participants use what they learn from each graphic to develop a case that supports or refutes the “eclipse” hypothesis for the petroglyph.