For Warren Berg, a science teacher at Highlands Ranch High School, it was a once in a lifetime experience that he now gets to share with all his students. 

Berg is one of 18 teachers nationwide to be selected as an SETI Institute Astronomy Activation Ambassador. 

The Astronomy Activation Ambassadors program is an educational program funded by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate for Science Activation to enhance STEM engagement in schools by providing training for science teachers from middle school through community college. 

“It’s just an amazing opportunity for teachers to get to talk to experts in the field that we would probably never have had access to,” said Berg. 

The training involved webinars and a hands-on curriculum workshop to allow teachers to expand their knowledge and skills. 

Following the training, Berg now has access to Astronomy Activation Ambassador staff who will provide support in implementing a NASA-oriented electromagnetic spectrum and infrared astronomy curriculum. 

Colleagues encouraged Berg to apply for the program in November. One of those colleagues previously participated in the program.

Berg was selected for the program in January. 

The training program

Through monthly webinars from January to June, Berg learned more about infrared astronomy by learning about NASA’s SOFIA - the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy - and the Infrared Telescope Facility. 

He, along with a group of teachers, had training in Colorado where they were the students and the staff from the SETI Institute were the teachers. 

“We got to experience what the students were going to experience when we teach the class,” said Berg. 

In July, the teachers traveled to the Big Island of Hawaii where they visited world-class observatories, including NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility on Mauna Kea. 

For three days and nights, Berg met astrophysicists, telescope operators and astronomers who were doing an investigation of asteroids and what they were made of by using the infrared telescope. 

The teachers took tours of the Infrared Telescope Facility, the James Clerk Maxwell Radio Telescope, the Gemini Control Room in Hilo and the astronomy facility at the University of Hawaii. 

Throughout the trip to Hawaii, Berg witnessed computer mapping of Venus’ clouds, looked at the composition of asteroids in the asteroid belt and got to ask astronomers questions about their jobs and the use of different instruments. 

Berg couldn’t choose one moment from the trip that was his favorite but said he loved having conversations with all kinds of people. 

“Just to have that interaction with the other teachers,” said Berg. “We gave each other ideas on how we could teach other things.”

Bringing his experience to the classroom 

Berg’s way of teaching involves talking about his experiences and observations, and can now include what he has learned from NASA. 

“Now I can talk to my students about it,” said Berg. “So it’s like bringing this whole world of astronomy into my classroom that I didn’t have before.”

Before his NASA experience, Bergs talked to his students about the study of light. Now he has taught them a new curriculum that involves reading through real case studies, looking at images and conducting experiments. 

Students have learned about SOFIA, heat signatures,  wavelengths and have done experiements with different LED lights and colored filters and have seen infrared through their phone’s cameras. 

Always wanting to make his classes fun and engaging, Berg said he wants to show students what a proposal looks like, in hopes to write a proposal to have time on the infrared telescope in Hawaii. 

With a smile on his face, Berg said he was honored to be chosen to be an ambassador and to get students excited about astronomy.

“We get the opportunity to do this work and get to talk to people and then actually bring it back into our classrooms,” said Berg. “This is real. I got to see it with my own two eyes, it’s not just a paper.”