Above: Mary Anne Woody teaching a class at Xavier.

Science Teacher Collaborates With NASA

Now in her third year at Xavier, Mary Anne Woody teaches AP Physics 1, Physics 2, and Anatomy and Physiology. In her spare time, she works on a research team for NASA examining the habitability of exoplanets. In December, she presented at the American Geological Union (AGU) Conference, sharing her ideas about bringing exoplanet habitability investigations to high school classrooms. She later shared her experience with the Xavier E-News.

Xavier E-News: Tell us about your work with NASA.
Mary Anne Woody: Last year was my second year at NASA. Several government agencies participate in an interesting program where they hire teachers (from all grade levels) to engage in the agency’s work and build curriculum from that work. For NASA, I was an associate researcher on a team that examined the habitability of exoplanets. The team used past climates, specifically that of Neoproterozoic Earth, to model possible climates for exoplanets. The team more recently examined the effects of orbital parameters (axial tilt of the planet and shape of its orbit) on energy distribution along the surface.

Xavier E-News: Can you describe the AGU Conference? How did you become a presenter?
Woody: The AGU Conference is a weeklong international conference for anyone involved in earth or space sciences: researchers, teachers, graduate and undergraduate students, etc. Attendees present findings and share research, curriculum materials, software, or anything else related to the earth and space science fields. I was invited by the principal investigator on our exoplanet team to present our findings. She helped develop the climate software that I used in the curriculum plan. Our partnership—scientist and teacher—interested AGU, so we were invited to create a poster about our work.

Xavier E-News: How did the presentation go?
Woody: It went well! I have received positive feedback on the curriculum specifically and have sent the material to several colleges and universities that expressed interest in using or adapting it for elective courses.

Xavier E-News: How do you feel your work with NASA has benefited students at Xavier?
Woody: I think my work with NASA has benefited the Xavier students in two ways. First, [science department chair] Alex Lavy and I implemented this curriculum as a project for our Physics 2 classes last year. It went well because the students were able to use the same software the scientists at NASA GISS use, or derivatives of those programs. They presented their projects as posters at the Science Symposium and will do the same this March. Second, the information I learned working on the research project allowed me to revamp lessons that were a little tired. Exoplanets are so interesting and most of their habitability status depends on physics principles. It's been a great way to engage students and reinforce that the principles they're learning now are not only important, but useful in a grander arena.