Catholic School Teacher Selected for NASA Science Flights

Exciting STEM news for Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein, Illinois:

MUNDELEIN, Ill.— NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, will become a flying classroom for Carmel Catholic science teacher Marcella Linahan during research flights that she will participate in as an Airborne Astronomy Ambassador.

Marcella LinahanMs. Linahan and her partner, Lynne Zielinski from the National Space Society, Long Grove, Ill., are one of twelve two-person teams that have been selected for SOFIA’s Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors program, representing educators from 10 states.

In April, Ms. Linahan will spend one week at Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif. training and then flying on SOFIA for two missions. Each team will be paired with a professional astronomer to observe how airborne infrared astronomy is conducted. After her flight opportunity, Ms. Linahan will take what she has learned back to Carmel Catholic to promote science literacy.

“I am excited that I can experience astronomical data collection first-hand, and then bring this data and experience back to my students,” Ms. Linahan remarked. “I am passionate about exposing the students to authentic science research. I want them to realize that a STEM career is something that is exciting and obtainable.”

Read the whole story at the Mundelein Review.

Essential Podcast for Catholic Science Teachers – The Catholic Laboratory

The Shroud of Turin

Can you name ten significant Catholic scientists? Three? How about just one? And yet, according to Ian Maxfield at The Catholic Laboratory, “Over 200 religious and lay Catholics have made significant and notable contributions to our understanding of the natural world and our universe through research into astronomy, chemistry, physics, atomic theory, geology, meteorology, seismology, cosmology.”

The Catholic social justice tradition used to be the best kept secret in the Church, but it’s now been superseded by Catholic contributions to science. Many people today, including our own Catholic students, see faith and science as mutually exclusive, as if one has to abandon all reason to be religious. The Catholic Laboratory Podcast aims to change that by helping the world “rediscover the rich scientific heritage of the Catholic Church, to understand the Church’s stance towards modern science, and to inspire and give comfort to today’s Catholic scientists who may be struggling to practice their faith whilst pursuing their God-given talent for science.”

The Catholic Laboratory Podcast is a must-listen for every science teacher in Catholic schools. A new Catholic scientist is featured in every episode, along with discussions of current scientific topics and their relevance for Catholics. Past topics have included multiverses, Darwinism, the Shroud of Turin, Galileo, and the 35 lunar craters named for Jesuit priests. Since its beginning in May of 2009, the podcast has featured profiles of dozens of Catholic scientists.

Not only does Ian Maxfield give valuable background information about Catholic contributions to science, but he does so in an engaging, relevant and often humorous way. But watch out for his jokes–some of them are real groaners!

Science teachers (and catechists) can use the podcast in many different ways:

  • Listen to it yourself as general background information for your teaching;
  • Play excerpts from it to your students during class (especially the scientist profiles);
  • Break students into groups and assign each group an episode; ask them to share what they’ve learned with the class, or have them research the featured scientist more thoroughly.

In addition to the podcast, The Catholic Laboratory also features several other resources of interest to Catholic educators:

Don’t miss this amazing and essential resource for Catholic science teachers and catechists.