Women in Science: Adriana C. Ocampo Uria

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1 Maggie s Activity Pack! Name Date Women in Science: Adriana C. Ocampo Uria Have you ever wondered why the dinosaurs disappeared? There are many reasons people think these creatures went extinct. One idea is gaining more acceptance. Many scientists believe that a giant meteorite hit the earth. This set up a chain of events that led to the disappearance of the dinosaurs. Many experts believe they know where the meteorite landed. Adriana Ocampo is one scientist who has studied this crater. Ms. Ocampo is a research scientist with a degree in geology. Geology is the study of the structure and history of the Earth. This means she has a good background to study the Chicxulub Crater. Her personal background also helped her with this study. Ms. Ocampo was born in Colombia and raised in Argentina. Her ability to speak both Spanish and English was helpful when studying this crater. This is because it is located on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. If you traveled to the crater today, you wouldn t see a big hole. The hole is covered with layers of sediment. It took special instruments to find and study this crater. Ms. Ocampo was one of the first people to find a ring of sinkholes in the Yucatan Peninsula. She was able to tell how that these are related to the crater. NASA (the United States space agency) gave Ms. Ocampo a grant to continue her study of this crater. She wants to find out the relationship between the meteor s impact and extinction.

2 Unearthing the secrets of the dinosaurs is only one of Ms. Ocampo s interests. She also has a passion for the future. She has been a part of many space missions. Imagine looking at information beamed from Mars. This is what Ms. Ocampo did when she worked on the Viking mission. She also was involved in planning how to observe the moons of Mars. She helped Russia study Phobos, one of these moons. In the last several years, the United States has had several unmanned space missions. The Voyager spacecraft traveled to our outer planets. Ms. Ocampo was on this mission team. She also was a science advisor on the Galileo mission to Jupiter. These flights sent images back to Earth. Ms. Ocampo used her skills to study and understand these images. She is helping us to learn more about our solar system. Ms. Campo s interest in the universe started early. When she was in high school, she was part of a special program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. Today she wants to encourage girls just as she was encouraged. She is involved in a mentoring program for girls who are interested in science and engineering. Today Ms. Ocampo is looking at ways she can help the countries and people of South America. She helped organize a conference to encourage space cooperation between the countries of the Americas. The conference, held in Belize, looked at ways space exploration can improve the quality of life in developing countries. The first conference was so successful that two other conferences have been held in Chile and Uruguay. Ms. Ocampo s bilingual abilities are helpful to NASA. She often represents the space agency by giving speeches in Spanish. She has taught courses about planetary science in Mexico City. These language abilities, together with her science abilities and passion for her work make Ms. Ocampo a wonderful role model for many people.

3 Thinking About It Recalling Details 1. What is geology? 2. What is the Chicxulub Crater?

4 Interpreting 3. Why do you think geology is good background for studying the Chicxulub Crater? 4. Why do you think Ms. Ocampo wants to help girls in the mentoring program? Applying 5. Are there people you know who speak more than one language? How can being bilingual help you?

5 Making the Science Connection You read about our solar system. Take a look at this diagram. Use what you know, any reference books you need, and your knowledge of our solar system. Follow the directions in the box. 1. Color the sun yellow. 2. Color the planets of the Voyager mission green. 3. Color the planet of the Viking mission red. 4. Color the planet of the Galileo Mission blue. 5. Label all of the planets.

6 Reading in the Content Areas: Science Look back at the article. There are nine paragraphs. Each paragraph has a topic sentence. Do you know what a topic sentence is? Before you read on, try to write a sentence telling about topic sentences. Did you say that a topic sentence tells you what the main idea of a sentence is? If you did, then you understand topic sentences! Now that you know that a topic sentence lets the reader know the main idea of a paragraph, go back to the article. Underline the topic sentence in each paragraph.

7 Language Fun Ms. Ocampo is bilingual. She speaks both English and Spanish. Find the Spanish and English words in this word search. D O S C K G A Z U L H T E A D I O S O C H O L B W I A A P C A O S J J A L O G U N O J E D B E O N U N H B T L B B B B Y S D E E T W O L S O Y G E I R D A A A R U A R E A S E I S N M Y E L L O W P R E Y I I A E B I D J B A Y A B X M R R F O S A I B B G A R A I W H I T E M O U T H B L L B L A N C O C R E E B A L N Y V E R D E G R E E N O DOS TWO ADIOS GOODBYE AMARILLO YELLOW BLANCO WHITE OCHO EIGHT AZUL BLUE OJOS EYES SEIS SIX OREJAS EARS BOCA MOUTH UNO ONE VERDE GREEN

8 Dear Colleague, This week we celebrate our rich Hispanic heritage by reading about this respected female Hispanic scientist who has done so much for the Hispanic community. Perhaps your students will find other examples of famous people who help and support their communities. I always like to encourage my students to make their own word searches. You can do this with Spanish words, science words from the article, or even the names of the famous people you may have identified. Happy teaching! Kathy Answers to the reading questions will vary slightly. Talk about the interpreting and applying questions as a group or in partners. Have students compare the topic sentences they identified. Goals: Students will read an article describing the activities and accomplishments of Adriana C. Ocampo Uria. They will answer comprehension questions on three levels to demonstrate their understanding of this Hispanic scientist. Students will also find topic sentences to help improve their "reading in the content areas" (science) skills. Finally, a word search is included to allow for some bilingual fun! This activity is available on two levels, primary and intermediate. The activity correlates with Content Standard G, History and Nature of Science, Science as a Human Endeavor of the National Science Standards.