A very successful example of how INSPIRE worked in a high school is that of Bill Pine, co-founder of INSPIRE. Bill was a physics teacher at Chaffey High School in Ontario, California.
Natural radio research had been used as part of the physics program at Chaffey High School since the 1989-1990 school year. And Bill kept participation in INSPIRE activities in his class rooms until he retired in June 2004. He felt that it had several benefits for the Chaffey physics program. Bill Pine found that when his class studied waves, electricity, electromagnetic waves, electronics and states of matter (including plasmas, the fourth state) in the spring, these topics had a richer meaning for students who had participated in INSPIRE.
Since there normal physics curriculum was so full there is not very much time available during class for extras like INSPIRE. Most of the INSPIRE activities occurred after school or on the weekends. INSPIRE became a way for students to earn extra credit points.
In preparation for the whatever VLF observation schedule was coming up, Bill demonstrated the receiver and played some sample sounds. During the next week, there were two opportunities for students to come in after school for a one-hour orientation session. His presentation consisted of a half hour lecture on electromagnetic waves, the ionosphere, natural radio, the magnetosphere, radio transmitters and receivers. This was quick and straightforward. The second half hour consisted of a demonstration of how to set up the receivers and recorders in the field and a chance for the students to practice setting up and taking down the equipment. This last part was very valuable in saving time and preventing errors on field trips.
Bill then scheduled field trips. He usually plan two or three weekday evening trips, followed by three or four weekend morning trips. These trips usually occurred in October and April. The times of the trips were designed to increase the probability of hearing interesting natural signals. At sunset it was common to hear sferics and tweeks with the tweeks becoming more pronounced as the sun sets. The best time to hear whistlers is the morning.
We set up three receivers on each trip and recorded for 30 minutes, so the entire field trip takes about two and a half hours, including travel time. More than half of the physics students participated in these field trips with many of them going more than once.
Bill Pine's assessment of The INSPIRE Project at the end of his teaching career was that provided an opportunity for his students to get to know each other better. It showed the importance of team work and most importantly it made physics very alive for his students. And he enjoyed it too!
