[SIR-CED LOGO]

Frequently Asked Questions
PC Special Edition

Last Updated: April 25, 1997

1. Who has used the SIR-CED materials?

We have distributed over 7,000 copies of the first version of this CD-ROM (SIRCED01) to educators teaching at middle school, high school and college undergraduate level. We have received samples of SIR-CED projects done by students in grades as low as 5 to 7 and positive feedback from many other teachers who have used the SIR-CED materials in the classroom. From phone calls, e-mails, and faxes sent in to us by people who have used the first disk, we have compiled this list of frequently asked questions.

The first SIR-CED CD-ROM has also been used to teach college-level undergraduates, particularly those taking non-science majors, and by engineers and scientists with an interest in radar imaging, but who are not necessarily imaging radar specialists.

A second version of this CD-ROM (SIRCED02) was produced for Macintosh-only computers and a similar number was distributed (approximately 7,000 copies).

There was demand to make this CD available on other platforms. So another version of the SIRCED02 CD-ROM was created and is called SIRCED03, PC Special Edition. This CD was made especially for PC computers but it is also readable on Macintosh and Unix platforms.

2. How is this CD (SIRCED03) different from your earlier CD (SIRCED01)?

SIRCED03 is a post-launch look at the same areas of the Earth covered by our pre-launch CD (SIRCED01), with a lot more new sites added. Most of the features from our first CD (SIRCED01) can be found on the second CD. For example, you'll find the pre-SIRC launch data from the first CD in directories labeled PreSIRC for those sites where that data was available.

There are actually two different versions of the post-launch CD. One is a Macintosh-only CD (SIRCED02) and the other is for PC computers (SIRCED03, PC Special Edition). The PC version of the CD can also be read by Macintoshes and Unix machines.

The PC Special Edition CD has vastly improved HTML pages, both in content and aesthetically. It is now much easier to move around and understand the information on the CD. There are new radar pictures included on this CD which were not available before. The PC Special Edition CD can also be read by Macintosh and Unix platforms.

For a more detailed description of SIRCED03, PC Special Edition, see How Do I Use The CD?

3. How do I use the Lesson Plans?

Use the Lesson Guide sheets as handouts for your students or use the overhead slides to prompt classroom discussion. The Lesson Guides work best when combined with the overhead slides so that students learn a little (from the teacher presenting the slides), then think a little (by going over the Lesson Guide materials). You can also supplement your classroom presentations with materials from the Teacher's Guide.

Select the materials that you think will work best for your class. This will depend on their grade level, ability and what kind of computer equipment is available in your classroom. In the one-computer classroom, try to do the computer exercises as a joint class effort, with students guiding your hand (or mouse). If you have a computer lab, have the students copy the data and/or software they will use for any one lesson onto their own disk. This makes finding files a lot easier.

There's an easy way to use the lessons on SIRCED03. The directory /DOCUMENTS/HTML contains all the HTML files used in the lesson plans, divided up into 5 modules. The directory for each module contains the lessons, presentation materials and Teacher's Guide for that module. You may access these files through a top level HTML directory.

4. How can I print the Lesson Plans?

All lesson plans have been converted to HTML format and can be viewed by any World Wide Web browser like Netscape. You may print the lesson plans through Netscape. Select the File | Print... menu commands to print the current document that is displayed.

5. How do I find my way around the Teacher's Guide documents on the disks?

A Table of Contents can be found in the file /DOCUMENT/HTML/TEACHERS/CONTENTS.HTM. There are similar files in the /DOCUMENT/HTML/LESSONS and /DOCUMENT/HTML/SLIDES directories. The Teacher's Guide is divided up into an introduction and five modules. Each module is divided further into sections. For example, module 1, section B introduces the idea of viewing the Earth from space. This material can be found in the file MOD1SECB.HTM which is contained in the directory DOCUMENT/HTML/TEACHERS/MODULE01.

6. There's a lot of stuff on the CD-ROM. Am I expected to go through all of it?

No. Pick and choose the things you want to use and tailor the materials to the capabilities of your class. The Teacher's Guide is meant as a reference book, not a text book, and should be used by the teacher to get up to speed on imaging radar and SIR-C and as a source book to answer student's questions. Only the images in the directory /DATA/MODS1TO5 are meant to be seen by all students. The images in other directories are provided for the independent projects described in module 5.

7. How do I open files on the SIRCED03 disk?

There are six types of files on SIRCED03 with the following file extensions: .htm, .gif, .stk, .txt, .mov, .pic

Files ending in .htm or .gif can be opened from Netscape.

Files ending in .stk can be opened from within the application Sigma0 which is included on SIRCED03 in the /SOFTWARE directory. See How Do I Use The Sigma0 Program? for more information.

Files ending in .txt are plain ASCII text files and can be read from Netscape. The files contain just raw text.

Files ending in .mov can be played by the Quicktime movie player.

Files ending in .pic can be displayed by the Picture Viewer program which is part of the Quicktime movie package.

8. (Macintosh Only) I get an error message when I click on some of the aliases on the CD. What's the problem?

On some demo versions of this CD, we could not get all of the aliases which help you navigate around the directories and files to work. We found that this problem went away on machines that had Quicktime 2.0 in their extension directories (we don't know why!) If the aliases don't work on your machine, try installing Quicktime 2.0, which can be obtained from most Mac dealerships. Alternatively, use the Get Info option (under the File menu) to find out which original file or directory the alias is pointing to. Sorry, but we could not provide Quicktime 2.0 on the CD due to licensing problems.

9. (Macintosh Only) When I try to run the NIH Image program (e.g. by double-clicking on a .pic file) I get a message telling me my Macintosh does not have a floating-point unit. What should I do?

SIRCED03 contains the newer NIH Image version 1.61b7 which should run for both the Power PC and for 68k machines.

10. (Macintosh Only) How do I learn more about the Image Display software?

User manuals are provided for the software in the Software directory. You'll find them in the same directories as the software itself. These manuals can be read using Microsoft Word or a similar word processing program.

11. (Macintosh Only) When using the Macintosh display programs, I often get messages telling me I'm out of memory. What should I do?

Memory management for the Macintosh programs is discussed in the Teachers Guide.

12. We only have one CD drive at my school. How can I use the SIR-CED material on the CDs in my classroom?

The majority of the files on the SIR-CED CD-ROMs are less than 1.4 MBytes in size. This was deliberately done so that files (text, images, programs) could be copied onto floppy disks without too much difficulty (the exception to this is the movie files). If you only have one CD-drive, you have several options:

  1. Use an overhead projector and a Liquid Crystal Display connected to the computer or a computer hook-up to a large TV screen with the CD drive to display the images, etc. in class.

  2. If you have a classroom where several computers are connected by a local area network using a server, place the files you want to use in a directory on the server which can be accessed by all the computers on the network.

  3. Copy the files you want to use off the CD onto floppy disks and then copy those files over to each machine in the classroom.

13. We don't have a CD-ROM drive at all in my school. What should we do?

Buy one if you can. Using CD-ROM technology is the best way to get hold of large volumes of data (the Internet is still too slow for most users and will be for the foreseeable future). Most new computers come with CD-ROM drives these days and CD-ROM drives have been offered for as little as $100 in computer magazines.

If you can't get a CD-ROM drive but you have an Internet connection, you can access some of our educational materials developed for the SIR-CED program through our World Wide Web site, the NASA/JPL Imaging Radar Home Page, located at URL:

14.We use PC's at my school. How do I display the images on the SIR-CED CD-ROM?

This version of the CD was prepared especially for the IBM-PC and compatible computers. You should have no problem displaying the images once the included software is properly installed. For more information on hardware and software requirements, see How Do I Use The CD? For information on the software included with the CD, see Included Software in the SIR-C CD-ROM 3, PC Special Edition.

15.Where can I find out more?

We have set up a companion World Wide Web server site to this CD at:

which you can access using Netscape or NCSA's Mosaic browse program. You will find more information about NASA/JPL's imaging radar program there, as well as the latest images, sample data, information on software availability and updates on the SIR-CED program.

NASA has also set up a wonderful World Wide Web site for students and educators called Spacelink, which brings together all of NASA's educational material at one site. The URL is:

16. Were there any educational activities during the SIR-C flights?

Yes. Some schools took part in ground data collection activities at the SIR-C supersites in the USA. Unfortunately, only a very few students can benefit from this experience. To reach a wider audience, during each SIR-C flight and after, examples of the latest greatest results, including images, were posted to the JPL FTP site (jplinfo.jpl.nasa.gov or 137.78.104.2). NASA Select television broadcast live coverage of both flights and some of these broadcasts are occasionally repeated. For schools that have satellite dishes, satellite transmission will be on Spacenet 2, transponder 5, located at 69 degrees West with horizontal polarization. Broadcast frequency will be 3880.0 Megahertz, audio on 6.8 Megahertz. Some cable companies also carry NASA Select as part of their educational programming.

17. Do you plan to produce any more CD's?

Other than this PC Special Edition CD, the answer is no. SIRCED03 is the last SIR-CED CD-ROM for now, although JPL will certainly produce more educational CDs in the future, based around different projects and subjects.

18. Where can I get hold of more copies of the SIR-CED CD's?

You may order individual CD-ROMs (currently $12) or the CD-ROM, together with a hard copy of the Teacher's Guide and Lesson Plans, and a collection of videos concerning SIR-C, are also being distributed for a minimal fee (currently $38) by:

19.Do you want any feedback from people who have used your CD's?

Yes, please. Print out this questionaire, fill it in and fax it back to us or send us feedback electronically through our World Wide Web site.

How Do I Use The CD? Guided Tour

Converted to the IBM-PC by Al Wong, sirced03@southport.jpl.nasa.gov

Jet Propulsion Laboratory
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA 91109