We are requesting funds for the development of a distributed detector network, a system that can support measurements of air showers from ultra-high energy cosmic rays and can also support a broad class of other physical measurements, for example a network of seismographs for geophysics studies. We call the overall network NNODE (Northwest Network for Operation of Distributed Experiments), and we call the cosmic ray measurement component WALTA (WAshington Large-area Time-coincidence Array). The project is to be a direct physical science outreach program between faculty and students of the University of Washington and the science teachers and students of Washington-area middle schools and high schools (grades 7-12). The WALTA part of the project is modeled on the ALTA initiative pioneered by the University of Alberta and currently being implemented in the Alberta Provincial School System.

As we are poised to enter the 21st century, the United States continues to lag all other industrial nations in the scientific competency of our youth. In particular, our middle and high school students have been performing poorly in international comparisons of scientific competence. This is a critical problem that may eventually result in a serious shortage of both scientists and science teachers. It is also of paramount importance that our citizens have sufficient scientific awareness to be able to make responsible decisions.

WALTA/NNODE aims to directly address this problem by providing students the opportunity to become active participants in forefront scientific projects in physics and geophysics, and possibly in other areas. A cornerstone of the program will be to install a WALTA/NNODE measurement module at each participating school. This will allow direct hands on participation by the teachers and students in active experiments as collaborators with UW faculty and students. Each module will be supplied with special display and analysis software so that students and teachers can monitor both the local and the collective measurements made by WALTA/NNODE as well as to use the data for class projects. The other cornerstone of the project will be the development of an educational program to help link aspects of the individual experiments with elements of the middle and high school science curriculum. We envision direct faculty visitation and involvement with the teachers and students as well as UW based workshops aimed at the teachers and quite likely also the students. It may even be possible to enlist the help of the students in the construction of the WALTA measurement modules. We plan for both UW graduate students and undergraduate students to actively participate in the project.

We believe this program has a number of inherent strengths: Perhaps the most exciting aspects of this program is that the students will have the opportunity to be involved in cutting edge scientific research. It is quite likely that some of these experiments may produce highly visible and interesting results. It is hoped that the students direct involvement will spark their imaginations and result in their considering careers in the sciences. Many elements of the project will provide a basis for classroom teaching units in science and mathematics, and these will be made more immediate by the ongoing measurements of the systems, which will be shared with the schools using graphics display software to be developed by the project.

Direct involvement of students in running and maintaining the measurement modules is an experience that goes far beyond that offered from "virtual" Web experiences. Furthermore, the distributed links between all the schools will allow the students the opportunities to not only to learn about the collective global results, but also to compare the operation of their module with other modules in the network.

The WALTA/NNODE modules involve state of the art hardware and software technology. Learning details about the technology utilized in the WALTA/NNODE modules (Field Programmable Gate Array electronic chips, custom CMOS electronic circuits, GPS receivers for determining absolute timing to 20 nanoseconds, real-time object oriented programming, distributed programming) may also be worth incorporating into the outreach program.

Analyzing and interpreting the results from many of the measurements will involve understanding and utilizing statistics and mathematics. It should be possible to link these aspects of the program to the mathematics curriculum.

The project offers a unique win-win aspect that does not depend on participant altruism for success. The participating scientist will be able to address one of the major unsolved problems in contemporary astrophysics with a unique measurement tool. The students and teachers will be able to learn about scientific techniques, mathematical tools, and the latest measurement technology. The teachers will be part of a rich environment of scientific research from which they can draw materials that give immediacy and emphasis to their teaching. The experience and techniques of the UW Physics Education Group will be of great value in testing and evaluating the effectiveness of new teaching units and materials developed by the project. In summary, NNODE/WALTA represents a unique opportunity that should not be missed.

Each WALTA/NNODE measurement module (cost ~$20k) is envisioned to consist of a Pentium-II class computer with an Internet connection, a GPS timing system, and measuring equipment. The measuring devices will be of several types. The WALTA modules will consist of three 0.5 square meter scintillation paddles to be placed of the school rooftop to detect distributed particle showers produced at the top of the atmosphere by ultra-high energy (~10²⁰ eV) cosmic rays. The UW Geophysics Department group plans to install seismographs to the NNODE network that will become part of the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network. Three other groups have expressed some interest in the possibility of adding additional measurement units to the NNODE network.