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Look Up – Look Waaaaay Up! Astronomy Education – Middle School Level Edmonton Science Outreach Network Teacher Workshops January 2006 Dr. Brian Martin The King’s University College Edmonton Objectives… Hope for what we will accomplish!... The starry heavens instill a sense of awe and wonder There are many simple activities and resources that you can use to teach astronomy Lots of resources a mouse click away! URLS… • For Teacher Refresher Education: – On-line Astronomy Course at King’s http://chris.kingsu.ca/~brian/astro/course/index.php • For Curriculum Developers: – Canadian Astronomical Society Education Web Site http://www.cascaeducation.ca/files/index.html • For Teachers and Students Grades – Canadian Astronomical Society Education Web Site http://www.cascaeducation.ca/files/index.html – Web Sites of Note! http://chris.kingsu.ab.ca/~brian/astro/talks/cea/web_stuff.html How Astronomy can Inspire Us Recapturing a sense of wonder! to see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wild flower hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour. William Blake I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey work of the stars, And the pismire is equally perfect, and a grain of sand, and the egg of the wren, And the tree-toad is chefd'oeuvre for the highest, And the running blackberry would adorn the parlors of heaven, (1855, Leaves of Grass (31)) In “the end, science as we know it has two basic types of practitioners. One is the educated person who still has a controlled sense of wonder before the universal mystery, whether it hides in a snail's eye or within the light that impinges on that delicate organ. The second kind of observer is the extreme reductionist who is so busy stripping things apart that the tremendous mystery has been reduced to a trifle, to intangibles not worth troubling one's head about. The world of secondary qualities - colour, sound, thought is reduced to illusion. The only true reality becomes the chill void of ever streaming particles.” Loren Eiseley, "Science and the Sense of the Holy Imagery from the Hubble Space Telescope and a great intellectual journey of the past 50 years can capture our imagination and instill in us a sense of wonder Stellar Evolution, Nucleosynthesis and the Remarkableness of Your Existence! In all this vastness there is a wondrous unity! Gently, deep within the hearts of the stars… Or with unfathomable violence …. You and I are “born” The world is charged with the grandeur of God It will flame out, like shining shook foil. Gerard Manley Hopkins So you’re going to teach Astronomy! Relax! You CAN do it! Just keep it simple! You can do a lot with simple tools! • Project Star “Galilean Telescope” – Low cost ($45 US set of 10) – Simple to use, will last 3 - 5 years – Adequate for lunar observations Simple Spectroscopes allow you to take light apart! • Project Star… – ($55 US set of 10) • Build your own – less than 50 cents! – Construction time < 5 minutes – Pinhole for a slit, simple replica grating Safely observe and record sunspots… • Simple baffle blocks the sun • Focus normally on a distant object and then aim at the sun – project image onto a white card held behind binocular Chart the motion of the sun – the “sun stick” • Follow the motion of the sun during the season • determine time of local noon • Click here to run spreadsheet of this Getting a bit fancier… • Get a digital camera • Purchase a planetarium program Or get one free! How hard is it to meet the curricular objectives for Grade 6 Sky Science? • Look at the program of studies