Astronomy Education at the ASP Meeting September 10, 2009
Posted by astroed in Astronomy, Education.Tags: ASP, Astronomy, national science week, outreach
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I’m off to San Francisco tomorrow for a week of astronomy outreach, education and teacher workshops. The main event is the Annual Meeting of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific with the theme: Science Education and Outreach; Forging a Path to the Future. Workshops and discussion will focus on building on the success of the International Year of Astronomy and planning for the future. Focus questions are:
- IYA: Can We Keep the Party Going?
- Year of Science: Will Science “Speciation” Endanger Science Learning or Enhance it?
- Refining our Practice: Can we Really Make an Impact?
- The Future is Here: Can EPO Navigate the Digital Age?
A variety of workshops and some great keynote speakers should provide plenty of stimulation. I hope to be able to post some updates during the meeting. I’m presenting a poster about IYA activities during National Science Week in Australia then an oral presentation: Building Education Programs for ASKAP.
Prior to the meeting itself I’ll be attending two days of teacher workshops. The bulk of this will be for the Galileo Teacher Training Program which I hope to implement here in Australia. The Sunday afternoon is a special session; “SETI Speaker Series featuring scientists and researchers from the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California. Speakers include Drs. Frank Drake, Seth Shostak, Margaret Race, and John Jenkins”. Should be interesting!
Science Week Activities in Geraldton & Yalgoo August 25, 2009
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Last week was a busy one, based in Geraldton in the Mid West region of Western Australia for a range of activities during National Science Week. After a day in Perth on Monday I flew up to Geraldton on Tuesday and went to give a series of talks to the students at Nagle Catholic College. Unfortunately a fight delay meant I arrived late and missed one of my scheduled talks. Luckily I was still able to give a talk about telescopes to the whole of Year 9. Despite having all just run the 1500m for their athletics competition they were engaged and well behaved. The students asked lots of interesting questions.
After a short break I returned to Nagle for an evening of teacher professional development that Mike Francis, Head of Science at Nagle, had organised for me. Teachers from Nagle, Geraldton Senior High School and Geraldton Grammar School attended. The poor weather that had delayed me in Perth persisted in Geraldton, depriving us of the chance to have a viewing night so I covered a range of practical demonstrations and indoor ideas instead. Having left my physio thermaband at home I had had to scout the clothes shops of Geraldton testing elastics to find something suitable for one of my favourite demos – the expanding Universe. Photo below. I was joined at Nagle by Megan Argo, a postdoc from Curtin University who is passionate about astronomy outreach. She was accompanied by a new PhD student at Curtin, Kevin, and his wife Agnes.
Expanding Universe demonstration
Wednesday morning I was up bright and early for an on-air lesson about telescopes at the Meekatharra School of the Air. The students are scattered across stations far and wide in the Mid West region with a few even up at Thursday Island in the Torres Strait. My lesson was well attended and I got some great questions. One of the mothers came on to ask about a strange light they had seen the night before. As with many folk who live in the outback I found her description detailed and helpful. She had seen a very bright light, lasting 5-6 seconds travelling east to west across 160 degrees of the night sky around 8.30pm. It was bright blue and seemed to be giving off sparks. My best guess was either a very bright meteor or possibly some space junk. It later turned out this was seen far and wide with many similar descriptions. Pity I missed it.
On-air lesson at Meekatharra School of the Air
After my lesson I headed out east for a few hours to the outback with Barbara Glenister, the Mentor Principal for school in the Murchison region. We headed for Yalgoo where I and Megan were running a viewing night for students from three schools; Yalgoo Primary, Pia Wadjarri Remote Community School and Sandstone Primary. On the way we stopped to look at some of the stunning wildflowers; the Mid West region of WA is renowned as one of the best spots in the world for wildflowers.
Fortunately the clouds cleared as the afternoon progressed so by evening it was stunningly clear. We had a few 20cm Dobsonians and were able to show the students and parents a range of telescopic sights including Jupiter, the Jewel Box cluster, Omega Centauri and more. The clarity and darkness of the night sky was fantastic. The arch of the zodiacal light was prominent. The clouds of the Milky Way showed amazing gradation and subtlety. Despite being low on the horizon I was able to point the telescope at Eta Carinae and the Keyhole Nebula and see the nebulosity clearly with pinpoint star images, an indication of the quality of the sky. We also pointed out constellation sot the students and tried out the Big Aussie Star Hunt. Needless to say we image 7 in the sky hunt!
The students were excited but tired quickly so we had a chance to spend 20 minutes photographing the sky ourselves before packing up. Luckily for me Barbara was driving so I got back safely to Geraldton late at night.
On the Thursday evening I gave a talk about the scientific work of Galileo. This was the prelude to the Junior Players of Theatre 8’s performance of Brecht’s The Life of Galileo. Their performance was done as 50’s style radio play, with the young actors changing outfits onstage for different characters. The play was somewhat condensed with links provided by a narrator/radio announcer. Overall a very enjoyable night with some fine performances by some of the young cast.
Science Week in Geraldton August 17, 2009
Posted by astroed in Education.Tags: Astronomy, Big Aussie Star Hunt, galileo, Geraldton, national science week, schools, theatre
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I’ve got a busy week ahead of me. I’m flying over to Geraldton in Western Australia for a series of events as part of National Science Week. Tomorrow I’m giving several talks to students at Nagle Catholic College in the afternoon followed by some professional development for teachers in the region and, hopefully, a viewing night.
The following morning I’ll be up bright and early as I have an on-air lesson about telescopes with students from the Meekatharra School of the Air. After that I drive out a few hours to Yalgoo (the first town in the Outback) where I’ll be taking part in a viewing evening for students from three schools, Yalgoo, Pia Wadjarri and Sandstone, who have come together for a few days for their athletics carnival. I’ll be joined by Megan Argos from Curtin (AstroMeg). We plan on getting the students to take part in the Big Aussie Star Hunt, the national project for Science Week.
On Thursday I’m giving a public talk about the life and work of Galileo at 7.30pm in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre prior to Theatre Eight’s production of Brecht’s The Life of Galileo.
It should be a busy but fun and rewarding week. Hopefully I’ll get some photos and more information up about the various events later.
PULSE@Parkes from VSSEC August 7, 2009
Posted by astroed in Astronomy, Education.Tags: Parkes, PULSE@Parkes, VSSEC
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We’ve just finished a PULSE@Parkes observing session at the Victorian Space Science Education Centre, VSSEC. Students from Strathmore Secondary College, Footscray City Secondary College and Braemar College controlled the iconic 64m Parkes radio telescope remotely from Melbourne to observe pulsars.
As a first this session was broadcast live via twitter (@PULSEatParkes) to followers around the world.
Here is the media release. I’ll put more details up soon.
The Big Aussie Star Hunt, 15-23 August 2009 August 6, 2009
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Get involved in this year’s National Project for National Science Week, the Big Aussie Star Hunt. This is a great opportunity to engage students and the public in astronomy. The project is designed to get people to go outside and learn more about the night sky. To achieve this there are several components:
- Tours, both a virtual one to try on your computer and an outdoors one.
- The star hunt survey which asks participants to locate Crux and Scorpius and compare their observations of Scorpius with eight diagrams to match the appropriate one. They then enter their results in a simple online form. The results are combined to produce what will hopefully be the largest night sky and light pollution survey conducted in Australia. This survey runs 15 -23 August. Submitting observations automatically enters you for a competition to win a bundle of stuff from the ABC store. There is also a schools competition.
- Tips and Tools; including reviews and links to great free software such as Stellarium, Celestia, Microsoft WorldWide Telescope and Google Sky. You can also learn how to find South using the stars,
- Special features including Aboriginal astronomy, a night sky quiz, ask an expert sections on several topics including light pollution and a photo gallery.
- A section with information for teachers. This includes my tips on how to run a viewing night and more.
- Links to other dark sky projects such as Globe at Night and other useful astronomical sites.
You can download a nine-page PDF with sky charts and background material to help with the viewing. There is also a narrated sky tour by Fred Watson that you can download as an MP3. The ABC Science Online team have done a great job developing this site and it was a pleasure working them from the initial conception onwards.
Go and visit the site then get out and look up in Science Week!
Big Aussie Star Hunt promotional poster
“Astronomy – Science without Limits”: 6th Annual NSW K-6 Science & Technology Conference August 4, 2009
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The Science Teachers’ Association of NSW is holding its annual science and technology conference for K-6 teachers on Friday 11 September 2009, 9.00 am – 4.45 pm at the Powerhouse Museum, Pyrmont in Sydney. This year’s theme is Astronomy – Science without Limits reflecting the International Year of Astronomy.
They have a great range of speakers and workshops arranged. Dr Andrew Hopkins, Head of AAT Science at the Anglo-Australian Observatory is the keynote science speaker. Andrew’s research focuses on galaxy evolution, using multiwavelength data to explore how galaxy morphologies develop and evolve, and the role of star formation and galaxy environment. Associate Professor Keith Stamp from Southern Cross University, Lismore is the education keynote speaker.
There are two workshop sessions on the program with participants able to select from seven different enticing astronomy/space-related presentations by six presenters. Topics include:
- Looking at the stars: An exploration of telescopes and images from space.
- Indigenous Astronomy: Shared Stars
- Blast off! With UniServe Science: Using Rocketry as an Introduction to Astronomy
- Failure is not an option
- Tome and the Sun, Earth and Moon
- Weather in the Solar System – an introduction to meteorology for Stage 3
- NXT Next Generation Robotics.
It should be a fantastic day of professional development and will hopefully be well attended by teachers from across the state. Unfortunately I’m unable to attend as I’ll be heading off that day to San Francisco for the ASP’s Annual Meeting and a weekend series of workshops on the Galileo Teacher Training Program. I’ll write more about these events later.
The conference will also be the official opening of From Earth to the Universe an exhibition which will run from September 2009 to March 2010 at the Powerhouse to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy. From Earth to the Universe is also on the IYA’s international cornerstone projects. The site is well worth visiting and could serve as the nucleus of an astronomy image display within any school or organisation. 100 outstanding astro images may be downloaded in a variety of formats along with full captions.
2009 National Science Week Promo July 31, 2009
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Here is the promotional video for this year’s National Science Week, 15 – 23 August. The National Project is the Big Aussie Star Hunt which I have been involved with. It promises to be a really useful resource. I’ll write more about this soon.
St Andrews, in the footsteps of James Gregory September 21, 2008
Posted by astroed in Astronomy, Education.Tags: history, stargazer, telescopes
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On Saturday we travelled out from Edinburgh to the ancient kingdom of Fife, just north of the Firth of Forth. After a pleasant stop at Elcho Castle we arrived in the University city of St Andrews, otherwise famous of course for golf. Our goal was to visit some places in town associated with the Scottish astronomer and mathematician, James Gregory (1638 – 1675) who was Regius Professor of Mathematics at the University.
Gregory has often been compared with Isaac Newton but unfortunately died tragically young at 36 years old before his achievements were fully recognised.
Gregory is today commemorated by the type of reflecting telescope that bears his name, the Gregorian. In Gregory’s time telescope makers were still making telescopes from lenses – refracting telescopes. These suffered from problems with chromatic aberration that split the light into component colours when looking at brighter stars and planets. The other issue was that in order to get higher magnifications the refracting telescopes used longer and longer focal length. This resulted in ridiculously long telescopes that were increasingly hard to handle and point successfully at stars.
Whilst Newton is credited with building the first successful reflecting telescope, that is one that uses a primary mirror instead of an objective lens, there is strong evidence to support the case that Gregory had built an earlier one in early 1663 using a concave primary and a concave secondary. A year earlier he had published his work Optica promota that was well received. Gregory also developed an early form of what we now call calculus, another discovery normally attributed to Newton and Leibniz.
Joseph Knibb’s split-second clock, used by James Gregory.
In St Andrews we were fortunate to visit the Senate House that houses the clocks built by the clockmaker Joseph Knibb and purchased by Gregory in 1673 for timing his observations. One of these early pendulum clocks was the first to record split-seconds. It had a mechanism that used 1/3 second motions. Gregory conducted his observations from the room next door, now the St James Library. He used a transit telescope pointing south out of one o the windows. The transit line is now hidden beneath the carpet but the bracket on which his transit telescope was mounted is still visible through the window. Unfortunately a building has now been built adjacent to it, blocking the view that Gregory would have once had.
Bracket (at left) that Gregory used for his transit telescope.
In the ruins of St Andrews Cathedral, once one of the largest in the British Isles is the imposing Rules Tower. The university had suggested to Gregory that he could build his observatory on the top of the tower but declined, probably wisely given the task he would have faced lugging his equipment to the top!
Earlier in the week I had come across one of the first successful gregorian telescopes built many years later and now housed in the National Museum of Scotland.
Gregorian telescope from National Museum of Scotland.
Before we departed St Andrews we were also fortunate to visit the modern observatory of the university led by Professor Andrew Collier Cameron, Professor of Astronomy at the university. Here we inspected the 40” Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope now called the Gregory Telescope. This is still in use for exo-planet transit studies. It was actually only the second telescope of this design ever built. The first, a half-size prototype was also built for the observatory and housed in a nearby dome but has since been dismantled.
Dinner was an extremely enjoyable meal at The Hideaway in Dunfermline, run by Fred’s son-in-law. Our dinner guest was none other than the Astronomer Royal for Scotland, Professor John Brown from the University of Glasgow. He entertained us with some magic tricks for black holes, interstellar dust and cosmic strings. A fine way to end such a wonderful day.
Professor John Brown, Astronomer Royal for Scotland having fun with cosmic strings!
Questions:
- Why was the invention of the pendulum clock important for astronomers in the second half of the 1600?
- What are some advantages of a reflecting telescope over a refracting (lens) telescope?
Mission Astronomy Teacher Workshop September 10, 2008
Posted by astroed in Astronomy, Education.Tags: workshop
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A week ago I had the opportunity to visit Toowoomba to help present Mission Astronomy, a workshop for high school teachers from across Queensland. The three-day event was held at the University of Southern Queensland where local astronomer Dr Brad Carter proved a great host. The workshop was modelled on the three-day Astronomy from the Ground Up! workshop that I run annually at the Parkes Observatory.
The workshop included a mix of talks on basic astronomy, areas of current research and plans for future telescopes such as ASKAP and the SKA. A session in the computer lab gave teachers a chance to explore free packages such as Stellarium, Celestia and the new World Wide Telescope. We had planned to have both nights at USQ’s Mt Kent Observatory, a 30 minute drive from town, but the Friday night proved cloudy and windy after a day of rain. Following a tasty Indian meal in town we abandoned the idea of driving out to the observatory but ended up with an impromptu viewing night on the driveway of the motel! The fast-moving clouds gave us short glimpses of Jupiter and a chance to use the SkyScouts to find where objects were hiding behind the clouds.
Saturday evening was fine so we headed out to Mt Kent for some observing under dark, clear skies accompanied by a barbecue. I’ll publish another post soon about some wonderful astroimaging done by a couple of teachers on the night as it deserves space for all the details.
Sunday morning saw us take an unusual group photograph. USQ has a Tardis that they use for open days and promotions for Maths and Science. It was pretty authentic looking though I’m not telling you if it was actually larger on the inside!
Workshops such as this are a great professional development opportunity for teachers. They are also invaluable for networking and socialising away from the school environment and thus removed from the constant interuptions that occur there (and most workplaces). It is always exciting to see teachers re-energised by these events. They go back to their schools with new ideas and a willingness to try out new approaches. There is an on-going need for effectiveness astronomy education programs and training opprotunities for teachers.
Brisbane Planetarium and IYA August 31, 2008
Posted by astroed in Astronomy, Education.Tags: IYA
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On Friday morning I flew to Brisbane. The main reason for my trip was to help run the Mission Astronomy teacher workshop at the University of Southern Queensland but you’ll have to read a later blog posting for details about that. Before going to Toowoomba for the workshop I participated in a meeting at the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium in the grounds of the Botannical Gardens in Brisbane. This was my first visit to the planetarium and I was impressed by the design of the building as well as the lovely setting in the gardens.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the International Year of Astronomy 2009 with interested stakeholders from Queensland. It was a productive meeting with representatives from several amatur socieities, the planetarium, the Science Teachers’ Association of Queensland, universities and the Queensland Museum. Following an overview of IYA then how it is structured and what is already planned for IYA in Australia we had a lengthy discussion about possible events and activities in Queensland. I llok forward to following up ideas with the group over coming months.
Near the entrance to the planetarium is an engaging new addition – a bronze statue of rocket pioneer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, donated to Brisbane last year by a Russian trade delegation. It is almost whmsical but also quite touching.
Before our meeting we had a chance to see the planetarium in action. It still uses a Zeiss optical projector plus a newer digital one. The 12.4 m dome seats about 120 people and hosts up to several shows a day. They have an active education program and the place certainly seemed buzzing with enthusisatic school students during my visit.
