The excitement of astrophysical research and discovery is brought into the high school science and mathematics classes through a flexible set of student activities and projects on variable stars. The project includes a computerized database, of 400,000 measurements of brightness of 150 variable stars in five constellations over 25 years, from which students can deduce properties, processes, and evolution of these stars. Students can make additional measurements and discoveries from carefully selected time sequences of 125 35mm slides or from actual measurements from the night sky. A comprehensive student manual and instructional videos make the materials self-contained and easy to use. The teacher manual enables the instructor to adapt the materials to skills, objectives and local curricula. The material can be used in a variety of contexts: traditional mathematics and science classes at both the high school and college level, independent projects, summer institutes, and community science clubs. The material will be field tested in classes and refined through workshops with teachers. A newsletter and a video about amateur astronomers is planned.
Cornell University is producing a documentary television program about the 100-meter radio telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia. The film, planned as a PBS special, will document the engineering and technology behind the construction of the telescope as well as examining and explaining the science of radio astronomy. Ancillary educational material, including a 20 minute version of the video, will be developed and distributed for use in informal education setting through the American Astronomical Society and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. In addition images and information about the Green Bank Telescope and the science of radio astronomy will be made available through an electronic bulletin board service such as GOPHER or MOSAIC. Teaching materials also will be developed for use in the secondary school curriculum and an "Across Space and Time" undergraduate curriculum developed at Cornell University will be made available to faculty at other colleges and universities. In addition, the film and related material will serve as the centerpiece for short courses for college teachers at Green Bank under the National Chautauqua Short Course Program. The PI and major content developer is Martha Haynes, Professor of Astronomy at Cornell University associated with the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center and the Center for Radiophysics and Space Research. The film is being produced by PhotoSynthesis Production of Ithaca, New York. David Gluck is co-producer, director, and cinematographer and Deborah Hoard is co-producer and writer. A twelve person advisory committee of astronomers, teachers, and informal science educators will guide development of the project.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Martha HaynesDavid Gluck
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
Project A.S.T.R.O. is a program to bring both amateur and professional astronomers into the schools to assist fourth through ninth grade teachers in the classroom, with day and evening observing activities, with individual student projects, and with inspiration to provide a greater appreciation of science and lead students to science and engineering careers. Amateurs are a largely untapped resource for science education and this project will explore the impact their enthusiasm and experience can have in providing significant assistance to teachers and students in grades where crucial science attitudes are formed. The California-based pilot program will -- after the development of appropriate protocols and materials -- use 40 astronomers and 40 teachers to test the effectiveness of astronomers (especially amateur astronomers) as school resource agents. The project has four related components: 1) the assessment of existing programs of this type and of materials to help both the visiting scientists and the teachers; 2) workshops to train the astronomers, prepare the teachers, and continue developing activities and resources; 3) school visits and other activities by astronomers for a full school year; and 4) the production of a loose-leaf Teachers' Resource Notebook and a How-to-Manual for bringing astronomy to the schools. Formative and summative evaluation by those involved and a professional evaluator will be a key component of each phase. A set of guidelines for the national dissemination of the project will also be developed.
The Astronomical Society of the Pacific requests $1,317,701 over three years to implement its California pilot project to six sites around the country. Each site will establish local, self- sustaining coalitions linking science centers, astronomical institutions, school districts, and community groups. These coalitions will, with training and support from the national Project ASTRO staff, identify, link, and support the astronomer/teacher partners in their area to use the excitement of astronomy to improve the teaching and learning of science in elementary and middle school. A second strand of the project will use the Project ASTRO materials and techniques to train astronomers and teachers at national meetings outside the six sites to set up individual ASTRO partnerships on their own. Materials to be produced include a: Project ASTRO Coalition Manual; Training Manual; update to the Resource Notebook for the Teaching of Astronomy. Target audiences are students in grades 4-9.