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Junior High Astronomy....Help please
(Loretta Ng) wrote:
Hello, I'm not quite sure whats appropriate for junior high levels in regards to astronomy lessons....this is for teaching students astronomy of course, I was thinking asides from teaching some about each planet to also have lessons on the moon and the lunar movements. Any ideas or good links? I would appreciate any suggestions if possible!!! Loretta Ng Ms. Ng; I'm sorry, but I don't have the time for a more detailed response. I'm packing for a week at an observatory. I'll try to find the opportunity to more with this later in the week. (Besides, your question is very general, making it difficult to decide how to help - there are so many options!) Idea #1: I think that the most profound idea that I teach is just how small the Earth is in comparison to most everything else, and just how big and empty space really is. An exercise I use frequently with all age groups is to build a scale model of the Solar System. I LOVE this exercise, and have used it with kindergarteners to professional astronomers! The particular iteration of the Model Solar System I like the most was created by Guy Ottewell / The Universal Workshop: www.universalworkshop.com The National Optical Astronomy Observatories has Guy's exercise online at: www.noao.edu/education/peppercorn/pcmain.html Be sure to run through the exercise by yourself, first, before springing it on a group. You need to allow yourself the chance to FEEL what the sizes and distances do to you! Idea #2: I have just become involved in a wonderful program called Project ASTRO. Project ASTRO is an outreach program designed by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, supported by NASA, and funded by the National Science Foundation. Their web site is: http://www.astrosociety.org/educatio...ect_astro.html Quoting their web site, "Project ASTRO? improves the teaching of astronomy and physical science in classrooms, and in youth groups, by linking professional and amateur astronomers with local educators. Each astronomer is matched with an educator in a one-on-one partnership and commits to visiting the educator's students at least four times during the school year. Over 500 active educator-astronomer partnerships currently bring the excitement of scientific discovery through astronomy to roughly 20,000 students annually." "The main focus of Project ASTRO educator-astronomer partnerships is hands-on, inquiry-based activities that put students in the position of acting like scientists - as they come to understand more about the universe (and science in general)." I'm with Project ASTRO - Polaris, which is responsible for the Great Lakes area. There are a dozen Project ASTRO National Network Sites - follow the links on the web site to find the program closest to you. Idea #3: One of the coolest things that I really enjoy doing is being a Solar System Ambassador for NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL). There are over 300 NASA Ambassadors around the country. To find one near you, see: http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/ambassador/directory.htm Just for grins check out my bio at: http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/ambassador/...l_Foerster.htm Ambassadors are trained to discuss the work done at JPL, which is the exploration of the Solar System. (The ambassadors also have their own personal astronomical interests, above and beyond what we do for JPL, that may be of interest to you.) The Mars rover robots and the Saturn Cassini missions are just a small part of what we do at JPL. We are also very actively exploring our own Earth, monitoring our planet from orbit. JPL currently has missions spread throughout the Solar System; from the Sun, past each of the planets (except Pluto, thus far!), to the asteroids and comets, and, with the Voyager missions, now entering interstellar space for the first time! Idea #4: I really like Mr. Lawler's suggestion that you look to local astronomers for ideas and support. One tool that amateur astronomers have available to them is, "The Night Sky Network". The Night Sky Net is another program of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, in conjunction with NASA. The Night Sky Net provides resources to local astronomical societies for the teaching of astronomy to the general public. Lately the Night Sky Net has been focusing on the discovery of planets around other stars (about 120 planets beyond our Solar System have been discovered so far, last I checked). The Night Sky Network home page is: http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/ # # # # # I hope that I have been of some help. I can think of a TON of other cool resources I'll write about when I have a chance. Please do not hesitate to e-mail me if I may be of assistance! ¤ Clear skies & a star to steer by! Michael ¤ ************************************************* ******** Michael Foerster ¤ Pres/Research Lead, Skywatch-GL ¤Solar System Ambassador, NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab ¤Night Sky Net Coordinator, The Starry-Nite Society ¤E-Address: Skywatch@(insert domain from next line).net ¤Domain: Starry-Nite.net ¤N42°31'13.3" ¤ W83°08'43.2" ¤ 668' ¤ -5 GMT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ FAMOUS LAST WORDS - A SERIES "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." -Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977 ************************************************* ******** |
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