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Girl Scout Astronomy Badge
There was some discussion here a few months ago about the Boy Scout
Astronomy Merit Badge requirements. As it happens, I'm helping my niece with her Girl Scout requirements, which make the Boy Scout requirements look like graduate school in comparison. Some examples: Tools of the Trade - Learn the parts of a telescope and how to use one. If possible, use a tracking telescope or look through telescopes with different magnitudes. Star Stamps - Address an envelope to yourself or a friend, including your solar system and galaxy address. Time for the Moon - The best time to observe the moon is when it is full, or almost full. At the bottom of this page of requirements are three images- one of which is horribly wrong: http://www.cloudbait.com/misc/gscoutastro.jpg Really, this whole thing is pretty pathetic. _________________________________________________ Chris L Peterson Cloudbait Observatory http://www.cloudbait.com |
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Hi Chris,
Perhaps you can offer your services to rewrite it. I had similar problems with a Brownie Star Gazer Badge a couple of years back (7-10yr Girl Scouts in the UK) Quote: "The moon is the brightest object in the night sky. Unlike stars, it does not give off light of its own. Its 'light' is a reflection of the sun's rays. The moon appears as shapes (or phases) when the Earth comes between the sun and the moon, casting a shadow. The moon completes its orbit of the earth every 29 days. The current phase of the moon along with its setting and rising times can usually be found in newspapers. " I corrected the text and provided new diagrams - not sure if they used them mind you. Robin "Chris L Peterson" wrote in message ... There was some discussion here a few months ago about the Boy Scout Astronomy Merit Badge requirements. As it happens, I'm helping my niece with her Girl Scout requirements, which make the Boy Scout requirements look like graduate school in comparison. Some examples: Tools of the Trade - Learn the parts of a telescope and how to use one. If possible, use a tracking telescope or look through telescopes with different magnitudes. Star Stamps - Address an envelope to yourself or a friend, including your solar system and galaxy address. Time for the Moon - The best time to observe the moon is when it is full, or almost full. At the bottom of this page of requirements are three images- one of which is horribly wrong: http://www.cloudbait.com/misc/gscoutastro.jpg Really, this whole thing is pretty pathetic. _________________________________________________ Chris L Peterson Cloudbait Observatory http://www.cloudbait.com |
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Robin Leadbeater wrote:
Quote: "The moon is the brightest object in the night sky. Unlike stars, it does not give off light of its own. Its 'light' is a reflection of the sun's rays. The moon appears as shapes (or phases) when the Earth comes between the sun and the moon, casting a shadow. The moon completes its orbit of the earth every 29 days. The current phase of the moon along with its setting and rising times can usually be found in newspapers. " I corrected the text and provided new diagrams - not sure if they used them mind you. Well, it's not *terrible*, right? Only one complete bonehead remark in the set. The weird thing is that I've met some scout leaders who really are interested in the night sky, and I find it hard to believe that they wouldn't have sent corrections along, too. Wouldn't you, in their position? -- Brian Tung The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/ Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/ The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/ My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt |
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At the bottom of this page of requirements are three images- one of
which is horribly wrong: http://www.cloudbait.com/misc/gscoutastro.jpg Yuke. I was expecting some funny picture that you had inserted. You're serious and apparently so are they. You're right, makes the boys scout stuff look like grad school. So I guess if you have a daughter and want her to go into a science field, you have to keep her out of girl scouts. :-( Chuck Taylor Do you observe the moon? Try http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing/ To reply, remove Delete and change period com to period net ************************************************** ************ Chris L Peterson Cloudbait Observatory http://www.cloudbait.com |
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look through telescopes with different magnitudes. ??? me thinks they used
the wrong word. What mag would my Babylon 8 be I wonder? Time for the Moon - The best time to observe the moon is when it is full, or almost full. Oh how little they know. -- The Lone Sidewalk Astronomer of Rosamond Telescope Buyers FAQ http://home.inreach.com/starlord Astronomy Net Online Gift Shop http://www.cafepress.com/astronomy_net "Chris L Peterson" wrote in message ... There was some discussion here a few months ago about the Boy Scout Astronomy Merit Badge requirements. As it happens, I'm helping my niece with her Girl Scout requirements, which make the Boy Scout requirements look like graduate school in comparison. Some examples: Tools of the Trade - Learn the parts of a telescope and how to use one. If possible, use a tracking telescope or look through telescopes with different magnitudes. Star Stamps - Address an envelope to yourself or a friend, including your solar system and galaxy address. Time for the Moon - The best time to observe the moon is when it is full, or almost full. At the bottom of this page of requirements are three images- one of which is horribly wrong: http://www.cloudbait.com/misc/gscoutastro.jpg Really, this whole thing is pretty pathetic. _________________________________________________ Chris L Peterson Cloudbait Observatory http://www.cloudbait.com |
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That is depressing. You'd think they could do MUCH better than that.
And then later, the magazines aimed at these girls will be chock full of astrology, numerology, psychics, etc. And people wonder why females are under represented in the scientifically oriented professions... Marty |
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"Marty" wrote in message ...
That is depressing. You'd think they could do MUCH better than that. And then later, the magazines aimed at these girls will be chock full of astrology, numerology, psychics, etc. And people wonder why females are under represented in the scientifically oriented professions... .. doesn't explain why they're pouring into law and medicine or why more females attend college then males in the U.S. -- Hilton Evans --------------------------------------------------------------- Lon -71° 04' 35.3" Lat +42° 11' 06.7" --------------------------------------------------------------- Webcam Astroimaging http://home.earthlink.net/~hiltoneva...troimaging.htm --------------------------------------------------------------- ChemPen Chemical Structure Software http://www.chempensoftware.com |
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Marty" wrote in
message news:18504-42E84C67-55@storefull-333 7.bay.webtv.net... That is depressing. You'd think they could do MUCH better than that. And then later, the magazines aimed at these girls will be chock full of astrology, numerology, psychics, etc. And people wonder why females are under represented in the scientifically oriented professions... =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0.. doesn't explain why they're pouring into law and medicine =A0 or why more females attend college then males in the U.S. -- Hilton Evans I'm definitely not implying that females are in any way intellectually inferior to men, and I don't claim to know if any differences in interests and aptitudes are caused by nature or nurture. It's undeniable that for whatever reasons, females and males tend to gravitate toward different areas of study. (Thank God I'm not the president of Harvard... this is verboten discussion...) ANYWAY, I'm surprised, and almost offended, that the feminist organizations haven't raised more hell about what girls are exposed to in their popular magazines. Maybe oppression by all males is just an easier, more satisfying target. Marty |
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Chris L Peterson wrote:
There was some discussion here a few months ago about the Boy Scout Astronomy Merit Badge requirements. As it happens, I'm helping my niece with her Girl Scout requirements, which make the Boy Scout requirements look like graduate school in comparison. The errors are horrid. On the bright side, which age group is this badge for? I've also helped with the Cub Scout astronomy achievements. They're extremely basic, but pitched for 7-10 year old boys. The Boy Scouts get into their merit badges at age 12 or older. -- Glenn Holliday |
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Chris L Peterson wrote:
There was some discussion here a few months ago about the Boy Scout Astronomy Merit Badge requirements. As it happens, I'm helping my niece with her Girl Scout requirements, which make the Boy Scout requirements look like graduate school in comparison. Here are some activities for the boy scout merit badge requirement (ages 11-17), which is publically available on the net at - http://www.usscouts.org/mb/mb022.html For boys 11-17: ===================== 3. With the aid of diagrams (or real telescopes if available), do each of the following: a. Explain why binoculars and telescopes are important astronomical tools. Demonstrate or explain how these tools are used. b. Describe the similarities and differences of several types of astronomical telescopes. c. Explain the purposes of at least three instruments used with astronomical telescopes. .. . . . 5. Do the following: a. list the names of the five most visible planets. Explain which ones can appear in phases similar to lunar phases and which ones cannot, and explain why. b. Find out when each of the five most visible planets that you identified in requirement 5a will be observable in the evening sky during the next 12 months, then compile this information in the form of a chart or table. Update your chart monthly to show whether each planet will be visible during the early morning or in the evening sky. ===================== The analogous merit badge at the girl scouts is for a different age group - the Junior Girl Scouts ages 8-11 and is titled "Sky Search". Compare - http://www.girlscouts.org/program/gs...ist/junior.asp with http://www.girlscouts.org/program/gs...list/11_17.asp The requirements for the junior girl scout merit badge apparently are unavailable on the web. It appears the GSA wants you to buy the Junior GSA Handbook to find out. From one outstanding web based program at the Alder Planetarium of Chicago, Ill., one can infer that the requirements are similar - http://hou.lbl.gov/~vhoette/GirlScouts/actaquay.html http://hou.lbl.gov/~vhoette/GirlScouts/ For girls 8-11: ===================== 6. Learn about the differences in the brightness of stars. a. Distinguish stars by their brightness. b. Model the magnitude system used by astronomers to classify star brightness. c. Compare the brightness of stars with auto aperture, an image analysis tool. d. Find stars and their brightness counts by using an image analysis tool called 'FIND'. In one requirement, Activity #6, the Junior GSA program appears to exceed the Eagle Scout merit badge program - girls study star colors and observe stars through different colored filters. http://hou.lbl.gov/~vhoette/GirlScou...l#Star%20Color http://hou.lbl.gov/~vhoette/GirlScouts/StarColor/ 6. Learn about the differences in the color of stars. a. Notice the color of stars in photographs. b. Experiment with filters to see how they block colors or let colors pass through. The Alder program even has an imaging processing program to process FITS images. http://sunra.lbl.gov/~vhoette/ToolBox/ The Girl Scout program for age 11-17 does not have an analogous "Sky Search" merit badge. The activity for that age group is called "Space Exploration" - which focuses in part on science career exploration. I was unable to find any trustworthy lists of the activities for that age bracket. For either Boy Eagle Scouts or Girl Scouts, the Hands-On-Universe site at the Alder Planetarium looks like a good activity resource. http://hou.lbl.gov/~vhoette/Explorations/ I am not involved with either boy or girl scouting. Should I be speaking out of ignorance of both fine programs, any corrections or clarifications would be appreciated. Chris, hope the Alder site helps with your niece. - Canopus56 P.S. - At the bottom of this page of requirements are three images- one of which is horribly wrong: http://www.cloudbait.com/misc/gscoutastro.jpg You mean the terminator rising south to north instead of east to west? LOL! |
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