Local Outreach
Update
Thanks to the efforts of many individuals, Boy Scout Troop 13 from
Pepperell,
MA recently spent time at the CfA working toward the Astronomy Merit
Badge.
As troop leader Den Connor's wrote "The merit badge class was
GREAT!
The lab tours were unique, and at least one of our guys thought that it
would be cool to be a scientist...." This event was made possible
by
tour co-leaders: Tania Ruiz, Randall Smith, and Rick Harnden with
additional
planning help from Sam Dyson and Scott Randall. The excellent, if
drafted,
presenters included Dick Goddard (CE) who led a tour of the XMM test
mirror,
Martin Zombeck (HEAD) who led a tour of the AXAF/HRC lab, Dap Hartmann
(RG)
who demonstrated the capabilities of the microwave telescope, and
Suzanne
Romaine (HEA) who led a tour of the multi-layer deposition lab. Thanks
to
a follow up visit from Tania Ruiz, the Boy Scouts should have completed
their Astronomy Badge by month's end.
Thanks also to Vinay Kashyap of HEAD who
recently
spent a couple afternoons at the Peabody School (just down the street
from
the CfA) helping the 7th grade science students prepare for the annual
Science
Olympiad. In the words of teacher, Ned Rice, "I wish I had had one
Vinay for each of the 21 Olympiad events. His input was
invaluable."
Bulletin Articles
Needed
To make this Education Bulletin a success, we need your articles! No
idea
or project too small. With the beginning of Project ASTRO, the AXAF
mission, and the NASA EducationForum, exciting things are happening. Please
consider
sharing your ideas or experiences with others through the Education
Bulletin.
SEU Education
Forum
SAO is pleased to announce the launching of a major education and
outreach
initiative called the SAO-NASA Education Forum on the Structure and
Evolution
of the Universe (SEU). The Forum's mandate is to engage the widest
possible
audience in the excitement of NASA's SEU research projects -- through
partnerships,
programs, and products including colloquia, interactive multimedia,
planetarium
shows, museum exhibitions, film and video, and other materials on the
SEU
theme. The website is linked from the CfA home page and can be reached
directly
at: cfa-www.harvard.edu/seuforum. In April, the Forum will host a series
of informal meetings to introduce Forum staff, to describe initial
projects,
and to actively solicit input from the CfA community. To join the
Forum's
mailing list, please reply to: seuforum@cfa.harvard.edu. For more
information,
contact Roy Gould in the Science Education Department.
Teach for
America
Teach For America and the Society of Physics Students (SPS) are
collaborating
to encourage more physics bachelor's degree recipients to commit
two years to teaching in under-resourced rural and urban public schools.
Recognizing the range of opportunities for physics majors, Teach For
America
has launched the Math and Science Initiative, designed to add value to
the
two-year teaching experience by providing participants with a variety of
summer internship opportunities in the private, government, and
nonprofit
sectors. You can learn more about Teach For America and the Math and
Science
Initiative by going to www.teachforamerica.org.
Spotlight on Project
ARIES
Project ARIES (Astronomy Resources for Intercurricular Elementary
Science)
is an astronomy-based physical science curriculum for elementary school
children. It uses innovative, simple, and affordable apparatus to carry
out a wide range of indoor and outdoor hands-on activities.
Over the past five years the Science Education
Department has designed activities and materials for three ARIES
modules:
"TIME," "LIGHT AND COLOR," and "ASTRONOMY
1."
The modules have been field tested in more than 75 schools nationwide.
The ARIES program consists of a Teacher Resource Binder for each module,
along with student activity apparatus. The Binder contains introductory
text to the curriculum, science and history notes, listing of science
concepts
covered in the curriculum, description of what children are expected to
do and learn, lesson descriptions, learning objectives, teaching
strategies,
homework suggestions, multicultural extensions, pre-and post-tests, and
outside resources for teachers.
Innovative apparatus, built by the students,
are
central to many activities. Students build water clocks and sun dials in
the TIME module; investigate properties of light with mirrors, lenses,
water,
colored filters, and make a pinhole camera in the LIGHT AND COLOR
module;
and in the ASTRONOMY I module students build a shoebox "astronomy
laboratory"
with a moveable sphere and external light source.
We have found that with Project ARIES materials
students are driven by their own curiosity, and empowered with reasoning
skills to take an organized and logical approach to acquiring new
information.
Three published modules are available from Cobblestone Publishing
Company,
Peterborough NH. Five additional modules, are currently in development.
The curriculum, activities and materials, are available in
the Science Ed. Department.
Observatory
Night
The next Observatory Night is Thursday April 16th. The speaker will be
Ron
Walsworth who will give a talk entitled "An Unexpected Cosmic
Connection:
Astrophysics and Medicine." Doors open at 7:30 pm and the program
begins
at 8:00 pm. The Observatory Nights are free, but seating is on a
first-come,
first-served basis.
Children's Night at the
Observatory
Friday, April 24, 7:00 pm and 8:15 pm in Phillips Auditorium:
"Soap
Bubbles and Owls' Eyes: The How's and Why's of Really Big
Telescopes,"
Dr. Andrew Szentgyorgyi. Telescopic observing will follow each
presentation,
weather permitting. Recommended for children aged 6 through 12. Tickets
are necessary to attend and can be obtained by calling the Public
Affairs
Office, ext. 5-7461. There is a limit of four tickets per request,
including
adults. (NOTE: There are no tickets remaining for the 7:00 pm
program).
The Education Bulletin is published on
the first Monday of the month. The deadline for submission of
announcements
for the May issue is April 27th at 5 PM. Please email notices to Natanya
Ness: nness@cfa.harvard.edu 617-495-7400. Previous issues are archived
at
hea-www.harvard.edu/scied/HEADED/.
|