the sun and tools of astronomers mary kay hemenway marc wetzel university of texas at austin...

The Sun and Tools of The Sun and Tools of AstronomersAstronomers

Mary Kay Hemenway

Marc Wetzel

University of Texas at Austin

McDonald Observatory

OutlineOutline

Goals of McDonald programs on the sun Equipment Pre-visit/pre-conference materials Solar Student Field Experience program at

McDonald Observatory Solar videoconference program from McDonald

Observatory Preliminary Results Other McDonald Observatory Programs Contact information

Goals of the ProgramGoals of the ProgramDevelop/provide effective programming on the

sun for K-12 students and teachers who visit McDonald Observatory

Develop/provide effective programming on astronomy, including solar viewing, for those visiting the Observatory electronically through individual classroom videoconferences

Share both the content and the process of creating these programs with others involved in similar outreach programs

EquipmentEquipment

C-14 and two 76-mm TeleVue refractors

AVA Astrovid camera with computer controls

Tandberg 6000 codec H-alpha and white light

filters Paramount ME100

robotic telescope mount

Solar equipment Solar equipment

Building with roll-off roof Computer interfaced to controls in classroom

and theater

Pre-visit/pre-conferencePre-visit/pre-conference

Assessment sheet for students from "Eye on the Sky" of Project FIRST

Behavior norms for students Suggested activities for engaging

students

Student Field ExperienceStudent Field Experience

Pre-visit package Tour of observatory and 2.7-m telescope Use of exhibit area with student guides

(English/Spanish) Solar viewing (Optional) Enriched solar experience Post-visit package

McDonald Observatory McDonald Observatory Visitor CenterVisitor Center

At the observatoryAt the observatory

Astroscan telescopeAstroscan telescope

Project the sun to Observe sunspots Measure the rotation

rate of the Earth by timing the drift of the sun through one solar diameter.

Solar viewingSolar viewing

Viewing the sun with two telescopes

One for full-disk live image

One for H-alpha close-up images

Using the magnet boxUsing the magnet box

After showing the close-up live image of the sun with prominences and solar activity, insert magnet into box.

Discuss similarities with solar phenomena

DemonstrationsDemonstrations

Pre-recorded for solar viewing experience

Live for enriched Student Field Experience or Videoconference

Lava lamp Magnet box Sunspot demo

Large sun and word wallLarge sun and word wall

Cut-away sun (shows layers)Cut-away sun (shows layers)

Question and answerQuestion and answer

VideoconferenceVideoconference

VideoconferenceVideoconference

Elements of 50-minute program

Outside views of observatory

Narrated tour of the Struve 2.1-m telescope

Live views of sun Demonstrations Question and answer

session

Videoconferencing methodsVideoconferencing methods

Facilitator and technician

Two-way communication with the classroom

Script with variations for grade levels

DemonstrationsDemonstrations

Demos are done live

Solar images may be pre-recorded if weather doesn't permit real-time observations

Classroom and studioClassroom and studio

Technician at workTechnician at work

Pulling the elements togetherPulling the elements together

Comparison of pre/post Comparison of pre/post student ideas about the sunstudent ideas about the sun

Post-visit/conferencePost-visit/conference

Suggestions for activities to follow the interaction are linked with Texas and/or national science education standards

Program evaluation is continuing with a professional evaluator for formative and summative evaluation.

Formative EvaluationFormative Evaluation

Rating of program elements • Engage• Explore• Explain• Elaborate• Evaluate

Ratings done by project staff and outside Educator Advisory Board

Summative evaluationSummative evaluation

Interviews with teachers who participated in either – on-site Student Field Experience – videoconference

Teacher Professional Teacher Professional Development at McDonaldDevelopment at McDonaldAnnually - general astronomy (k-8 or 6-

12)

Special workshops2005 Texas Rural Teachers2005 SAFIR2006 FUSE2005-2007 White Dwarf

SAFIRSAFIR

10-m primary mirror

20 microns to 1mm Telescope

temperature < 5 K Launch 2015 - 2020 5 year mission PI = Dan Lester,

UT- Austin

SAFIR - workshopSAFIR - workshop

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

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QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

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Dr. Sheila Kappannan Dr. Dan Lester

Workshop elementsWorkshop elements

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QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

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QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

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Coudé room2.7-m telescope

Galaxyactivity

SOFIA "Active Astronomy" infrared kit activities

Contact informationContact information

Mary Kay Hemenway: marykay@astro.as.utexas.edu

Marc Wetzel: wetzel@astro.as.utexas.edu Observatory website:

http://mcdonaldobservatory.org Videoconference website:

http://outreach.as.utexas.edu/Marykay/McD_0105/mcd_videoNASA.htm

AcknowledgementsAcknowledgements

Support for HST-ED90282.01-A was provided by NASA through a grant from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities in Astronomy, Incorporated, under NASA contract NAS5-26555.

Support for the “Future Astronomy:The Infrared Universe” workshop was provided by NASA under an Education and Public Outreach supplement to Grant/Contract/Agreement No. NNG04GJ63G issued through the Office of Space Science for the study of SAFIR - the Single Array Far Infrared Observatory.