national radio astronomy observatory december 2003 – nsf/aui proposal review education and public...

National Radio Astronomy ObservatoryDecember 2003 – NSF/AUI Proposal Review

Education and Public Outreach

Broader Impact of the NRAO as a Whole

L. T. Shapiro

National Radio Astronomy Observatory

December 2003 – NSF/AUI Proposal Review

EPO Strategic Plan• Broaden the impact of the NRAO with support for

the development of a scientifically and technically literate society.

• Provide information about radio astronomy and the NRAO via national and local news media and the internet.

• Broaden and enhance the use of NRAO sites as places of high quality encounters for visitors and for education.

• Develop educational programs and exhibits in partnership with other institutions.

• Emphasize that NRAO sites are facets of a single unique observatory and the growing sophistication of our telescopes with the advent of the GBT, EVLA & ALMA.



EPO Depth Breadth Pyramid

RETs

Teacher Wksps

Observing Groups

Class & Group Field Trips

Public Visitation to Centers

Community Outreach

Internet Visitation to NRAO website

National Media Stories

Local Media Stories

GreaterDepth of

Experience

GreaterBreadth

of Contact



Media Interactions• National Press

Releases: • 12 in 1999• 17 in 2000• 18 in 2003 (to date)

“Despite Appearances, Cosmic Explosions Have Common Origin, Astronomers Discover” VLA

NRAO continues to provide support at national meetings including: AAS,

AAASNSTA, CCAP, SACNAS

• 21 in 2001 • 15 in 2002

Local Coverage



NRAO Internet Appearance

• New Web Site• Image Gallery • 4 User Lead Pages• PowerPoint Sets• Directions

Consolidation• Navigation Ease• Uniform Templates• To Come:

NA ALMA Sci Ctr PagesPowerPoint for K-12Joint ALMA websiteEVLA & ALMA progress



Science Center at Green Bank Year 2002 2003

Jan-Mar 101 0

Apr-Jun 5,974 6,120

Jul-Sep 13,267 15,075

Oct-Dec 3,171 6,671*

Total 22,513 27,866

Year 2002 2003

Jan-Mar 4,392 3,214

Apr-Jun 5,507 2,956

Jul-Sep 5,393 5,646

Oct-Dec 3,340 3,403*

Total 18,632 15,219

Visitor Center at the VLA

A large spurt in EPO staff size occurred over the past year due to opening the Science Center at Green Bank and staffing the gift shop at the VLA. A couple of positions have yet to be filled and a smaller spurt will occur during 2005-2009 as plans for a new VLA Center come to fruition. A growth in attendance appears to be occurring at both centers.

Science/Visitor Center Activity



Community Outreach

• Children’s Fairs• Mall & Event Displays • School Presentations• Public Observing

Sessions• School Observing

Sessions• Science Fairs• Science Olympiad• Scout Presentations



Class & Group VisitsGoals

• To have every WV K-12 student visit the Science Center at Green Bank at least once during their school career

• To increase the number of high quality, effective interactive exhibits

• To increase school & group awareness of the existence of the public sites in GB & NM



Observing GroupsMiddle school, high school, college classes and teacher workshop groups make observations on site using the 40-foot, the N2I2, and even the VLA. Observing runs at Green Bank will be abetted by the recent opening of the new bunkhouse.

Some schools to recently take advantage of this unique opportunity include: Concord Col., GW Community School, Gettysburg Col., Glenelg HS, Glenville State Col., Harvard, Lincolntown HS, Linwood Holton Governor’s School, Marshall Univ., Morehead Univ., Mountain Inst. on Astronomy, North HS, Newburg HS, Ohio State Univ., Ohio Univ. Towson Univ., Tygarts Valley School, Univ. HS, Univ. of Chicago, Univ. of Kentucky, Virginia Tech., Western Albemarle HS, and West Virginia Univ.



Teacher Workshops• Chautauqua Short Courses for

Teachersboth at Green Bank and Socorro (more than 500 teachers have participated)

• Teachers Workshops for K-12 Teachersat Green Bank with intent to expand to Socorro and Charlottesville

RET Progra

mYea

rNo. States

2000

7 MI, OH, PA, WV

2001

1 OH

2002

5 MN, WV

2003

3 PA, WI



Program Progress for Teachers• Commence Masters of Teaching

Science workshop collaboration with New Mexico Tech & Magdalena Ridge Observatory.

• Develop, test, and implement student RFI detection project, use in WV, and expand nationwide.

• Expand RET program to Charlottesville.• Expand teacher workshops to New

Mexico, then Virginia.

National Radio Astronomy ObservatoryDecember 2003 – NSF/AUI Proposal Review

NRAO Science CentersNRAO Science Centers

•Research Centers: discoveries happen! •Telescopes in Action•Diverse NRAO Community:

scientists,engineers,technicians,machinists,

computer programmers who volunteer

What makes us different from Science Museums?



VLA Visitor Center HistoryVLA Visitor Center History

• 2,400 sq ft Visitor Center opened in 1983• Self-guided walking tour• Unmanned Center was open from 8am to dusk.• No available food service (for many miles)• Service facilities undersized for typical class size• Summer weekend VLA guided tours began ~1988• Public Information Officer hired in 1992• Guided tours now offered to groups & on special occasions• Education Officer hired in 2000• Small staffed gift shop addition in 2003



Future of theFuture of theVLA Visitor CenterVLA Visitor Center

• Visitor Guest Book records strong appreciation for existing facilities.

• New Center to provide modern facilities for projected visitation of 100,000 annually.

• Exhibit space of 5,000 sq ft, 10,000 total sq ft.• Additional educator, exhibit tech & custodian.• Expanded exhibits and programs.• Include topics of site geology and ecology.



Green Bank Science CenterGreen Bank Science Center



What Can Radio Waves tell us about the Universe?

Exhibition Themes:

How Do we Detect Radio Waves?

What is Going on at the GBT right now?

What are Radio Waves?



ProgramsPrograms

Teachers Students Public

On-site NSF Institute Radio Astronomer for a Day Science Center: exhibit hall

Research Experience for Teachers Career Mentorships Free Tours

NASA/NRAO Workshop Special events (Eg Science Bowl) Special Event Series

Outreach Workshops/talks (WVSTA) Hands-On Science Mountain Radio Astronomy radio show

StarLab presentations Web Activities

Web activities



““Radio Astronomer for a Day” overnight fieldtripsRadio Astronomer for a Day” overnight fieldtrips

Grade School to Undergraduate School

“hey mom, we emit radio waves!” Neutral hydrogen scan



ProductsProducts

• Web Activities: http://www.gb.nrao.edu/epo/try-it.html

• Brochures: distributed to all Welcome Centers• Radio astronomy video to all WV schools• Mountain Radio Astronomy talk show• “Who’s using the telescopes?”

http://www.mcdonaldobservatory.org/research/



Program Focus 2005-2009Program Focus 2005-2009

Teachers Students Public

continue institute program improve opportunities for fieldtrips improve and distribute radio program

develop short courses Quiet Skies RFI Detector Project traveling GBT exhibit

create education Internships "IT" Discover Academies GBT real-time webcast to museums

develop partnerships simulated observing missions develop partnerships: - Michigan Earth Science Teachers - ala Challenger Center - Astronomy Societies - State of West Virginia PDC - Amateur Radio Clubs



Really Out There….Really Out There….

• Best Gadgets in the Universe• A workshop to share NSF educational products• Training-Museums/Science Center Educators

• Pulsars at Home• Like SETI at home, but with a possibility of real

discovery.• Distributed computing

national radio astronomy observatory december 2003 – nsf/aui proposal review education and public...

Documents

national meetings

vla nrao

wi slide

shapiro slide

high school

single unique observatory

new vla center

school career