space and cyberspace case rijsdijk astronomical society of southern african [email protected]...

Space and Cyberspace

Case Rijsdijk

Astronomical Society

of

Southern African

[email protected]

[email protected]

March 24, 2010 CAP 2010 Cape Town 2

. . . this is about . . .

. . . the underpinning philosophy is to use astronomy as a vehicle for science education . . .. . . my experiences in communicating astronomy in the developing world . . .. . . creating special ‘tools’ and ‘models’ on a needs basis . . . . . . there is only time to discus a few . . .. . . but I hope it convinces you that this approach – that of using tactile models . . . . . . works . . . !


. . . celestial dome . . .


. . . planetaria . . .

. . . small . . .

. . . and large planetaria do much the same . . .


. . . different . . . ?

. . . but are these conceptually very different from some ancient models . . . ?


. . . still thinking 2-D . . .

. . . no amount of computer graphics can produce a really effective representation of the real world . . . . . . even something as simple as the Sun’s apparent motion across the sky, solstices and equinoxes . . . . . . or the phases of the Moon . . .. . . are best done with some simple modelling . . .


. . . north/south problem . . .

. . . is one that we in the southern hemisphere are very aware of . . .

. . . most astronomical material is produced in the northern hemisphere . . .

. . . this affects Moon phases, sunrise/set, and constellations . . .

. . . again simple models explain this . . .


. . . the Sun . . .

. . . where does the Sun rise . . . ?

. . . on your left . . . ?

. . . or right . . . ?


. . . . sunrise . . .

. . . does the Sun always rise in the east . . . ?

. . . does it always rise at the same angle . . . ?

East


. . . sunometer . . .

Fig 2 Sunometer

Paper fastenerDisk

Space between tabs

Staple

Slot

Fig 1 Mushroom

Square between tabs A & B


. . . luxometer . . .


. . . seasons . . .

. . . these, and other simple devices, help to explain the seasons in a simple and effective way . . . . . . see ref #8 . . .. . . standard use of solstices and equinoxes does not work . . . . . . in many parts of southern Africa there are anything from 2 – 6 seasons . . . !


. . . crescent Moon . . .

. . . does the first crescent Moon look like this . . .

. . . or like this . . .


. . . showing phases . . . ?


. . . this does . . .

Courtesy HartRAO

. . . doing it yourself . . .


. . . shadow sticks . . .


. . . mini shadow sticks . . .


. . . time zones . . .

. . . one can see how these time differences can occur . . . . . . the magic is when the globe is turned round . . . . . . the shadows move, showing that the Sun’s apparent movement across the sky is because the Earth is turning . . .


. . . simple sundials . . .

. . . a simple one made from a single sheet of paper . . .

. . . source – Prof. V. Icke,

Leyden . . .


. . . simple sundials . . .


. . . proper sundials . . .


. . . effects of gravity . . .


. . . gravity simulation . . .

. . . eclipses . . .


. . . but a model . . .

. . . two discs . . .

. . . ecliptic plane with a Sun . . .

. . . Earth-Moon orbital plane that can slide into the ecliptic . . .


. . . but a model . . .

. . . no eclipse possible . . .

. . . Moon in line with Sun but above ecliptic . . .


. . . but a model . . .

. . . no eclipse possible . . .. . . Moon in ecliptic plane, but not in line with Sun . . .


. . . but a model . . .

. . . eclipse is possible . . .

. . . Moon in ecliptic plane and in line with Sun . . .

. . . solar . . .


. . . but a model . . .

. . . eclipse is possible . . .

. . . Moon in ecliptic plane and in line with Earth . . .

. . . lunar . . .


. . . doing and making . . .


. . . making things . . .

. . . knock-on effect . . .

. . . do you know what I did today . . . ?

. . . the best way to learn is to tell/teach/show others what you have learnt . . .

. . . and this is reinforced by having a model to show others what you did . . .

. . . enthusiasm is infectious . . . !


. . . but why . . .

. . . is it in spite of some of the most stunning images from Hubble, VLT and others . . ,

. . . amazing software and planetarium programmes . . .

. . . and the internet and really great animations . . .

. . . it is still making something that will generate the pedagogic “ah-ha” . . .

. . . and looking through a telescope that produces the biggest “wows” . . .

. . . we can combine the two . . .


. . . connecting Space to Cyberspace . . .

. . . using a laptop, data projector and screen outside . . .

. . . some appropriate software . . .

. . . a lot can be achieved . . .


. . . accessability . . .

. . . easy . . .

. . . mmm . . .

. . . hard . . .


. . . further afield. . .

. . . using the same coding as before . .


. . . in Africa . . .

. . . again using the same coding as before . . .


. . . south is up . . .


. . . Starbus . . .

. . . taking astronomy to the people . . .


. . . during YEAST . . .

. . . the Starbus was stocked with a range of resources developed at SAAO . . .

. . . along with laptop, projector, screen and 250 mm telescope . . .

. . . with a staff of two . . .

. . . and taken into the rural areas of 3 focus provinces . . .

. . . and into peri-urban townships . . .


. . . delivery . . .

. . . it worked . . . . . . until the funding ran out . . .

. . . but it can be done again . . . !!


. . . conclusions . . .

. . . my experience shows that for a proper understanding one must . . .

. . . MAKE things to model astronomy . . .

. . . DO astronomy by taking astronomy TO the people . . .

. . . best to communicate astronomy using cyberspace AND tactile models . . . !


. . . acknowledgements . . .

. . . I would like to thank the LOC, SOC, the IAU and SAASTA for support to attend CAP 2010 . . .

. . . and colleagues at the SAAO for their continued support . . .

. . . thank you . . .


. . . references . . .

1 http://www.atnf.csiro.au/pasa/17_2/rijsdijk/paper/node4.html

2 http://www.saao.ac.za/~wgssa/as3/rijsdijk.html

3 http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2000PASA...17..156R

4 http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1999AfrSk...3...29R

5 Astronomy for Developing Countries. Ed. A H Batten. IAU publication. Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 2001

6 Astronomy Communication. Ed. A Heck and C Madsen. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003.

7 Teaching and Learning Astronomy. Ed. J Pasachoff and J R Percy. Cambridge, 2005

8 Explore Beyond the Earth. C Rijsdijk and L Dilley. Maskew-Miller Longman, Cape Town.

http://www.atnf.csiro.au/pasa/17_2/rijsdijk/paper/node4.html

http://www.saao.ac.za/~wgssa/as3/rijsdijk.html

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2000PASA...17..156R

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1999AfrSk...3...29R

space and cyberspace case rijsdijk astronomical society of southern african [email protected]...

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