Category: Teacher Support

Posted on

In the Footsteps of Galileo: A Hands-on Workshop on Astronomy

Sat, Sep. 12 and Sun, Sep. 13, 2009

Westin SFO Hotel, Millbrae, California (near the San Francisco Airport)

Part of the 120th Anniversary Meeting of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific

One unit of Academic Credit available through San Francisco State U.

In this hands-on workshop, we will train educators to be “Galileo Ambassadors” for the International Year of Astronomy (2009). Teachers in grades 4 – 12 will learn how to do age-appropriate, inquiry-based activities in astronomy and physical science. After a brief introduction to Galileo’s life and work and the realms of astronomy, participants will explore:

  1. A Private Universe: Student Reasoning and How to Help Students to Act Like Scientists
  2. The Moons of Jupiter: Galileo’s Experiment Redone (and the Process of Science)
  3. Understanding the Phases and Motions of the Moon
  4. Making a Constellation Finder and Getting Oriented in the Night Sky
  5. Measuring the Dark: Activities to Understand the Environmental Effects of Light Pollution
  6. The Galileoscope: A Telescope for All Seasons and All Reasons
  7. The Universe at Your Fingertips: Where to Find the Best Astronomy Activities in Print and on the Web

Participants will receive a free GalileoScope (a small telescope especially developed for easy public viewing during the International Year of Astronomy) and package of hands-on activities, background information, and resource guides that can be put to immediate use in  the classroom. No background in astronomy will be assumed; both new  and veteran teachers should gain new information and effective teaching techniques from the workshop.

Facilitators include:

  • Andrew Fraknoi (Chair, Astronomy Dept, Foothill College and the 2007 California Professor of the Year)
  • Dennis Schatz (VP, Pacific Science Center, Seattle; and the 2009 NSTA Faraday Award winner for science communication)
  • Constance Walker (Nat’l Optical Astronomy Observatories and Coordinator, Globe at Night)
  • Robert Sparks (Nat’l Optical Astronomy Observatories and Senior Trainer, Hands-on Optics Project)
  • Suzanne Gurton (Educational Projects Director, Astronomical Society of the Pacific)

(Sunday afternoon, participants will join with other meeting attendees to hear a series of non-technical talks on the search for extra-terrestrial life, with the father of SETI, Dr. Frank Drake, award-winning science popularizer Seth Shostak, planetary protection scientist Margaret Race, and one of the chief scientists for the Kepler Mission, looking for Earths around other stars.)

Cost

$39.95 per day ($78.90 for the weekend)
1 semester unit of academic credit: $100 (optional)

Registration

To register, go to the meeting web site:
http://www.astrosociety.org/events/2009mtg/workshops.html
When you register, click on weekend registration and the first workshop under each day.

Posted on

New page: “Becoming a physics teacher””

We’re adding a new page to the NCNAAPT web site, “Becoming a physics teacher.” The goal of the site is to support people who are interested in becoming physics teachers, but have not yet enrolled in a credential program. We have a few links on it, but will be flushing it out over the next few weeks/months. If you have any suggestions of what should go on the page, please email them to web@ncnaapt.org and we’ll incorporate them

You can find the page here: https://ncnaapt.org/index.php/links/becoming-a-physics-teacher/, or find it in the menu in the right column (in the “Links” sub menu).

Posted on

Using Google Maps to show wave refraction in water

Physics educators have used photos of natural and man-made breakwaters to show refraction for probably as long as we’ve had photography. But now online mapping web sites (Google, Yahoo. etc.) allow you to find locations near you to make the images more tangible to your students. Oceans and bays are full of images of refraction, but you may also find diffraction patterns in a large lake.

Below is an example from a breakwater in Berkeley, CA, in the San Francisco Bay


View Larger Map
Check water bodies around your institution to find examples you can use with your students. Most mapping sites allow you to save landmarks in a “My maps” section, so once you find a good location, you can save it, then pull it up from a list when you need to show it in class.

One warning: Map sites update their satellite photographs every so often (as the USGS releases newer ones), so check your location before your lecture to make sure your pattern is still there!

Posted on

Teachers In Space Workshop / California 2009

Dear Educator,

Take advantage of this unique opportunity to be part of history and shape the future of education! Join us for the Teachers In Space luncheon and workshop / California 2009!

Teachers In Space . . . then back to class

The Space Frontier Foundation and Teachers In Space invite you to join us at NASA Ames Research Center as we make history! Fifty years after the Mercury Seven, on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing, we are rebooting the American space program. This July 20th we will introduce the next generation of space explorers who will boldly go where no astronaut has gone before . . . back into the classroom!

Teachers In Space wants to put a thousand astronaut teachers into American classrooms within the next decade. Teachers In Space will provide these educator astronauts with professional development classes in STEM academics, followed by a sub-orbital flight. These Pathfinders will be the first astronaut teachers to fly in space and then return to the classroom to inspire the next generation.

Currently, Teachers In Space is working with educators across the country to design the ideal professional development component for this cutting edge program. Over 100 educators have participated in workshops conducted in Massachusetts, Texas and Arizona. Teacher-generated ideas compiled from these sessions will fuel this program for success in schools across America and we want the input of enthusiastic, experienced Californiateachers added to the tank.

If you appreciate the value of space education and have a passion to motivate and encourage students in pursuing STEM academics please join Teachers In Space on this incredible adventure. Help write a new chapter in American history!

Teachers In Space Workshop / California 2009

  • Monday, July 20, 2009
  • NewSpace 2009 Conference / http://newspace2009.spacefrontier.org
  • NASA Ames Research Center / Mountain View, California
  • 11:00 AM / Pathfinders Introduction Ceremony
  • 12:00 PM / luncheon / catered by Maverick’s Barbeque
  • 1:00 to 3:00 PM / workshop / participants will receive two recertification hours
  • Registration Fee of $45 / includes Pathfinders Intro, lunch and workshop

REGISTER ONLINE: http://newspace2009.spacefrontier.org/registration.php

  • Enter your information
  • Go to Meal Events
  • Select Teachers In Space Event and Lunch and submit
  • Registration deadline is July 17, 2009

If you are planning to attend or have any questions, please contact:

Colleen Howard
SIM Coordinator / Mesa Public Schools
Education Coordinator / Teachers In Space
choward@mpsaz.org