Mary Lou West, Math/Physics, Montclair State University Upper Montclair, NJ 07043, 973-655-7266, west@pegasus.montclair.edu
Charles Liu, Astronomy, Columbia University, NYC, cliu@astro.columbia.edu
Kevin Conod, Dreyfuss Planetarium, Newark Museum, 973-596-6529, stargazer@advanix.net
R. Ward Flynn, Jeanine Prendergast, Michael Wagner (grad. students)
The official abstract can be found at http://ideas.stsci.edu/IDEASabstracts97.html#pg42.html
Some photos can be found at http://www.csam.montclair.edu/~west/ideasphotos.html
Our workshop was enthusiastically received for the five meetings. The fourth meeting for the original 20 teachers was held at Montclair State on Saturday, October 24, 1998, and featured more activities as well as the reports by the 17 active teacher participants on their classroom success (hopefully) using the summer's activities. In order to plan the program the three leaders and the three graduate student pre-service teachers met a month ahead of time. We chose our favorite activities, sorted them into themes, and decided who would present each one. Jeanine, Ward, and Michael each volunteered to be in charge of several activities. Those not in charge were to circulate and help out or to check one of the two video camcorders on tripods. We sent the participants an assignment to observe the moon in the month before the first session of the workshop began.
The first meeting was Friday, July 10 at MSU. After interviewing and introducing each other we went outside and drew chalk outlines of our partners' shadows, and then put a circle where we thought the shadow of the head would be in an hour's time (10 AM). Everyone was eager to see how close they had come, but at 10 AM the predictions were all far off. By 11 AM the teachers new predictions were much better, and at noon they were right on the mark! In between these excursions we divided into groups which discussed their own moon observations and some difficult moon questions. Kevin had everyone on their feet learning the phases of the moon with balls on sticks, then the relative sizes and spacing of the Earth/Moon system. Photos of the Moon passing Venus allowed us to calculate the moon's speed. After Mary Lou led us in observing the campus Ophiuchus shadow sculpture, Charles introduced moon sites on the Internet. Some of the interesting sites we found are listed as astronomy resources . The teachers also filled out background demographic and attitude questionnaires and took a short pre-test.
We met on July 17 at the Dreyfuss Planetarium in Newark where Kevin demonstrated the seasons, the moon's motion, circumpolar constellations, myths from various cultures, and asterisms. In the afternoon at MSU clouds spoiled our measurements of the moon's apparent size, but Michael led the calculations using previous observations. Figures and myths in the moon, a third-grade graph of sunrise and sunset times thanks to Jo-Linda Keith of Rand School, Montclair), and making craters in the sand led up to the group mini-reports on posters about craters. Then it was down to the computer room to investigate crater and impact sites on the Internet.
On July 24 we calculated the rotation period of the earth from our drift timings with the Sunspotter solar viewers. Each participant assembled a plastic hemisphere device to record the daily motion of the sun, and promised to use it. Jeanine demonstrated the two types of sundials to be assembled, then we heard each teacher report on an article he/she had read from Sky and Telescope magazines they had been given previously. Ward led the calculations of solar system models, the distribution of models to take home, and then going outside to make the inner solar system with the sun as a tennis ball. Mary Lou presented the solar system motions with Voyager on the Macintoshes. During lunch Charles presented "A Victim of Gravity" from the Schoolhouse Rock video, and got everyone singing. Groups classified galaxy images into their own categories, some very whimsical, then, in groups by grade level, the teachers discussed how they would adapt that activity to their students' levels. We checked planet and outreach sites on the Internet, and ended with the daily feedback form and an over-all evaluation questionnaire.
All the feedback was highly positive. On a scale of 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree), twenty-one of the twenty-two activities were rated 1.7 or better in all categories, e.g. enjoyable, well-done, and useful. Comments by participants included:
The core curriculum standards came alive.
I learned enough content to present it in a manner comfortable to me and my students.
The activities integrated critical thinking.
I now have a desire to learn lots more, a focus for my curiosity.
The relaxed atmosphere is stimulating and non-threatening.
Sharing and group work increases thought processes and problem solving.
Critical thinking, cooperation, and teamwork were great.
At the follow-up meeting on October 24 many teachers told about the activities they had tried with their students.
On June 19, 1999 we ran a workshop for another 17 teachers to learn a selection of the hands-on activities we had done last summer.
1. Objectives:
2. Main Concepts (Big Ideas)
3. Activities