Telescopes in Schools?

[long_arms]

Hello,

Just wondering if there's ever been a campaign or is one ongoing to get small telescopes in schools.

I know many will say "during the day?" but the moon visually is life changing (imo) plus in the winter its getting dark anyway towards the end of the day. (after school club if necessary)

White light filter for sunspots as well.

Just curious.

I went to great schools but now wonder why I had to wait till I was 18 to see the moon and appreciate the nights' sky.

Most schools have laptops up to their ceilings nowadays and a small mak isn't much in comparison.

Dan

[Cath]

I think some schools use the Liverpool online telescope ..

http://www.schoolsobservatory.org.uk/astro/tels/lt

Sky At Night did a TV section on it a while back.

[long_arms]

I think some schools use the Liverpool online telescope ..

http://www.schoolsob...k/astro/tels/lt

Sky At Night did a TV section on it a while back.

I think thats great, I would definitely love to see every school have access to a similar resource!

Don't think it beats looking down the eyepiece and seeing our moon with your own eyes though.

I imagine young children seeing that for the first time as a sea of "WOWs"

Dan

[JamesF]

Don't think it beats looking down the eyepiece and seeing our moon with your own eyes though.

I imagine young children seeing that for the first time as a sea of "WOWs"

I agree. That feeling that you could almost reach out and touch it is fantastic to experience first-hand.

James

[astronymonkey]

I was lucky and went to a school that had a teacher who was interested in astronomy and persuaded them to by a 6inch reflector. Going one step further we were allowed to take it home on a monthly free loan which was absolutely fantastic, and that was nearly 30 years ago.

[Cath]

You're right of cause, which is why we all have our telescopes

Good idea though, they could always have after school classes. Do schools still do that I wonder?

[ibraidwo]

They should do an online telescope exchange with countries on the other side of the world / or twinning like towns..

..then school kids could see the night sky during school hours!!

[DazC]

The newly built comp school near to me has a dome on top, and i'm told by a friend who knows i'm into astronomy that it has a scope in it

Not sure what sort of scope it is but, any scope is better than no scope.

D.C

[Gregnat73]

I work in a primary school (teaching Year 1 (5/6 yr olds) and have taken in a scope when we were doing a space topic. It was just a Skywatcher Heritage 76 dob which we set up in the class as a role pay observatory. I printed of pictures of the planets and put them up on the far wall and the children studied them through the scope, using drawings to record what they saw (I even hid a Death Star on one of the planets for them to try and spot) They seemed to enjoy it and we took the scope out to view the real moon a few times ( making sure the sun was hidden behind the building) even a few parents had a peek!! Although we did this before Christmas the kids still talk about it so I'll be doing it again (might even risk letting the older children loose with my PST!)

[estwing]

the telementor scope was designed to be put in every school in east Germany....hence the name!

[Moonshane]

my school has a 200mm dob that lives in the gents toilets. I wonder who influenced that purchase and formed an astronomy / space club then...........? from mid autumn term to mid spring term there's opportunity for 10 sessions once a week.

[Siriusmeg]

Yup similar to what I do at my school - Oct half term to March half term, once a week. Not sure who loved the Moon observing more last time, the kids or their parents that all sneaked a look as they collected them

I take my scopes into my school and that is pretty scary but the kids have been very good with them. I would love to have a school scope but the cost is prohbitive for us (v small school). They're just lucky they have me (as I keep telling them )

Seriously though, there is nothing more rewarding than working with a group of kids who are completely enthused about astronomy - best bit of the job.

[rustyjames]

There is an observatory with a scope at meg's school and she has enquired about an astro club(being a girl in yr 7 gets some funny looks) but the opinion seems to be not enough interest/ nobody to run it

[Scott]

the telementor scope was designed to be put in every school in east Germany....hence the name!

I did not know that's where the name came from...lucky German kids hey

[101nut]

Three things required for telescopes to be useful in schools:

1) kids after dark - reduces time of use to a few months per year

2) staff interest

3) finance

In my school

(1) is very difficult, darkness cannot be fitted into multiple offset syllabuses easily so has to be a limited access after-school club.

(2) is non-existant - I have three scopes none of which have seen the sky for 5 years as nobody is interested.

(3) not only for kit but for staffing as well ... neither of which are available. Few teachers have the time, inclination or insurance to do this as a purely voluntary task (though, as support staff, I would be expected to volunteer!)

I try to get people to do something but but have failed so far ...

AndyG

[Champagnerocker]

I've run an after school club before (not astronomy). One thing you need if you want it to be successful is consistancy. If kids are going to stay after school and turn up (which may well necessitate altering travel plans with parents etc) it needs to be on at the same time and same day and EVERY week.

The UK weather prevents this from working. If 3 weeks out of every four it is cloudy then the club will fail. You can't on a whim decide that it is a nice day today lets run an astronomy club session and expect kids to turn up at such short notice.

[Champagnerocker]

Just had another thought. It would be a great idea and probably work really well to have a 'scope at a posh boarding school. Lots of cash (relatively speaking) and the kids and staff are hanging round at night.

and i recall at the start of the film If.... there was a boarder unpacking a 6" reflector from his trunk as well.

[101nut]

Just had another thought. It would be a great idea and probably work really well to have a 'scope at a posh boarding school. Lots of cash (relatively speaking) and the kids and staff are hanging round at night.

I work at a very large state boarding school where there is quite a bit of money for the boarding side. It still doesn't work ...

AndyG