School Astronomy Club

[Nadine2704]

Hi everyone!

I'm starting a lunchtime astronomy club at my school and I'm trying to think of fun activities for the kids.  As an English teacher, I have no science credentials and I'm having to rely on my self-taught knowledge, so I'm a little worried that this has the potential to go completely pear shaped, but there's just nothing in school for pupils to encourage them to take an interest in astronomy, so I want to provide that for them!  Members will be aged between 13-17, so I need to make sure that whatever I do is accessible for a variety of ages.  I've sorted out topics to look at each week and I have a whole heap of ideas, but I'm wanting them to get quite hands on with activities as well, so that it doesn't just feel like classwork, and this is where I'm struggling!  Does anyone have any ideas for fun things we can do/make during meetings?  

Thanks!

Nadine

P.S Unfortunately nighttime observing is currently out of the question due to pupils needing to get busses home straight after school, as the school is slightly out of the way (not out of the way enough for there to be little light pollution though!!).  I also live in Scotland, so the weather is usually against us.  I might consider taking my telescope in for daytime viewing of the moon etc, but we can't do this every week haha
 

[DRT]

Nadine,

A friend of mine devised this activity for his own kids' school: The Solar System, to scale, for a school yard

Perhaps that would be fun?

Please let me know if you use it and particularly if you have any ideas on how it could be improved as I am sure Julian would appreciate the feedback.

Good luck with new club!  

Derek

[DRT]

@Moonshane, I should have thought about this previously but this might also be useful to your school club?

[Charic]

10 minutes ago, Nadine2704 said:

I might consider taking my telescope in for daytime viewing of the moon etc, but we can't do this every week haha

A lot of kids around one scope? Have you considered binoculars too! Their great for handing around a group of kids and easier to use than most scopes.
We both know full well, the viewing season here in Scotland is short, and much much colder, the attention span may be reduced unless their wrapped up warm.

As for things to do, learning the constellations by sight is a good start, hopping from one to another for navigation, noting and observing the Moon, sketching is popular, even one of our own members has a very popular site, with Monthly updates on where to look and what too see, have a peek here........   http://binocularsky.com/

[Nadine2704]

 

4 minutes ago, DRT said:

Nadine,

A friend of mine devised this activity for his own kids' school: The Solar System, to scale, for a school yard

Perhaps that would be fun?

Please let me know if you use it and particularly if you have any ideas on how it could be improved as I am sure Julian would appreciate the feedback.

Good luck with new club!  

Derek

This looks great, will definitely think about giving this a go and will let you know how we get on!

Thank you!

[Nadine2704]

1 minute ago, Charic said:

A lot of kids around one scope? Have you considered binoculars too! Their great for handing around a group of kids and easier to use than most scopes.
We both know full well, the viewing season here in Scotland is short, and much much colder, the attention span may be reduced unless their wrapped up warm.

As for things to do, learning the constellations by sight is a good start, hopping from one to another for navigation, noting and observing the Moon, sketching is popular, even one of our own members has a very popular site, with Monthly updates on where to look and what too see, have a peek here........   http://binocularsky.com/

They'd just have to be patient haha!  I didn't even consider binoculars - good shout.  Definitely going to get them learning the constellations and navigating the night sky, sketching is a great idea too.  Thanks for the link, will check it out!

[Craney]

This always always appeals to me.......   my Lunar cycle never makes it through the  28 days though.!!....

 

[Pig]

Nadine there is a great video on you tube that compares the size of the solar system planets to the size of our sun, it then goes on to compare the size of our sun to other stars....... it's both enjoyable and educational ? It starts you on the path of scale...... which is very poignant ?

[Erla]

What about solar scope connected to a laptop for live view? This could be done in daytime. Also, radio astronomy - there are some sites on internet that allows to hear meteors live. Listened to one on a cloudy Perseid shower night myself, wife was mightily impressed with whole concept (surprisingly, she's not really into astronomy). 

[ronin]

Any chance of getting your hands on a small goto? Thinking ETX 70 or 80 here. Add a solar filter, tell it about the Sun then get it to go to the Sun. The small ETX is fairly easy to align in daytime and a white light filter enables simple solar viewing.

After that would supplying them with simple constellation charts encourage them to go out and look for the constellation, better again is go out and work out how to go from one to another.

There is another option but that would need a bigger goto and good daytime alignment and a degree of luck. Basically observing a star during the day. Trouble is that the occasion used a bright one, Vega I think and andf the best bright one at this time of year seem to be Mizar. It needs a goto to hopefully get the scope aimed right and then to track accurately.

 

[Bizibilder]

A couple of simple exercises for them:

Make a sundial - Try here for a printable version:  https://www.blocklayer.com/sundial.aspx  Good fun and dead easy to make.

Maybe try Googling "If the Moon were only one pixel" to get this:  http://joshworth.com/dev/pixelspace/pixelspace_solarsystem.html   and only allow scrolling by holding down the "right arrow" on the scrollbar at the bottom of the page!!!

[Moonshane]

2 hours ago, DRT said:

@Moonshane, I should have thought about this previously but this might also be useful to your school club?

Cheers buddy yep we have already done sonething similar. My club is for primary kids but I'd recommend practical exercises rather than too much 'teaching" as such. 

We have done moonscapes from air drying clay and papier mache, moon phases round a lamp with an Orange, draw an alien based on planetary research on factors that might affect appearances, space ships and have had special sessions for e.g. the Mercury transit using my scope. We also have a couple of scopes for night use once the nights draw in. Good luck. It's rewarding but hard work.

[Nadine2704]

Thanks for the ideas, everyone - will get planning!!

[DaveS]

In the daytime, well, lunchtime, how about solar projection? Easier to get kids around a projected image of the sun. also, for the young ones make it clear that looking at the sun through a 'scope is a Really Bad Idea. The older (VIth form), could get involved with a dedicated solar telescope, White light with a Herschel wedge perhaps, a H-alpha 'scope or Quark EP might push the budget a bit too much.

How about remote imaging? The Liverpool Telescope runs a school's observatory program

http://www.schoolsobservatory.org.uk/learn/eng/tels/lt

[Peter Drew]

Nadine. Make sure they have "Stellarium" downloaded free at school and at home, it will keep the students up to date with the sky during cloudy periods. Anything solar is a good idea as the Sun is at least potentially visible every day. Printed basic constellation charts that they can compare to stellarium in the evening at home will gradually get them familiar with the night sky. Good luck!.  

[Starlight 1]

All I can add is , if its useing computer/ laptop internet its all cleared by the school .