STEM day

TO BE UPDATED

interactive classroom programs for groups of 20 students (grades 5-8), lasting 30-60 minutes. We proposed two separate activities, and were advised last week that both of them have been accepted: outdoor viewing of the Sun in white light and hydrogen alpha, weather permitting; and a classroom program titled “Modeling the Solar System and the Stars.” The classroom program will consist of three parts: illustrating the size and relative emptiness of the solar system and extrasolar space by modeling distances with adding machine tape; explaining the geometry of lunar phases and eclipses of the Sun and Moon by modeling with 3D models (although we may substitute the geometry of a meteor shower in place of the eclipses); and demonstrating the nightly and yearly movement of the starry sky through modeling with a planisphere, while making a planisphere to take home.

This event is open to the public and free of charge.