Published: October 04, 2008 11:51 pm      

Starlab visits classroom at Parkside Elementary

Your space or sky unit

Since the fall of 1981, I have been visiting Allegany County elementary schools with the StarLab Planetarium System on Fridays, teaching half hour programs on the current evening sky.

But some schools lack space for setting up StarLab and I missed visiting those schools.

So at the invitation of two teachers at Parkside Elementary, I visited the fourth grade classes there on Sept. 25 and had a great time; I presented some ideas about the Earth, Sun and star patterns. I also gave each fourth grader an information sheet about the universe as well as a worksheet to go with my presentation.

Mrs. Blank asked me to talk about the unique feature of each planet; I asked some key questions on this topic to the fourth graders and was pleased with their responses. I also enjoyed the multitude of questions by the girls and boys. I spent over an hour with the students and their teachers.

I told the teachers to collect all the unasked questions and send them to my email address (rdoyle@frostburg.edu) and I would respond to each one.

After the visit, I also sent through the mail more information on the planets to the Parkside fourth grade teachers. I am hoping to return to Parkside and present ideas to a fifth grade class.

My class presentations are interactive, I present key ideas by asking the students leading questions and I encourage them to ask questions as well. I try to relate the concepts to the students’ lives.

For example, after telling the story of how the circumference of the Earth was found to be 25,000 miles, I told the fourth graders that a local delivery truck stocking convenience stores with snacks might easily be driven 25,000 miles over a year’s time.

When a student asked how big is a light year, I responded that this distance is about 6 trillion miles, the distance that light travels in one year. In one year, our U.S. government spends $3 trillion so in two years, our country spends as much money in dollars as the number of miles in a light year.

A trillion has a dozen zeroes just as most cartons of eggs have a dozen eggs.

So I would like to offer my free assistance to any local elementary or middle school teacher, who desires a visit to their classes, allowing me to present some space ideas at their grade level and answer questions from their students.

It would be very helpful if these teachers share with me a copy of some of their material related to the science unit that they are teaching. Then I could develop a worksheet that would be most effective in facilitating their students’ learning.

I am available for classroom visits from Tuesday through Thursday mornings. You can get in touch with me through my email (rdoyle@frostburg.edu) or my office phone number (301) 687-7799.

If I visit a class on Tuesday or Thursday, I teach a class at Frostburg State that starts at 11 a.m., so I have to leave a school in enough time to make my own class.

On Tuesdays or Thursdays, I would prefer to start my class visit about 9:15 a.m. I could start later on Wednesday as I don’t have any morning classes on that day.

Starlife program for October

In September, our Planetarium presentation was “Best Stars Through the Seasons” In October, our public program is “Starlife: How Stars Form and Shine” with free public presentations each Sunday at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Following our 45-minute program, visitors to the Planetarium are invited to visit the Science Discovery Center where there’s a great array of preserved mammals from all over the world.

The Planetarium is in Tawes 302 , the entrance facing the Compton Science Center To get a free Planetarium/Science Discovery bookmark, just call (301) 687-7799 and leave your name and mailing address.

The evening moon appears half full tomorrow night, positioned to the right of the bright planet Jupiter. Binoculars held steadily will reveal the moon’s larger craters along the moon’s straight edge and the Jupiter’s large moon as tiny points close to Jupiter.

On Tuesday evening, the moon will appear on the other side of Jupiter. The very bright planet Venus can be seen very low in the southwestern dusk around 7:20 p.m. as a tiny point against the twilight.

Bob Doyle invites comments and questions from readers, email him at rdoyle@frostburg.edu .