_√__ Display Board
Display board will be provided at the Celebration.
_√__ Title of Your Project
A Planetarium for Every School
_√_ Goal(s)
If you cannot afford to take your students to a planetarium, why not
bring the planetarium to them? For less than the cost of a field trip
to a distant planetarium, you can construct your own planetarium and
have it to use over and over. The Astro-Dome project will show you
how to build your own personal or classroom planetarium. Not only will
you learn how to build one out of inexpensive materials, you will learn
how to use it for everything from astronomy lessons to mathematics
and ar lessons.
Our project will explain how to build a planetarium from ordinary materials
such as cardboard and binder clips. This project requires interdisciplinary
skills such as mathematics and science. Students will learn about scaling
and estimation as well as basic astronomy and a little optics.
_√__ Curriculum Focus
The project is grounded in the California Earth Science Standards 1
and 2 which require instruction regarding Earth's Place in the Universe.
Few curriculum choices cover these standards at the high school level.
At the middle school level, teachers need all the specialized assistance
they can get for topics which may not be in their primary field. Additional
standards in mathematics and science may be addressed as the planetarium
programs are developed for dissemination.
Math and Science: Scaling, Triangles, Geodesic spheres, Cylinders,
projection, astronomy, constellations, motions of the sun and stars
_√__ Student work and photos
From Web site, see 5m dome page.
___ Evaluation Report (This can include Graphs, Charts, Anecdotal Examples)
| Evaluation Criteria |
Status |
| We will solicit from schools which have constructed planetarium
domes. |
Pending—we don’t expect results until after the
National Science Teacher’s convention presentation. |
| We will post photographs of completed domes on the site. One
measureable outcome is evidence that domes are actually being
constructed. |
We finished ours! Pictures are posted. |
| We hope to develop a course in planetarium show production
for the 2003-2004 school year. If the course is approved by the
district curriculum
council that is a measure of success. |
The course is being taught this year. http://homepage.mac.com/
astronomyteacher/dvhs/planetarium.html |
| We also plan to compare results from the SAT 9 exam for students
involved in our project vs. students who are not. |
Current students have not yet taken the SAT 9 for earth science
to compare scores. Pending. |
| Student participants in the dome-building project will be surveyed
on their reaction to participating in the project, as well as
teachers participating in the hands-on professional development
portion of the program. |
Students reported that the activity was exciting and interesting.
They did the project as a portion of the grade for Astronomy
and Space Science course last year. Presentation has not yet
been done for the National Science Teacher’s Association |
. ___ Sample Assessment
Tools
This feedback form is posted on the feedback page of our site.
We do not expect results until after the National Science Teacher’s
convention in March 2004.
Your name
School name and description (grade levels, urban/suburban/rural,
anything else you'd like to tell us)
Distance to the nearest planetarium
Size of completed dome _ small (<1 m) _ medium (1 m) _ large
(5 m)
Projector __home-made __ purchased
Number of students who worked on dome construction________
How did you use the dome? Did you use it to address specific standards,
as a lesson, club project, or other?Please describe any problems
you had in construction, or areas which were not clearly explained
on the
web site.
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