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and supported by the National Science Foundation |
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Thanks to support from
the National Science Foundation and the generous volunteering of
astronomy graduate students, we are able to offer astronomy
workshops for Junior Scouts a few times each academic year. These workshops take place during the day, so we focus on nearest star, the Sun, because studying the Sun is one type of astronomy that we can do in the daylight. We emphasize the importance of studying the Sun safely, and talk about the kinds of instruments that can help us do this, including space telescopes and solar telescopes. We talk about solar activity and its impact on our planet, including the beautiful aurorae that can sometimes be seen in our skies. There is a lot of group participation, and the girls are always excited to share their thoughts, their opinions, and the knowledge they have already picked up from classes, friends, siblings, TV or books. |
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After spending some
time learning about the Sun, the Scouts rotate through separate
activity stations where they get to build their own scientific
instruments. These instruments allow the Scouts to explore the
world around them using common household items: (1) A mailing tube pinhole camera allows each girl to study the Sun safely at home. (2) Cereal box spectrographs allow the girls to study the spectral fingerprints of various lamps and lights they might encounter around the home or around town, including our discharge lamps of hydrogen, argon, and neon. (3) A paper plate filter wheel allows each girl to study the color composition of our Lite-Brite "constellation" and other items she may encounter. |
Finally, depending on the
weather, the Scouts may get a chance to study the Sun with solar
telescopes, sunspotters, and eclipse glasses. Or they may get to
create a scale model of distances in the Solar System, using toilet
paper rolls and the convenient markers between consecutive sheets.
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