UNL Astronomy Education

Ranking Tasks Workshop at February AAPT/APS Meeting

2009-12-31T16:31:00.002-06:00

On February 14th Kevin Lee and Ed Prather will give a half day workshop on ranking tasks at the AAPT/APS (American Association of Physics Teachers / American Physical Society) joint meeting in Washington DC. For more details visit the AAPT Workshops page.

Teaching Astronomy with Technology Workshop at AAS

2009-12-31T16:30:00.001-06:00

On January 3rd Kevin Lee, Ed Prather and Rica French will be giving a day long workshop on teaching astronomy with technology at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Washington DC.

Ruckman Lecture and the Astronomy Education Workshop

2009-09-28T17:59:00.003-05:00

Two events are coming up this week at UNL:

Ruckman Lecture:
Stars Above, Earth Below: Astronomy in the National Parks
by Dr. Tyler Nordgren (University of Redlands)
Friday, October 2, 7:30pm
City Union Auditorium
promotional flyer (pdf)

Astronomy Education Workshop
Saturday, October 3, 9:00am to 3:30pm
Avery 19, UNL City Campus
workshop agenda (pdf)

We are pleased to welcome Tyler Nordgren (University of Redlands) to present this year's Ruckman Lecture on the subject of astronomy and the national parks. The dark skies of the national parks provide an opportunity to truly appreciate the night sky, and the geological formations at the parks demonstrate processes that occur on other planets. The student observatory will be open to visitors after the talk.

Dr. Nordgren will also take part in the next day's Astronomy Education Workshop – workshop agenda (pdf). If you would like to attend this workshop, please RSVP by emailing sparry3@unl.edu or calling 472-9312.

Colloquium on Learner-Centered Teaching

2009-09-22T17:47:00.002-05:00

When: Friday, September 25, 4-5pm
Where: Nebraska Union Auditorium

Ed Prather (University of Arizona) will be talking this Friday about active engagement strategies and how they can improve students' understanding beyond what is achieved by traditional instructional methods. From questioning in the classroom to small group collaborative activities, many forms of interactive teaching will be modeled and discussed.

Dr Prather is the executive director of the Center for Astronomy Education, which develops and conducts research on the effectiveness of learner-centered instructional materials and methods. Complete details can be found on the promotional flyer (pdf).

Astronomy Education Workshop at UNL

2009-08-21T17:07:00.000-05:00

The 12th Astronomy Education Workshop will be held Saturday, October 3, 2009, 9:00am through 3:30pm. This is a joint meeting with the Nebraska chapter of the AAPT (the N-AAPT business meeting will occur at 3:30).

This workshop will feature Tyler Nordgren (University of Redlands), who will speak about everyday applications of astronomy, and Dale Stille (University of Iowa), who will give a presentation of astronomy related physics demos. Additional information can be found on the workshop homepage.

If you would like to attend this workshop, please RSVP by emailing sparry3@unl.edu or calling 472-9312.

Fall 2009 Observatory Public Nights Schedule

2009-08-21T16:52:00.001-05:00

There will be three public nights at Behlen Observatory and four at the Student Observatory during the Fall 2009 semester.

Date	Time	Location
Friday, September 18	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Student Observatory
Friday, September 25	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Behlen Observatory
Friday, October 2	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Student Observatory*
Friday, October 23	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Behlen Observatory
Friday, October 30	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Student Observatory
Friday, November 13	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Student Observatory
Friday, November 20	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Behlen Observatory

*There will also be a public lecture before the October 2 observatory open house.

Directions to Behlen Observatory
UNL Observatories Home

Planetary Orbit Simulator Featured in Project Tuva

2009-07-15T21:11:00.000-05:00

(First time visitors to our site may wish to start by browsing our list of animations.)

Microsoft Research has just released a series of filmed lectures by Richard Feynman on the nature of physical laws. The Silverlight based player allows one to follow the lectures with a transcript, and also presents links to resources at relevant times. The first lecture ("Law of Gravitation") features NAAP's Planetary Orbit Simulator after Feynman discusses Kepler's laws and Newton's interpretation of them.

Microsoft Research is the same group that created WorldWide Telescope, a desktop planetarium program that allows one to navigate and take tours of a multitude of astronomical images.

Center for Astronomy Education Workshop

2009-07-09T08:43:00.002-05:00

Kevin Lee will be presenting ClassAction and NAAP materials at the Center for Astronomy Education's Maui Workshop July 11-12. Other special presenters at this workshop will be Larry Marschall (Gettysburg College) and Travis Rector (Univ. of Alaska). More information can be found on the CAE's workshop homepage.

Earth Sized Planet Discovered

2009-04-22T15:19:00.001-05:00

Astronomers have just announced (New York Times article) the discovery of a fourth planet orbiting the nearby star Gliese 581. This planet is also the most earth-like, in terms of mass, of the more than 300 extrasolar planets yet discovered.

This newly discovered planet is much too close to its parent star to be conducive to life. However, the outermost planet in the Gliese 581 system is just outside (or possibly just within) the boundary of the habitable zone, which is defined as the region around a star where liquid water might exist on the surface.

The recently developed Stellar Habitability Zone simulator can be used to model this system as well as several others. This simulator is part of an extrasolar biology NAAP module currently under development.

Astronomy Camp 2009

2009-04-13T15:43:00.001-05:00

UNL will be hosting an astronomy camp for high school students July 12-18. The cost is $100 for in-state students and $150 for out-of-state students (need-based scholarships are available). Interested students should submit applications by May 15. The application form is available in pdf or doc format.

Extrasolar Planets Talk at Nebraska Academy of Sciences

2009-04-13T15:19:00.002-05:00

Kevin Lee will be giving the keynote address to the physics section at the Nebraska Academy of Sciences meeting on Friday, April 17 at 1 pm in the Nebraska Wesleyan Planetarium. The talk, entitled Peer Instruction, Computer Simulations, & ExtraSolar Planets will summarize current knowledge of extrasolar planets and will feature educational tools available to introduce the subject to students.

Dr. Terry Oswalt to Visit UNL

2009-01-29T17:44:00.001-06:00

Dr. Terry Oswalt, a well-known expert on white dwarf stars, will be visiting UNL next week. While here he will give three talks (click on the titles for more details):

Digging in the Stellar Graveyard: How Astronomers Measure the Age of the Universe
Physics Department Colloquium, Thursday, February 5, 4:00 pm, Brace 211
Chicken Little Was Right, the Sky IS Falling!
General Public Talk, Thursday, February 5, 7:30 pm, Union Auditorium, UNL City Campus
Searching for Life in the Universe: Where is Everyone?

Behlen Open House, Friday, February 6, 8:00 pm, Behlen Observatory, Mead, NE — directions to Behlen Observatory

Workshop at Chicago AAPT Meeting

2009-01-29T17:42:00.001-06:00

Kevin Lee and Chris Siedell will be teaching a daylong workshop entitled "Teaching Astronomy with Technology" at the upcoming AAPT Winter National Meeting in Chicago. This workshop will focus on using simulations, think-pair-share questions, and technology in the classroom. The workshop will be held Friday, February 13, 8 to 5. Visit the AAPT site for more details.

Winter/Spring 2009 Observatory Public Nights

2009-01-22T08:48:00.001-06:00

There will be three public nights at Behlen Observatory and four at the Student Observatory during the coming semester.

Date	Time	Location
Friday, January 23	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Student Observatory
Friday, February 6	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Behlen Observatory
Friday, February 13	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Student Observatory
Friday, March 6	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Behlen Observatory
Friday, March 27	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Student Observatory
Friday, April 3	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Behlen Observatory
Friday, April 24	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Student Observatory

Directions to Behlen Observatory
UNL Observatories Home

Site Redesign

2009-01-10T16:54:00.001-06:00

With the new year comes a new website design. If you experience any problems please let us know (email: astro@unl.edu) and we will try to fix things as quickly as possible.

Workshop at AAS Long Beach Meeting

2008-12-31T15:26:00.005-06:00

Kevin Lee and Doug Duncan (University of Colorado) will be teaching a workshop at the American Astronomical Society meeting on Sunday, January 4th, 2-5pm. The workshop, Active Questioning in the Classroom, will focus on increasing student engagement through the use of in-class questions and other resources. Follow the link to the AAS site above for more information.

Please note: workshop attendees are strongly encouraged to bring their laptops, as ClassAction questions and resources will be used extensively.

Fall 2008 Public Nights Schedule

2008-08-15T12:23:00.003-05:00

There will be three public nights at Behlen Observatory and four at the Student Observatory during the Fall 2008 semester.

Date	Time	Location
Friday, September 5	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Behlen Observatory
Friday, September 12	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Student Observatory
Friday, October 3	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Student Observatory
Friday, October 10	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Behlen Observatory
Friday, November 7	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Behlen Observatory
Friday, November 14	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Student Observatory
Friday, December 5	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Student Observatory

Directions to Behlen Observatory
UNL Observatories Home

Updated Planetary Orbit Simulator

2008-08-15T12:19:00.002-05:00

After showing the Planetary Orbit Simulator at the AAPT workshop in Edmonton we realized that the orbit scaling method could be made more intuitive. Here is the new version with improved scaling:

Updated Planetary Orbit Simulator

Notice that instead of staying at a fixed size on the screen the orbit temporarily expands or contracts as the semimajor axis length changes. Check out the old version for comparison.

Other changes to note: there's now a scale bar in the Visualization panel, grid lines are now optional, and there are more options in the Newtonian Features panel.

Fall Astronomy Education Workshop

2008-06-30T15:30:00.001-05:00

The 11^th UNL Astronomy Education Workshop will be held on Saturday, October 11, 2008. Our featured speaker will be Dr. Pamela Gay of Southern Illinois University. Pamela is a well-known variable star astronomer and is very active in the American Association of Variable Star Observers. She also has a long history of communicating astronomy to the public through podcasts (see http://www.astronomycast.com). Registration will commence in late August.

Workshop at AAPT Summer Meeting

2008-06-30T15:22:00.001-05:00

Kevin Lee with Todd Young (WSC) and Dave Kreigler (UNO) will once again be offering a day-long workshop at the national AAPT meeting in Edmonton. The workshop is entitled “Teaching Astronomy with Technology” and is held on Sunday, July 20. It will strongly focus on computer simulation and peer instruction usage in the classroom and touch lightly on computerized ranking tasks and how technology can aid preclass preparedness.

Peer Instruction Materials for Stellar Evolution

2008-06-30T15:00:00.005-05:00

The latest module to debut on the ClassAction web site focuses on stellar evolution. There are presently 16 questions and this module is likely to grow over time. It does a particularly thorough job of exploring student understanding of the different stages of the sun’s future evolutionary track and the source of fusion energy at each stage. A poster paper on the Stellar Evolution module will be presented at the AAPT meeting in Edmonton on July 22. Visit the Stellar Evolution Module page.