My students need access to tools for observing the night sky. Binoculars are portable and perfect for viewing the Moon, Jupiter, dozens of Messier objects, and more.
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.” -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Learning is a journey and a state of mind, not a set of facts to memorize.
My students attend an enormous and diverse high school where they have a great deal of choice in the courses they take.
Our astronomy class is an on-level senior elective science, which means we cater to a wide range of abilities. In the last two years I am very proud to say that we have increased enrollment in astronomy from ~140 students to ~240 because we have developed a course that successfully appeals to all types, from the STEM kids to the liberal arts kids.
My Project
I want to build a lending library of astronomical equipment. My students will come by after school, receive a short training session on how to take care of the equipment, and then take it home for the weekend. The student astronomy club will also use the equipment for night skywatching meet-ups or "star parties." My students need access to tools for observing the night sky. Binoculars are portable and perfect for viewing the Moon, Jupiter, dozens of Messier objects, and more.
I have nine months with each kid to push them in the direction of being a lifelong learner.
In pursuit of this, I am working to extend learning outside of the classroom. I don't want it to stop at the classroom door, and I don't want outside learning to always look like a book or computer simulation. I want weave the learning into their lives in a way that doesn't look like school work and enable them to share the experience with their friends and families.
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