Planetarium for Undergraduate Astronomy Classroom Instruction

Maricopa County Community College District, Tempe AZ

Investigators

Abstract

Astronomy (11) A planetarium system is being incorporated into an undergraduate astronomy curriculum. in addition the project provides a basis for outreach programs to local elementary and high schools and the surrounding community. Many astronomy topics are difficult to teach because of: (1) slow occurrence of phenomena in real time; (2) restriction of the observer to the geocentric perspective; (3) restriction of the observer to a single geographical area; (4) lack of a dark nighttime sky in urban or suburban areas; (5) in an outdoor laboratory setting, dependence upon weather conditions. The goals of this project are to solve the above problems by: (1) increasing both the level and pace of student comprehension in the several critical areas in the undergraduate astronomy curriculum which are notorious for their teaching difficulty; (2) increasing the speed of student comprehension, increasing the efficiency of astronomy lectures, allowing more classroom time to be devoted to other topics; (3) providing for activity-based learning experiences, which in conjunction with lectures have been shown to increase student performance; (4) promoting scientific inquiry in the classroom and beyond by encouraging an appreciation of astronomy and of science in general. The planetarium system will achieve the above goals by accomplishing the following objectives: (1) clearly illustrate both the actual and apparent motions of the Earth, Moon, and Sun, from any vantage point on the Earth or from space, in compressed time periods much shorter than actual; (2) demonstrate the causes of the seasons from those motions; (3) demonstrate the causes of the phases of the Moon and the causes of Solar and Lunar eclipses from those motions; (4) present the real and apparent motions of all planets in an accelerated time frame; (5) illustrate the celestial coordinate system used by astronomers by projecting it onto the background of stars; (6) demonstrate the effects of the slow precession of the Earth's axis of rotation in a greatly accelerated time frame; (7) project the positions of stars and of the constellations down to near the human eye limit for a completely dark sky; (8) have the capacity for presenting slide shows, or computer graphics and animations; (9) provide all of the above experiences in an environment that is completely weather-proof; (10)provide for astronomy general education and appreciation outreach programs. These factors are especially important at the college, which resides on the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Reservation, affording the local reservation residents ready access to the planetarium public lectures, as well as participation in the campus astronomy curriculum. Uses of the planetarium are being adapted from the literature on using planetaria effectively in the teaching of astronomy.