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_____________ Island Astronomy Institute |
EDUCATION & OUTREACH
The Island Astronomy Institute was founded to fill the astronomy education gap in the schools of Down East Maine, and we remain focused on that mission. We also offer a variety of programs and stargazing opportunities to other organizations in our area.
* Our Board includes experienced educators—Anne Welles and Craig Kesselheim.
* We are a NASA-funded curriculum developer and provider—Pemetic Elementary School and College of the Atlantic.
* We are led by a technically-skilled Board of Directors who are committed to the communities of Down East Maine.
Click here for a list of presentations that are now available, for children and adults.
Digital STARLAB Planetarium—A New Opportunity
We are currently applying for funding to purchase a Digital STARLAB from Learning Technologies, Inc. This portable digital planetarium will add a new dimension to our programs the schools of Down East Maine.
* This equipment will allow us to bring state-of-the-art sky shows right to the schools.
* The projection system plays professional shows from NASA and the Smithsonian Institution.
* Astronomical observations are possible at any time, regardless of the weather.
* The Digital STARLAB is a "time machine" that allows students to see the sky in their own location as it would appear at any time in the past or future, preparing them for observations that they will make in the night sky all year long.
* The cycles of the seasons and lunar phases can be demonstrated in one lesson, giving students the frame of reference needed to understand these phenomena in the natural world.
* The planetarium can depict the dramatic effect of light pollution on a starry sky.
* Advanced students can explore the universe for themselves.
See our STARLAB page for more information, including a photo report and testimonial letters from our STARLAB Demonstration Tour in May 2007.
Student Service Learning
Fifth-grade students at Pemetic School are learning firsthand about light pollution. Fran Howley's class is using sky quality meters purchased by an Emery Science Grant to measure and map how much artificial light is in the skies over their homes in Southwest Harbor. The best of nearly 100 measurements taken by the students will be added to the light pollution map of MDI created at the College of the Atlantic. The students' early findings indicate that some parts of town are darker than previously thought.
The students are also learning how important it is to be able to explain their work to non-scientists. Like many of her classmates, Maeve Geary recognized that in order to solve the growing problem of light pollution, we must all work together as a nation. To make her point, Mauve points out that there are more stars visible on the American flag than in the sky over New York City.
Mrs. Howley’s class is part of a school-wide student service learning project initiated by Pemetic’s teachers in the summer of 2007. The project is part of IAI’s Starlit Communities program, which is conducted in collaboration with Acadia National Park and Friends of Acadia.
The class was interviewed about their work by Bar Harbor Times reporter Laurie Schreiber ("Eyes on the Sky," January 14, 2008).
Got Glove? "Hands-on" Educational Outreach
This fall the Institute’s outreach program brings "hands-on' education to five lucky schools with an opportunity to try on Peter Homer’s space glove. Peter, who is on the Institute's Board of Advisors, won NASA’s Astronaut Glove Challenge in May 2007. His design outperforms the current Space Station glove. When two classes of Pemetic students tried on each of Peter’s many prototypes in June, they got to experience exactly how engineers use so-called “mistakes” to produce truly innovative designs.
See our special report for more information about Peter's exciting innovation.
Our Formal Education Programs
The Institute was created in response to the demand of local elementary school teachers for professional development of space sciences curricula. Our predecessor organization, Island Astronomy LLC, became an affiliate of NASA's Maine Space Grant Consortium, from which it received $10,000 in funding to initiate this effort. As the successor to Island Astronomy LLC, the Island Astronomy Institute is now responsible for this growing activity.
Our education programs provide resources that schools need to prepare students for life on Planet Earth. In accordance with Maine's Educational Standards, our curriculum exposes children to astronomical perspectives with hands-on activities that encourage them to "use models to represent objects, processes, and events in the real world.”
As a direct result of Maine Space Grant funding, we have delivered formal educational presentations and curriculum development to Pemetic Elementary School, Trenton Elementary School, Tremont Elementary School, Islesford Elementary School, and Mount Desert Elementary School. The Institute also supports Mount Desert Island’s local school district (Union 98) as a member of the Science Curriculum Team.
The Institute has collaborated with the College of the Atlantic to create higher educational offerings. Funded in part by the Maine Space Grant Consortium, "The Philosophy of Astronomy" was offered in the spring term of 2006.
Located within an hour of sixty elementary schools, we have the capability of improving the education of thousands of schoolchildren in our communities each year. We integrate science education into the “big picture,” which in Down East Maine includes an appreciation of our natural resources, including our starlit skies.
The Institute offers workshops and classes to promote astronomy as a rewarding cultural activity for people of all ages—such as basic lessons in naked-eye viewing, introducing the constellations and their mythology. We provide workshops on the optical designs of binoculars and telescopes for the novice observer.
We are eager to help fledgling astronomers, who often purchase fine equipment, and then are overwhelmed by the learning curve after they take it out of the box. Besides assisting with the nuts & bolts and basic observing techniques, we are also developing a program for rescuing, refurbishing, certifying and selling used equipment, and providing support to the buyer.
We collaborate with a wide variety of organizations located on Mount Desert Island, and have provided informal lectures and stargazing opportunities to:
* M.D.I. Adult Education
* Acadia National Park
* Camp Beech Cliff
* Acadia Senior College
* Northeastern University Outing Club
* Down East Audubon
* Bass Harbor Memorial Library
* Southwest Harbor Library
* Northeast Harbor Library
* Somesville Wildlife Sanctuary
* Cobscook Bay State Park
* Oceanside Meadows Institute for Arts and Sciences