Anna Hurst with her comet
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| Gary represented the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy office of Science Education and Public Outreach at the Astronomy from the Ground Up astronomy workshop held over three days at the Pacific Science Center (PSC) in Seattle, Washington. PSC is a bustling hands-on, tactile, kinesthetic, auditory science center that began as the United States Science Pavillion at the 1962 Seattle World's Fair. A group of fifteen informal science educators from around the country have been invited to participate in this professional development workshop, which is an educational collaboration of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP), The National Optical Astronomical Observatory (NOAO), | |||||||||||
| and the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ATSC), funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The workshops are facilitated by Lead Educator Anna Hurst, Project Coordinator Pablo Nelson, Guest Presenters Alice Enevoldsen (PSC Planetarium Specialist), Dennis Shatz (PSC Vice President for Education), Dr Julie Lutz and Dr Graciela Matrajt (UW), Rob Sparks (NOAO Science Education Specialist), Karl Schroeder (Seattle Astronomical Society) and Dr Andrew Connolly (UW). | |||||||||||
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| Site of the workshop in the Pacific Science Center | A mockup of the NASA Gemini spacecraft, Gary in the cockpit (inset) | An industrial robotic arm that can be controlled by visitors | |||||||||
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| Scale model by volume of the solar system using Play-Doh | Scale model by distance of the solar system | Earth as a Peppercorn activity allowed us to walk off scale distances to the planets | |||||||||
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| Dennis Schatz asks "Are they really learning what I want to teach them?" | Phases of the Moon activity in the planetarium | Brewing up ingredients to make a comet | |||||||||
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Anna Hurst with her comet
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Dr Graciela Matrajt gave a presentation on the Stardust mission to collect comet samples | Captured samples in aerogel, activity that models process of capturing comet samples | |||||||||
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| Dr Julie Lutz blows solar wind over a comet | Rob Sparks (NOAO) demonstrated Hands-On Optics program activities with lasers | Focusing in on a target far away using cardboard telescopes participants had built | |||||||||
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