The NVO for Schools, Informal Science Centers, Planetaria, including and Remote and Local Telescopes: The National Virtual Observatory and Hands-On Universe (HOU) UC Berkeley Building Meaningful Use and Understanding of NVO Data through Use of Telescopes and Image Processing in Schools, Science Centers and Planetaria brought to you by the: US National Science Foundation Education and Human Resources Elementary, Secondary and Informal Sciences Education Program

NVO: A Revolutionary Development. With Arguably Unprecedented Public/Educational Outreach Capability: Why not meaningfully reach many, many people, (instead of just 10,000 Astronomers) with high quality data? Professional Quality Data Humans, students Hands-On Universe Interfaces,training, activities,communities you! Just putting stuff On the web bombs!!

Hands-On Universe Tools -- see

Hands-On Universe Resources --What have we got to share with the NVO? Image processing software (C++ and IDL based) Master Teacher Corp of 22 Teacher Resource Agents (many have been with the project for ~ 7 years) Curriculum for High School Real Astronomy Experience for Informal Science Centers Growing Telescope Network (RTML!!) Teacher workshops On-line teacher workshops!! Growing Alliance with Starry Nights/Maxim DL/Bob Denny 700 Trained HOU teachers in the US Another 500 trained teachers around the world Some good discoveries -- young women have found supernovae, asteroids, etc. Knowledge of how to make astronomy work in school environments TIMSS Evaluation

On-Line Course

Good Global Partners

JAHOU (Subaru SuPrime Camera Data is on its way!!)

France (Global HOU Meeting, Paris, July 24-29)

TIMSS Results -- On-Line Training of Teachers Seems to as Effective as Face-to-face workshops, as measured by Student Performance

Of great interest to teachers and Students: Real Research Non-analyzed data (save a portion of the sky for kids?? e.g., Quark Net will probably save a trigger for kids) Sense of adventure and discovery Light Curves!!! Transient Objects Seamless connections to real telescopes (Aussie VO ideas) FTS not Jpeg!!

Some Underpinnings of Hands-On Universe (courtesy of NSF ESIE) People learn science best by doing aspects of science with modern tools The least powerful deserve the most powerful tools Scientists can share their sense of exploration, their sense of joy with students and the public There is always an opportunity to make a small or large discovery.

HOU Pre-NVO and new technology High Bandwidth Networking -- video conferencing experiments with teacher training -- we trained a group of teachers using Polycom-based one-day workshop. Resources that genuinely need computing to succeed Data bases Automated Telescopes CCD Image Cameras Teacher support networks using the internet On-Line courses

Optimistic Signs Teachers like astronomy and others are eager to change Students know computers and networking are the future We have many resources that are available and are working NVO!!!! Small remote telescopes (RTML) Internet enables unprecedented level of –Access –Communication –Collaboration -- if we do it right and carefully

Why Astronomy? They like it better than other sciences in school 1= HOU provided Less, 5= HOU provided more:

Why Astronomy 2 : From Masters Thesis of Curtis Craig, early in HOU -- young women thrived at it. HOU is thriving in some inner cities of US and France with a diverse audience.

What Does HOU have to gain from the NVO? New unprecedented set of great data for universal access Possible collaborations and linkages to more scientists, educators, and other institutions Data base and infomatics for kids Better Collaborations

Resources to Supplement IVO for Public Venues: HOU/RAE to the Rescue HOU IP Software HOU On-line and face to face workshops -- scalability! Web-site ( Data Base Video Conferencing Growing world of small telescopes, too (Monet, etc.)

Ladder of Cognition: Narrabri Remote Telescope in Australia at ANTF

Some System Architecture

Visitor Software Maxim DL (easy version) Image Processing Starry Night Planeataria software for requests and understanding sky and interacting with IVO Instant Telescope Control Software Data Base (HOU and IVO!) Video Conferencing with remote telescopes Control of Observatory Cameras Take home images, software, etc.

Starry Nights

Visitor Image Processsing Software

Supernova and HOU IP! Before After

Powerful but Easy to Understand Image Processing Tools:

Data Base on-line images, requests, learning, etc.!

Example: Asteroid Discovery by Young Women! These materials are not esoteric to kids! FS144:

Asteroid Search Download Page

Kids and Supernovae Important Objects (in the California standards!) They create all of the matter of the universe -- you and I are star children Kids and Teachers love them They teach science and math kids have to learn anyway Kids have found them

Use in Classrooms and RAE Students/visitors rediscover a supernova in existing data or evolving data Slowly building a student-based supernova search Use supernova images to find asteroids Connect with Berkeley supernova groups and science Scale to AGNs and all other transient objects

Small Telescopes Can Supplement NVO Data Follow up asteroids, variable AGNs, stars, etc. Make science more valuable and immediate Exciting Teaches more inquiry- based science RTML (Remote Telescope Markup Language

More that NVO Do for HOU: Excel -->> SQL Cross-compilers/interpreters be able to make a global search on stars that vary, search on absolute magnitudes, search on any reasonable derived attribute. Jim Gray says it is possible. Utilize some Grid technology to establish up-link/server sites to consolidate data that cannot be put on a stable server at users observatory -- do photometry, astrometry, etc. Click on a Starry Night Star, and get all of the data ever taken on this, from every observatory or satellite in the world Be open to formative evaluation to make this operation successful -- establish a working group with funding for travel

The Future is Incredibly Bright There will be hiccups We can prove stuff works and succeeds better than normal informal science education soon! It will be a great journey together