1. The Sun and Tools of Astronomers Mary Kay Hemenway Marc Wetzel University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory

2. Outline  Goals of McDonald programs on the sun  Equipment  Pre-visit/pre-conference materials  Solar Student Field Experience program at McDonald Observatory  Solar videoconference program from McDonald Observatory  Preliminary Results  Other McDonald Observatory Programs  Contact information

3. Goals of the Program Develop/provide effective programming on the sun for K-12 students and teachers who visit McDonald Observatory Develop/provide effective programming on astronomy, including solar viewing, for those visiting the Observatory electronically through individual classroom videoconferences Share both the content and the process of creating these programs with others involved in similar outreach programs

4. Equipment C-14 and two 76-mm TeleVue refractors AVA Astrovid camera with computer controls Tandberg 6000 codec H-alpha and white light filters Paramount ME100 robotic telescope mount

5. Solar equipment Building with roll-off roof Computer interfaced to controls in classroom and theater

6. Pre-visit/pre-conference Assessment sheet for students from "Eye on the Sky" of Project FIRST Behavior norms for students Suggested activities for engaging students

11. Student Field Experience Pre-visit package Tour of observatory and 2.7-m telescope Use of exhibit area with student guides (English/Spanish) Solar viewing (Optional) Enriched solar experience Post-visit package

12. McDonald Observatory Visitor Center

13. At the observatory

14. Astroscan telescope Project the sun to Observe sunspots Measure the rotation rate of the Earth by timing the drift of the sun through one solar diameter.

15. Solar viewing Viewing the sun with two telescopes One for full-disk live image One for H-alpha close-up images

16. Using the magnet box After showing the close-up live image of the sun with prominences and solar activity, insert magnet into box. Discuss similarities with solar phenomena

17. Demonstrations Pre-recorded for solar viewing experience Live for enriched Student Field Experience or Videoconference Lava lamp Magnet box Sunspot demo

19. Large sun and word wall

20. Cut-away sun (shows layers)

21. Question and answer

22. Videoconference

23. Videoconference Elements of 50-minute program Outside views of observatory Narrated tour of the Struve 2.1-m telescope Live views of sun Demonstrations Question and answer session

24. Videoconferencing methods Facilitator and technician Two-way communication with the classroom Script with variations for grade levels

25. Demonstrations Demos are done live Solar images may be pre- recorded if weather doesn't permit real-time observations

26. Classroom and studio

27. Technician at work

28. Pulling the elements together

30. Comparison of pre/post student ideas about the sun

35. Post-visit/conference Suggestions for activities to follow the interaction are linked with Texas and/or national science education standards Program evaluation is continuing with a professional evaluator for formative and summative evaluation.

36. Formative Evaluation Rating of program elements Engage Explore Explain Elaborate Evaluate Ratings done by project staff and outside Educator Advisory Board

37. Summative evaluation Interviews with teachers who participated in either –on-site Student Field Experience –videoconference

38. Teacher Professional Development at McDonald Annually - general astronomy (k-8 or 6- 12) Special workshops 2005 Texas Rural Teachers 2005 SAFIR 2006 FUSE 2005-2007 White Dwarf

39. SAFIR 10-m primary mirror 20 microns to 1mm Telescope temperature < 5 K Launch 2015 - 2020 5 year mission PI = Dan Lester, UT- Austin

40. SAFIR - workshop Dr. Sheila Kappannan Dr. Dan Lester

41. Workshop elements Coudé room 2.7-m telescope Galaxy activity SOFIA "Active Astronomy" infrared kit activities

42. Contact information Mary Kay Hemenway: marykay@astro.as.utexas.edu marykay@astro.as.utexas.edu Marc Wetzel: wetzel@astro.as.utexas.eduwetzel@astro.as.utexas.edu Observatory website: http://mcdonaldobservatory.org Videoconference website: http://outreach.as.utexas.edu/Marykay/McD_0105/mcd_videoNASA.htm http://outreach.as.utexas.edu/Marykay/McD_0105/mcd_videoNASA.htm

43. Acknowledgements Support for HST-ED90282.01-A was provided by NASA through a grant from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities in Astronomy, Incorporated, under NASA contract NAS5-26555. Support for the “Future Astronomy:The Infrared Universe” workshop was provided by NASA under an Education and Public Outreach supplement to Grant/Contract/Agreement No. NNG04GJ63G issued through the Office of Space Science for the study of SAFIR - the Single Array Far Infrared Observatory.