You mean we are going outside ?
Published on Jan 22, 2007 at 11:57 pm.
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Filed under college teaching.
Tonight it was somewhat clear during lab time, so we went outside. It was cold. Some of the students came prepared. Others didn’t. With any luck, they’ll know to dress warmly next time.
I’m an observational astronomer, and I started off as an amateur astronomer years ago, before graduate school. So, I often return to those roots. I like to teach stars and constellations as one of my lab experiences. Yes, we do some of the more computational labs, and the optics labs, and so forth. We have telescopes that we set up for observational labs. We do computer simulations, plotting and analyzing data, and all the other labs. But, I also sneak in stars and constellations, as well as a lab on reading star charts. I want the students to be able to leave the class not only knowing how stars form, live, and die, but also what is the name of that star that their friend is pointing at up in the sky. I want them to know some of the more prominent constellations. I want them to have a feel for how the stars appear to move in the sky. I want them to know the sky. That’s a lot to ask for!
Every semester, though, students are shocked that we are actually going to be going outside. They seemed to be programmed to think that the labs will be sitting in a room somewhere working a worksheet. Yeah, we do that sometimes. But, sometimes we go outside and do things. Tonight was one of those nights, and half the students weren’t dressed for it. But, next time, they’ll know that I am serious. It is never too cold!
Besides, I really like looking at the sky myself.
-Astroprof
