K-12 Educators
Astronomy in the Classroom for Pre-service Teachers Workshop
When: Saturday, November 16, 9:00am – 12:30pm
Where: Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 390 Ashton Avenue, San Francisco, CA
Specifically designed for pre-service teachers, this workshop will engage participants in inquiry-based teaching methods for presenting earth and space science content; and NASA-developed education resources useful in the classroom. This professional development opportunity includes a general introduction to basic concepts in astronomy, including the pedagogy of conducting hands-on activities which emphasize science practices in the context of the Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards, and connections to the Common Core Standards.
Each participant will receive ASP’s best-selling The Universe at Your Fingertips 2.0 DVD-ROM education resource (retail value $30).
Target Audience: Future Elementary, Middle, and High School Teachers who will include science content in their curriculum
Cost: FREE to individuals enrolled in a pre-service teacher program
Register for the workshop here.
Build Your Own Telescope!
Using the Galileoscope to Teach Light and Optics in the Classroom
When: Saturday, January 11, 2014, 9:00am – 1:00pm
Where: College of San Mateo Science Building, 1700 West Hillsdale Blvd., San Mateo, CA
Learn about how telescopes work and how to use the Galileoscope in your classroom. Through hands-on activities in light and optics, workshop participants will learn about the behavior of light and build their own Galileoscope, modeled on the telescope Galileo used to observe mountains on the Moon, the moons of Jupiter, the phases of Venus, and more! Each teacher participant will receive a set of Galileoscopes for use in their classroom. Space is limited so register early!
Target Audience: 3rd – 9th grade teachers; interested educators of all grade levels
Cost: $30
For more information send an email to Brian Kruse (bayareaastro{at}astrosociety.org)
MISSION: MARS, Exploring Mars with Pascal Lee
When: Saturday, January 25, 2014, 9:00am – 1:00pm
Where: SETI Institute, 189 Bernardo Ave #100, Mountain View, CA
Subzero temperatures, killer rays, raging dust storms…Mars is a hostile planet. Could anything survive there? One job for Future Mars Explorers: Stay alive and help search for alien life. The mission now: start training to become one of the first human explorers of the Red Planet. Guided by renowned Mars expert Pascal Lee and educators from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, workshop participants will get a look at what it will take to send humans to the Red Planet. They will discover how to gear up for survival, navigate a spaceship, search for alien life, and much more. Participants will also get a sneak peek at the latest designs for future Mars ships, spacesuits, and exploration rovers. The future of space exploration starts now!
Bring the excitement of Mars exploration to your classroom with MISSION: MARS! Mars exploration activities in this workshop will help educators make a connection into the Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core.
Target Audience: 3rd – 8th grade teachers; interested educators of all grade levels
Cost: $30
For more information send an email to Brian Kruse (bayareaastro{at}astrosociety.org)
A teacher effects eternity; [s]he can never tell where [her] his influence stops.
Henry Brooks Adams
Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.
Carl Sagan
The ASP serves K-12 educators who work in the classrooms and those who provide professional development (PD) to teachers. We design and organize diverse programs and services to support the teaching of astronomy as the gateway to science literacy: workshops, publications, bibliographies, PD conferences and networking. From Project ASTRO where we pair teachers with astronomers to share the excitement of astronomy in classrooms around the country, to our Galileo Teacher Training Program (GTTP), an annual two-day professional development workshop, to Cosmos in the Classroom which takes place every three years for teachers of college-level introductory astronomy (education workshops about the most popular and populated basic science class in universities across the country).
Please browse through all of our resources and don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions. Thank you!