Since many of you are starting out with astronomy studies this year, I thought I would mention star parties. When I taught in Alaska, star parties were a popular part of the astronomy curriculum. Since in the winter it was dusky by 3:00 and pitch black by 4:30, you didn’t have to stay up late to have a star party. We also lived where there were fewer artificial lights to compete with the heavenly lights. The downside was the cold. We’d stage the star party near a warm house holding popcorn and steaming hot chocolate inside, so you could look for a while and then run inside and get warm.
All of that aside, there is a star party happening tonight at UCI, and you could have one in your backyard if you want to get up at midnight. Tonight there is going to be a total lunar eclipse. There is no better way to talk about an event like this than when it is happening and the kids get to see it. Worried about school tomorrow? If you do school at midnight, they can sleep in tomorrow! You can read all about it here: http://www.ocregister.com/news/moon-says-earth-1822563-color-comes. Also featured in this article is the meteor shower coming on Saturday. If your student does experience either one of these events, make sure you have him write about it the next day! And if all of this just sounds too “out there” for you, schedule a time to visit the Griffith Observatory this year. It has just reopened after a massive refurbishment program.
Another fun resource online is the NASA site: http://www.nasa.gov/. Look at both the “for kids” and “for teachers” pages for ideas for your astronomy study. I’ve also told many of my families about the book “Next Stop Neptune: Experiencing the Solar System.” Near the beginning of the book, the author, Alvin Jenkins, plots out a scaled solar system for you if the sun was the size of a basketball. “At this scale, the solar system is almost a mile and a half across, and all of its planets could be held in the palm of your hand.” One year the Brea co-op did a walk where parents had mapped out the relative distances of the planets from the sun. Those kids had a graphic picture in their heads that came from the ground up.
So…don’t call me early in the morning. I’ll be star partying tonight!
Our next performance at Cerritos, Tuesday, January 29th at 11:30 is a 45 minute opera based on Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. Aimed at grades 3-6, students will be transported to colonial America where our wily hero, Figaro, with his band of sneaky barbers and mercenaries, leads us on a delightful musical goose-chase. Ultimately, he outsmarts his adversary and love triumphs as his friend, the Count, wins the hand of his beloved.