Published: January 15, 2008
On October 12, 2007, Ms. Hemphill led a session at the Oregon Science Teachers Association meeting at LaSalle High School in Portland, Oregon: Star Light, Star Bright: Astronomy Resources for the Classroom. The hands-on part of the session included introducing the IR part of the spectrum, using a FLIR thermal imaging camera, making diffraction-grating and CD spectroscopes, and using hand-held spectroscopes to look at the spectra of different gases.
Students in Ms. Hemphill's chemistry classes are being introduced to the infrared part of the spectrum with hands-on activities. A FLIR infrared camera was borrowed and used in October to demonstrate the infrared region of the spectrum for four chemistry classes. Students were encouraged to use the camera to see changes they would not see in the visible: their IR reflection in glass or on the surface of a lab bench, exothermic and endothermic reactions, changes in the temperature of water pipes, looking for materials transparent, or not, to IR (safety shields, black plastic, glass). Lessons on the electromagnetic spectrum that include the infrared portion are planned for January.
Ms. Hemphill's student, Emily Petroff, is using Spitzer data as the basis of a student continuation project. Emily is continuing her independent project on three clusters as part of the Research Activity class. She has completed the Spitzer data reduction and is continuing her independent project with the data this year. On January 8, 2008, Emily presented a poster at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Austin: Variation in Star Formation Rate From Galaxy Cluster Center for cl1037. Emily is also mentoring two younger students in astronomy projects, including a middle school student.
On January 8, 2008, a cooperative educational poster (Rosa Hemphill, John Blackwell, Ardis Herrold, Emily Petroff, and Zach Schroeder) was presented at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Austin: Education with Infrared & Spitzer.
Ms Hemphill anticipates that students in her classes will look positively at astronomy-related independent projects due to student projects related to the Spitzer Teacher Program. She also thinks that the infrared spectrum will continue to be introduced to more classes through hands-on experiments and demonstrations. In the long-term, she would like to write a grant for a thermal imaging camera for her school
The Spitzer project has encouraged more students to look at astronomy projects for their independent projects. Students in the elementary, middle, and high schools have benefited from this program over the last two years through student participation and through teacher workshops.
One positive outreach effect has been the use of Spitzer educational materials in a reading program in elementary and middle grades in a primarily Hispanic public school in Texas. Students in a pull-out reading program received Spitzer posters and bookmarks to encourage them to read. Teachers put up Spitzer posters in their classrooms, including one of the electromagnetic spectrum. A 6th-grade class then built CD spectroscopes using handouts Ms. Hemphill had sent.