astronomy field experience

The astronomy field experience is designed to give UTeach Mathematics majors a taste of project-based instruction in mathematics. Uteach students may opt to 1) build Dobsonian telescopes with Algebra II students at Sony Point High school or 2) use Dobsonian telescopes to teach rate and proportion to Algebra I students at McNeil High School. In both options we will divide the high school students into three groups so that three UTeach students will teach at the same time. You may expect as many as 25 high school students in your group. This means you will need to carefully consider how to involve all the students even if you only have 1 or 2 telescopes per group. Due to scheduling and equipment constraints, lessons are typically NOT taught in classrooms. It is important to consider how you will function without a blackboard and airconditioning. If you want to write on a board, please bring either a white board or flip chart with you for your lesson.

Mathematics concepts related to building Dobsonian telescopes are primarily Algebra II topics and focus on conic sections. For lesson ideas, peruse the sample lessons. Students involved in building telescopes will be divided into three groups. Each group will be assigned a group leader whose job it is to schedule group meetings and document contributions of group members. Each group will be given supplies to pre-build 4 telescopes. Power tools can be checked out from the UTeach office. Each group will use the telescopes they pre-build during their lessons.

Mathematics concepts involved in using Dobsonian telescopes are primarily Algebra I topics and focus on rate and proportion. For lesson ideas peruse the sample lessons. Students involved in using telescopes will be divided into three groups. Each group will be assigned 4 telescopes from McNeil. Group members will be responsible for checking the telescopes and making any necessary adjustments/repairs. Each group will have the 4 telescopes to prepare for their lessons and use during them. In the lesson plan phase, each student will also need to incorporate use of the telescope and consider alternative plans if the weather does not cooperate.

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