Star Party for 5th and 6th grade students

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Apr 10

2011

by 90 Millimeter Observatory

On April 5th we  hosted a a star party for our local grade school to kick off our Global Astronomy Month events. The program included an indoor presentation by our club president which covered a brief history of astronomy, how the sky looked tonight, the types of telescopes the students would be looking through and what deep sky objects they may see in with those telescopes. The program also talked about light pollution and the effect it has on society and the night sky.

Once the students came outdoors to look through the telescopes, the things they learned about during the presentation began to come to life. Many of the students never looked through a telescope of any kind and this experience was one they are going to remember. We had 7 telescopes setup from a 60mm refractor to 22 inch Dobsonian. 

The students and their parents enjoyed looking at everything from double stars (iota Cancer) to the the Orion Nebula and M81 and M82 in Ursa Major. Clearly the favorite object was the Orion Nebula. Open and Globular clusters were also viewed.

Response from the event organizers at the school was favorable. Pierre, the science teacher said: I'd like to thank everyone who put the time and effort in to make this year's North Coventry Star Party everything we hoped it could be. Not only did the kids (and adults!) learn some things; they learned while having fun- the best way to learn. Toward the end of the evening I asked a few of the kids whether they had ever looked through a telescope before- though it was a small sample and some replied that they had, most had not. So for at least those children, Chesmont Astronomical Society has provided the first glimpse through a window directly into a world only seen before in photo reproductions.  And they got this glimpse through some really great scopes!
Because of you, the event was a tremendous success. Thank you!

And Patrice, I beleive she is one of the schools directors said: I would like to second Pierre's sentiments. I received several emails from parents the day after our star party and they were thrilled with the events of the evening. The principal also talked about it at our staff meeting and she indicated how many parents she heard from that had a wonderful time. The North Coventry Community is so thankful to have partners in education like you. What better way to keep our kids curious and asking questions than to talk to them about the universe. It sparks their imaginations and makes them wonder. Thank you so very much.

Astronomy outreach is so very important to children through the world. Many children never get the opportunity to see first hand the wonders of the universe, and only see it through media such as photos and TV. You never really know how much of an impression you make on someone when you share your knowledge and your telescope. Who knows, maybe one of those students will be come a better student because they now realize there's another world out there to explore, maybe, one of them becomes the next great Einstein.