Space and Cyberspace
Case Rijsdijk
Astronomical Society
of
Southern African
March 24, 2010 CAP 2010 Cape Town 2
. . . this is about . . .
. . . the underpinning philosophy is to use astronomy as a vehicle for science education . . .. . . my experiences in communicating astronomy in the developing world . . .. . . creating special ‘tools’ and ‘models’ on a needs basis . . . . . . there is only time to discus a few . . .. . . but I hope it convinces you that this approach – that of using tactile models . . . . . . works . . . !
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. . . celestial dome . . .
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. . . planetaria . . .
. . . small . . .
. . . and large planetaria do much the same . . .
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. . . different . . . ?
. . . but are these conceptually very different from some ancient models . . . ?
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. . . still thinking 2-D . . .
. . . no amount of computer graphics can produce a really effective representation of the real world . . . . . . even something as simple as the Sun’s apparent motion across the sky, solstices and equinoxes . . . . . . or the phases of the Moon . . .. . . are best done with some simple modelling . . .
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. . . north/south problem . . .
. . . is one that we in the southern hemisphere are very aware of . . .
. . . most astronomical material is produced in the northern hemisphere . . .
. . . this affects Moon phases, sunrise/set, and constellations . . .
. . . again simple models explain this . . .
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. . . the Sun . . .
. . . where does the Sun rise . . . ?
. . . on your left . . . ?
. . . or right . . . ?
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. . . . sunrise . . .
. . . does the Sun always rise in the east . . . ?
. . . does it always rise at the same angle . . . ?
East
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. . . sunometer . . .
Fig 2 Sunometer
Paper fastenerDisk
Space between tabs
Staple
Slot
Fig 1 Mushroom
Square between tabs A & B
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. . . luxometer . . .
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. . . seasons . . .
. . . these, and other simple devices, help to explain the seasons in a simple and effective way . . . . . . see ref #8 . . .. . . standard use of solstices and equinoxes does not work . . . . . . in many parts of southern Africa there are anything from 2 – 6 seasons . . . !
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. . . crescent Moon . . .
. . . does the first crescent Moon look like this . . .
. . . or like this . . .
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. . . showing phases . . . ?
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. . . showing phases . . . ?
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. . . this does . . .
Courtesy HartRAO
. . . doing it yourself . . .
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. . . shadow sticks . . .
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. . . mini shadow sticks . . .
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. . . time zones . . .
. . . one can see how these time differences can occur . . . . . . the magic is when the globe is turned round . . . . . . the shadows move, showing that the Sun’s apparent movement across the sky is because the Earth is turning . . .
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. . . simple sundials . . .
. . . a simple one made from a single sheet of paper . . .
. . . source – Prof. V. Icke,
Leyden . . .
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. . . simple sundials . . .
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. . . proper sundials . . .
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. . . effects of gravity . . .
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. . . effects of gravity . . .
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. . . effects of gravity . . .
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. . . effects of gravity . . .
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. . . gravity simulation . . .
. . . eclipses . . .
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. . . but a model . . .
. . . two discs . . .
. . . ecliptic plane with a Sun . . .
. . . Earth-Moon orbital plane that can slide into the ecliptic . . .
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. . . but a model . . .
. . . no eclipse possible . . .
. . . Moon in line with Sun but above ecliptic . . .
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. . . but a model . . .
. . . no eclipse possible . . .. . . Moon in ecliptic plane, but not in line with Sun . . .
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. . . but a model . . .
. . . eclipse is possible . . .
. . . Moon in ecliptic plane and in line with Sun . . .
. . . solar . . .
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. . . but a model . . .
. . . eclipse is possible . . .
. . . Moon in ecliptic plane and in line with Earth . . .
. . . lunar . . .
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. . . doing and making . . .
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. . . making things . . .
. . . knock-on effect . . .
. . . do you know what I did today . . . ?
. . . the best way to learn is to tell/teach/show others what you have learnt . . .
. . . and this is reinforced by having a model to show others what you did . . .
. . . enthusiasm is infectious . . . !
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. . . but why . . .
. . . is it in spite of some of the most stunning images from Hubble, VLT and others . . ,
. . . amazing software and planetarium programmes . . .
. . . and the internet and really great animations . . .
. . . it is still making something that will generate the pedagogic “ah-ha” . . .
. . . and looking through a telescope that produces the biggest “wows” . . .
. . . we can combine the two . . .
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. . . connecting Space to Cyberspace . . .
. . . using a laptop, data projector and screen outside . . .
. . . some appropriate software . . .
. . . a lot can be achieved . . .
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. . . accessability . . .
. . . easy . . .
. . . mmm . . .
. . . hard . . .
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. . . further afield. . .
. . . using the same coding as before . .
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. . . in Africa . . .
. . . again using the same coding as before . . .
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. . . south is up . . .
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. . . Starbus . . .
. . . taking astronomy to the people . . .
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. . . during YEAST . . .
. . . the Starbus was stocked with a range of resources developed at SAAO . . .
. . . along with laptop, projector, screen and 250 mm telescope . . .
. . . with a staff of two . . .
. . . and taken into the rural areas of 3 focus provinces . . .
. . . and into peri-urban townships . . .
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. . . delivery . . .
. . . it worked . . . . . . until the funding ran out . . .
. . . but it can be done again . . . !!
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. . . conclusions . . .
. . . my experience shows that for a proper understanding one must . . .
. . . MAKE things to model astronomy . . .
. . . DO astronomy by taking astronomy TO the people . . .
. . . best to communicate astronomy using cyberspace AND tactile models . . . !
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. . . acknowledgements . . .
. . . I would like to thank the LOC, SOC, the IAU and SAASTA for support to attend CAP 2010 . . .
. . . and colleagues at the SAAO for their continued support . . .
. . . thank you . . .
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. . . references . . .
1 http://www.atnf.csiro.au/pasa/17_2/rijsdijk/paper/node4.html
2 http://www.saao.ac.za/~wgssa/as3/rijsdijk.html
3 http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2000PASA...17..156R
4 http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1999AfrSk...3...29R
5 Astronomy for Developing Countries. Ed. A H Batten. IAU publication. Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 2001
6 Astronomy Communication. Ed. A Heck and C Madsen. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003.
7 Teaching and Learning Astronomy. Ed. J Pasachoff and J R Percy. Cambridge, 2005
8 Explore Beyond the Earth. C Rijsdijk and L Dilley. Maskew-Miller Longman, Cape Town.