Galaxies Project Materials

project team members: Shardha Jogee (Science PI), Mary Kay Hemenway (EPO lead), Sandra Preston (Assistant Director, McDonald Observatory , Randi Worhatch (graduate student - Fall 2006 semester), Kyle Fricke (Education Specialist, November 2006-present), Dan Lester (Research Scientist, 2006-7 academic year), plus the GCET team including Sarah Miller (undergraduate), Aaron Smith (graduate student computer science), Achal Augustine (graduate student, Computer Science), and the NASA Virtual Design Center team of Laurie Ruberg and Manetta Calinger.

Project Overview as of 11/17/06, modified 04/20/07

Summary of the High School survey conducted in September 2006.

14 AP physics students particpated
29 regular physics students participated
7 astronomy students participated

The questions were:

What are some types of objects found in space that can you name? How would you organize them by distance from Earth (nearest things first, farthest things last)?
From the perspective of an astronomer, how has universe changed over time?
What is the difference between a solar system, a galaxy, and the Universe, and how do they relate to one another?
How do astronomers study celestial objects besides taking pictures in visible light?

Multiwavelength Activity

Images in the worksheet work on PCs and Macs. There are the tables for students to fill out as they match the cards. Latest versions as of 15 May 2007 with revisions done by Kyle Fricke.

OLD on screen PowerPoint to accompany activty.
Downloadable package with all files. This is a 39M zip file.
PPS PowerPoint to accompany activity as of 15 May 2007
PPT Powerpoint to accompany activity as of 15 May 2007
Teacher Guide as of 15 May 2007
Student exercise on resolution and False Colors as of 15 May 2007
Student Worksheet as of 15 May 2007
Standard Image Set - updated on 6 March 2007
Standard Image Set - negative images (black galaxies on white background) - updated on 28 March 2007. This version as of 15 May 2007
Extended Image Set
Telescope Sources - information about the various telescopes that produced the images
Post-activity survey for high school trial

Pilot testing

The activity was pilot-tested with the EXES teacher group on Saturday, 9 December 2006
Pilot Test Results WORD document from 11 January 2007 in Lago Vista High School
26 general chemistry and 11 AP biology students
the product was tested with an IPC class and a senior astronomy class (11 students) at Wylie High School in April 2007

Documents related to the galaxies' project

A list of TEKS related to physics, chemistry, and astronomy

TEKS for the galaxies' project specifically

Important Links related to the project

Interactions with the Virtual Design Center
Virgo Cluster information sources as of 13 December 2006
GEMS Skywalker
note from Dr. Shardha Jogee following meeting of 23 February 2007. This note includes links to the FAST-TEX project. pdf
Meeting with FAST Tex team on 20 April 2007.
GCET Galaxies and Cosmos Explorer Tool

Presentations

Abstract for Cosmos in the Classroom meeting - PDF
The title changed to "The Galaxies and Cosmos Explorer Tool" on 19 May 2007
Handout for Conference WORD document with proposed handout for notebook to be published by the conference. This includes the most recent revisions to the abstract (including adding Sarah Miller as an author) and acknowledgements. posted on 13 July 2007, revised 16 July 2007
the poster paper Viewed here as a one-page powerpoint slide. The final poster will be formated with this information and these images by Tim Jones before printing. This copy is for layout purposes only. posted on 10 July 2007
Version 2 of poster as of 24 July 2007. -- PDF

Abstract for the ASP EPO meeting as originally submitted - some changes may be needed
the poster paper - second draft Viewed here as a one-page powerpoint slide. The final poster will be formated with this information and these images by Tim Jones before printing. This copy is for layout purposes only. revised 30 July 2007
draft of Chicago poster paper - as of August 8, 2007 -- one PPT slide
Possible images for Chicago September meeting paper
Paper submitted for publication from Chicago ASP meeting - DOC file

Proposal for CAST short course -- DOC file
website for CAST materials

American Astronomical Society - Austin, January 2008

AAS abstract link
GCET poster PDF file

Last edited on 24 January 2008