Post by Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe on Dec 7, 2023 7:59:52 GMT -6
After School Matters Space & Astronomy
Fall 2023
Showcase Event
06 December 2023
Fall 2023
Showcase Event
06 December 2023
At the conclusion of each term, all programs at After School Matters are required to demonstrate the skills gained in the previous months...and my program always puts on a great show. My astro crew here worked tight, discussing their stations to our visitors and entertained questions. We has demos on: Vacuum of space, Electro Magnetic Fields, The Voyager spacecraft and record of sounds, Telescopes and the International Space Station with scale model they constructed. We were ready for the event at the Cultural Center in Downtown Chicago....right across the street from our ASM Astronomy classroom.
Everyone of my Astro teens were solid, even my normally shy ones, who came out strong and took control. (It's part of my responsibilities not only to teach all things Astronomical, but to develop social/interpersonal skills and confidence, identified early on at the start of my program and extend extra attention on those. Creating a safe and welcome environment is vital and my students consider their classroom "home" and it shows.)
But, it is a stressful time, to prep my students, assigning team leaders and conducting practice presentations. As the Showcase dead-line approached, final touches on scale models and teens going through their scripts on the final days of class...and we are all a bit nervous. Including myself, as I always want my Astronomy class represented as the best program around. But I trust these young men & women to do their job...and they did wonderfully...
Harry, my Program Assistant sweated out the details and on top of the ISS project. Confident on his team to explain the space station, he took his role explaining the record on the Voyager spacecraft and playing the sounds that were sent out into space...
My students also demonstrated the Electromagnetic fields via Plasma ball, EMF detector, light tubes, tuning forks and magnetic reaction with Iron Filings...all related.
A regular favorite is the Fabric of Space & Time demo, creating Gravity Wells and explaining the mechanics of orbits and attraction. Teens allowed visitors to cast the spheres and creating orbits of their own...
My Space and time leaders came into the program not aware of the gravity influence, but now, enthusiastically explaining their knowledge to others.
Our Telescope crew demonstrated the mechanics of optics, using the table top Dobsonian scopes and a classic refractor, focusing on various artifacts of our indoor space with different magnifications....
New for this Showcase, is the scale model of the International Space Station, which I will keep in my classroom as the teaching tool for future classes...
Our vacuum expert demonstrated what happens to objects in a vacuum chamber, including marshmallows and a expanded hand...
For close to two hours, our solid Astro team welcomed our guests, explained astronomy and had a great time. In our post evaluation, my teens were satisfied on the presentations, some voices got strained with all the talking, but were confident on a job well done...and I must agree. They all did a spectacular job from beginning to end, attentive to their tasks and supporting each other.
I have wonderful supportive parents, some who I known for years and others just recently become friends...
I am very proud of these teens who I spent three months with, instructing, sharing and laughing and building bonds, which I hope will remain within my circle, as many will return for the Spring & Summer classes in 2024.
Shout out to: Paulina, Yvette, Xavier -"Dr.X", Harry - "Program Assistant", "Tiny", Ian, Noah, Hector, Sandy, "Kaz", Rod, Dorien - "Mr. D", Emily - "Class Ambassador", Jade & Charleston - "Class Ambassador".
Astro Joe