| Abstract |
Astronomy is a powerful hook to excite people's wonder about the
universe, fire their imaginations, and engage them in science and
mathematics. We employed this allure to help preservice secondary
mathematics and science teachers develop the skills to deliver unified
multidisciplinary inquiry and project-based instruction to their future
students. Simultaneously, high school mathematics students enjoyed
applications of the algebra and geometry they had learned in a series of
lessons centered on the building and utilization of Dobsonian telescopes
during all-day in-school field trips. These lesson elements, both for
the preservice teachers and high school students, were refined over
several semesters as part of the field experience component of the
Project Based Instruction course in the nationally recognized (see e.g.,
Rising Above the Gathering Storm, 2007, NAP) UTeach program at the
University of Texas at Austin (www.uteach.utexas.edu; see also Hooper,
E. J. et al. 2003, BAAS, 35, 1304).
Preservice teachers who elect the astronomy field experience divide into
two groups. The first group prepares to lead high school students
through the final stages of constructing a simple Dobsonian telescope
based on plans from the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers
(http://members.aol.com/sfsidewalk/cdobplans.htm). After learning some
basic optics (Siegel et al. 2008, Mathematics Teacher, in press; and
Siegel et al. 2008, BAAS, Austin meeting, in press), the high school
students undertake the most mathematically rich portions of the build,
including measuring the focal length of the primary mirror and the
placement and alignment of the secondary mirror. Since it is not
practical to both build and utilize telescopes in one day, the second
group of preservice teachers prepares to return to the "build" high
school from the previous semester to engage the students in a variety of
lessons using the telescopes.
EJH acknowledges support from an NSF AAPF (AST-0104456) at the
University of Texas, Austin. |