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L.A. Welser, D.H. Bennum (University of Nevada, Reno)
The StarTeach project is a unique tool designed to generate excitement and enthusiasm about astronomy for elementary, middle, and high school students. The program was created out of the realization that astronomy is a subject with the potential to introduce children to many other branches of science, such as physics, chemistry, and geology. The development of StarTeach involves three main phases. First, CCD images of various astronomical objects, such as planets, nebulae, and galaxies, were taken. Next, the StarTeach web site (http://www.physics.unr.edu/grad/welser/astro) was created to present the CCD images. Features include pages on the solar system, deep sky, and the universe, which are complemented by Hubble and NASA photographs. Also included are a set of on-line quizzes about astronomy and links to astronomy education sites on the web. The final part of the StarTeach program involves presenting the material to third and eighth grade classes using power point slide shows and the StarTeach web site. The main goals of the StarTeach project are to strengthen the astronomy curriculum at local Reno schools, to facilitate an interactive scientific learning environment where students can expand and test their knowledge of science, and to generate enthusiasm for astronomy and science in general.
This work was partially funded by a DOE EPSCoR University of Nevada, Reno Undergraduate Research Grant.
If you would like more information about this abstract, please follow the link to http://www.physics.unr.edu/grad/welser/astro. This link was provided by the author. When you follow it, you will leave the Web site for this meeting; to return, you should use the Back comand on your browser.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: lwelser@physics.unr.edu