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L. McGourty (MIT Haystack and NMRHS), K. Rideout (MIT haystack and Swampscott High School)
“Waves in Motion”
This teaching unit was created by Leslie McGourty and Ken Rideout under the Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program at MIT Haystack Observatory during the summer of 2005. The RET program is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. The goals of this teaching unit are to deepen students’ understanding about waves, wave motion, and the electromagnetic spectrum as a whole. Specifically students will comprehend the role radio waves play in our daily lives and in the investigation of the universe. The lessons can be used in a high school physics, earth science or astronomy curriculum. The unit consists of a series of interlocking lectures, activities, and investigations that can be used as stand alone units to supplement a teacher’s existing curriculum, as an independent investigation for a student, or as a long exploration into radio astronomy with a theme of waves in space: how and where they carry their information. Special emphasis is given to the Relativity theories in honor of the “World Year of Physics” to celebrate Einstein’s 1905 contributions. The lessons are currently being implemented at the high school level, the preliminary results of which will be presented. At the end of the academic year, the units will be evaluated and updated, reflecting student input and peer review after which they will be posted on the internet for teachers to use in their classrooms.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #4
© 2005. The American Astronomical Soceity.