HOKU

Contents:

• The CFHT 21st Anniversary Celebration
• Fun Astronomy Activities for the Classroom
• Exploring Planets in the Classroom
• Southern Stars - Aboriginal Astronomy
• Your Sky - http://www.fourmilab.to/yoursky/

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21st Anniversary Celebration at CFHT

* Our open house was a huge success and we hope that the visiting classes and public had as much fun as we did. See our website with pictures from the days activities: http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/CFHT21/OpenHouseTour

* Classes from all around the North West part of the Big Island and the general public came to view many displays.

• A Simulated Model of the CFH Telescope
• Computer Demonstrations of Graphics
• Small Telescope View of the Sunspots
• State of the Art Imaging Cameras
• CO2 Mirror Cleaning
• Supernova Movie and Demonstration
• Ham Radio Communications Around the World
• Liquid Nitrogen Demonstrations

* Teachers and students all received a 'goody bag' courtesy of CFHT.

* Astronomical Items were sold in the CFHT Library during the open house. Some of these items including suggested reading were:

• The Island-below-the-Star by J. Rumford
• Stars over Hawaii by E.H. Bryan,Jr.
• The Sky Tonight-A Guided Tour of the Stars Over Hawaii by Samuel E. Rhoads
• The Night Sky Guide for Hawaii

The proceeds from sales were donated to the Waimea Community Youth Center.

* There were two public talks held during the week of our 21st Anniversary Celebration:

• Astronomy and the Joy of Discovery' Sunday, November 26, 2000, 7:30 pm at Gates Hall, Hawaii Preparatory Academy Eugene Magnier, CFHT Local Astronomer
• Hokule'a: A Generation of Voyaging' Thursday, November 30, 2000, 6:00 pm at Gates Hall, Hawaii Preparatory Academy, Chad Baybayan, Polynesian Voyaging Society Hawaiian Wayfinder

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Fun Astronomy Activities for your Classes

I. Teacher Lesson Plans

A. Star Spill Game - http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov/Sites/ExternSite.asp?url=http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com

Finding the site: You must click on the link above and go into the archive. Then click on the lesson plan for October 13, 2000 - Trick or Treating Under the Stars

Objective:

The students will use manipulatives to form constellations common to the fall sky.

Materials:

The students will need paper cups, a box of soup crackers, activity sheets and a set of the Star Spill Cards. Older students will need a stopwatch or a clock with a second hand. Soup crackers are little centimeter-wide circular crackers sometimes called Oyster Crackers. Out of crackers? No problem! Nearly any collection of small objects will work (dice, M&M's, paper wads, etc.).

Time Requirements: The students will need at least 20 minutes to figure the game out. Another ten or fifteen minutes to play.

B. Classifying Galaxies by George and Jane Hastings. - http://www.smv.org/hastings/galaxy.htm For middle school students.

Objective:

The students will learn to identify and classify galaxies the way astronomers do. Then go to the Hubble Space Telescope Institute for more advanced study.

Topics Covered by This Lesson:

• What is a galaxy?
• Hubble classification of galaxies
• Practice in using Hubble classification system as an example of how scientists classify objects in nature.

Materials: Work Sheets

Grade Levels: 5-9

Time Requirements:

• Preparation Time for teacher: 2 hours
• Two class periods

Student Prerequisites: fifth grade reading level

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Exploring Planets in the Classroom

Subtitled Hands-on Science Activities, this site presents more than 25 hands-on science activities with "classroom-ready pages for both teachers and students for exploring Earth, the planets, geology, and space sciences."

http://www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/class_acts/

Related annotated links are also included at this site.

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Southern Stars - Aboriginal Astronomy

From the Scout Report

A cross between the anthropology of Australian Aboriginal culture and a beginner's guide to the southern sky, Southern Stars Aboriginal Astronomy details the all-encompassing mythology that tied the heavens to the earth. Australia's first people saw many of the same constellations that the Greeks and Romans knew. Some of the entities they saw in the night sky were surprisingly similar; the Pleiades appeared as seven sisters in Australia, too. The Aboriginal people were so closely bound to the sky that they had identified characteristics of the stars and planets that weren't detailed until much later by western observers. There's a subtlety to the sensibilities that generated and sprang from these stories that unquestionably loses something in the translation, but this site at least alerts us to the scope of the Aboriginal belief system.

http://library.thinkquest.org/C005462/index2.html

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The Web Nebulae

The Web Nebulae by Bill Arnett is a site full of the most beautiful pictures of nebulae! When looking through sites on astronomy, you'll frequently run across Bill Arnett's name. Though he has additional pages on this site with more information and links to other photos of each nebula, his focus here is on the aesthetics of the images. The grandeur and immensity of these most lovely night sky collections are well worth a view. Caution, this website may tempt you into considering a telescope a necessary amenity! DSG (From New Scientist Planet Science)

http://www.seds.org/billa/twn/

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Your Sky

An interactive planetarium. By entering a city, or the latitude and longitude, maps can be produced for "any time and date, viewpoint, and observing location." Maps can also be customized including viewpoint, magnitude, and other display options. Skies may also be viewed from the horizon. An "ephemeris for the sun, moon, planets, and any tracked asteroid or comet" is included for each map. Orbital elements of asteroids or comets can also be plotted.

http://www.fourmilab.to/yoursky/

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This page is compiled by Liz Bryson, CFHT Librarian
This page was designed by Lisa Wells, CFHT Observing Assistant
We appreciate your comments and questions.