14 replies to this topic

[Chris Boar]

Our local club does an annual outreach at our local library. Any ideas for a fun kids activity, can be inside or outside.

Looking for ideas

[Jason B]

What age group?

[Chris Boar]

I'm guessing anywhere from 6 and up.

[tedbnh]

Order a copy of "The Thousand Yard Model Or The Earth As A Peppercorn" by Guy Ottewell. Makes a great outdoor activity.

I assume you are already doing solar observing? Observing sunspots and prominences will be a big hit.

The Night Sky Network has many activity kits. Your club may already be a member.

[buddyjesus]

Daytime lunar is another option.

I have seen people demonstrate lunar impacts using a marble(impactor) and the lunar surface made out of a tray that has a bottom layer of flour and the top surface of dried out spent coffee. It really shows why the rays are brighter than the surrounding undisturbed area.

Another idea would be to show a meteorite collection under a dissecting microscope or webcam.

Perhaps you could display a large lunar map and have the children draw their interpretations of the lunar "asterisms". Also could show them the poodle, crab, man on the moon, woman on the moon and Jack and Jill. I use a free map I got from an old National Geographic and draw the shapes on a blackboard or large sheet of paper right next to the map.

Many of these ideas are usable on cloudy days also, so no worries about being rained out. BTW, when showing them the Sun, I take advantage of the opportunity to teach them about Sun safety and using sunscreen.

Have fun blowing them minds!

[Doc Willie]

Some suggestions that Ted B gave me:
Hi Willie,

Send me an external email address and I will send you a link to my dropbox folder, where you can download my pre-skywatch PPT presentation. It is suitable for 2nd graders.

This really gets them interested. Get yourself a 12" beachball labelled "Earth" and a nerf ball labelled "Moon" and a piece of string 30 feet long rolled up around a piece of 1" dowel.

Have one kid come up front and hold up the earth, and then have 8 or 10 kids come up and hold the moon, standing where they think the moon orbits the earth (i.e. how far away at this scale). Keep tossing the nerf ball into the audience until you get 8 kids up front. Keep them standing at the spot they guessed. Now pick one more kid and have them take the string and unroll it until it ends. A 12" earth will have the moon's orbit at 30 feet, and nobody will be that far. It really gets everyone's attention, wakes them up, gets them involved...good results every time. Got this idea from David Woods' book, "How Apollo Got To The Moon."

Ted

[Chris Boar]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I've pm'd you TEd.

[Doc Willie]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I've pm'd you TEd.

You want to send that to tedbnh , not me. Also let him know what this is about, since he may have not read this thread. I was just quoting him.

[Skylook123]

You might want to drop in on Jet Propulsion Lab's Night Sky Network.

Night Sky Network

There is a tab called Amateur Resources. Scroll down the Resources page to the link for CORE-NASA Resources For Educators.

Also, if your club is a member organization and you have a login, there are more tremendous classroom resources available.

This might not fit the OPs original needs, but the Night Sky Network is a great place to get ideas for group education activities, as well as amateur astronomy planning resources.

[EdZ]

Go to the top of this forum and open the pinned post titled Teaching Aids. There are dozens of outreach ideas including handouts, some geared toward 4-5th graders.

edz

[Skylook123]

Yes! It was a few years ago that I accessed them, and I do use those ideas at some outreaches. I had a senior moment and forgot to reference Ed's great resources.

[oldtimer]

Every club should own a nice sized iron metorite, something in the 2 to 8 pound tange. Cammpo del Cielos in that weight range can be had for two to six hundred dollars. I own a 6 pounder and at public outreach events its a BIG hit with the kids as each holds and fingers it.

[tedbnh]

Every club should own a nice sized iron metorite, something in the 2 to 8 pound tange. Cammpo del Cielos in that weight range can be had for two to six hundred dollars. I own a 6 pounder and at public outreach events its a BIG hit with the kids as each holds and fingers it.

Glad to read this, because my club just did purchase a Campo Cielo for outreach purposes and it it a big hit as you say. (I am proud to be the troublemaker who proposed it!) :-)

[Chris Boar]

Thanks Ted for the info. downloading it now!

Chris

[Sean Cunneen]

I did my first astro-talk with a group of 5-6 year olds. I tried a bunch of stuff, the two winners were "The Human Telescope" where I had one kid hold a 60mm objective lens and another hold a 40mm eyepiece. All the kids tried to get a view of across the room.

For my second trick I labeled each of them a planet or moons and made them orbit. At first I had them orbit in real time, then I let them speed up. I made Jupiter's moons oscillate linearly instead of going around Jupiter, a joke no one got except me...

Sean