“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” Benjamin Franklin
Virtually every astronomy club in the world offers a monthly public viewing night, sometimes called an "open house." Members are on hand to show the wonders of the heavens and answer questions that may arise. A telescope is often the focal point of these nights, and viewers can usually see the moon, any bright planets that happen to be visible, and perhaps a smattering of showpiece deep sky objects, such as a Messier object and perhaps an obvious double star or two. These events can be anything from wildly popular to scarcely patronized. At our own club, the turnout is usually high even if it is completely overcast. This in itself is worrying. At least we have a beautiful lit scale model of the solar system on the grounds of our observatory, thanks to a very creative and enterprising member. It comes in very handy on cloudy open house nights.
What is the primary objective of these open nights? The main goal is to try and popularize astronomy. However, by its very nature, astronomy cannot be popularized. For one thing, most of the events take place at night. Many people prefer to sleep at this time. For another thing, astronomy is not something people encounter regularly. Even diehard observers like myself sometimes have to wait weeks for a good observing night. In that amount of time, many people will simply forget about astronomy, if they once had a budding interest. It is not something that can be neatly scheduled into one's day or night (oh, how I wish it were!).
Another reason that astronomy will never become popular with the general public is that they can very comfortably go through their entire lives without ever "needing" astronomy. It is a branch of science that has no application to daily life. It is one of few areas of knowledge that Sherlock Holmes contemptuously avoided wasting his time learning (I would disagree with him--knowing when new moon and full moon occurred, in times before universal street lamps, would certainly have helped him in his investigations. But then, he could have simply looked up the time of moonrise and moonset in an almanac, as well as the lunar phase).
A third reason that astronomy will never be popular with the general public is because we are going about gaining their interest in the wrong way. Benjamin Franklin certainly knew it (see quote, above). I have been involved with public education since 1980, specifically music education. To my everlasting amazement, even in this day of over-used smart phones and such, kids and adults still like to play musical instruments, even old fashioned ones like piano, trumpet, flute, clarinet, etc. Why is this?
When I began training to become a teacher, I was specializing in music education. But I also had to undertake a minor teaching area, and I chose science. Now, music education is certainly an obvious poster activity for "hands on" education. Those early days in September when I used to stand in front of a class of 5th or 6th graders and demonstrate the different instruments they could choose from, they were squirming in their seats and salivating, dying to get their little hands on something and make a sound. Those first few weeks were key encounters. Would they want to learn music all year, or would they soon get bored and lose interest? Usually it is the former, but sometimes it is the latter. You cannot make a great musician out of everyone who learns the basics about playing a musical instrument. However, you have a better chance of fostering a life-long interest in music.
But without those shiny instruments in those little hands, what chance would you have? Suppose I showed up once a month at a school that had no music program or instruments, and I brought a different instrument with me to show them each time, perhaps playing a few tunes. Then I left. How many of those children would get an opportunity to learn an instrument without help from the school? Only those ones whose parents were enlightened enough to sign them up for lessons somewhere. The others would simply move on to an interest that they could literally get their hands on.
My science teacher at the Faculty of Education was a hands-on education man, and when he found out about my interest in telescopes, he helped me devise a series of lessons with one of my high school classes (I was a student teacher) where we combined lenses and made our own crude telescopes in class. The homeroom teacher did not want any hands on learning, saying that the students would be unmanageable and would likely break the lenses. I think it was a Gr. 10 class. Anyway, the lessons went so well (many of the students wanted to take their lenses home to look at the moon at night) that I was pretty hooked on hands on learning afterwards.
What am I getting at here? Do we provide telescopes for the average person to use? YES!!! Exactly! It is the only way people will gain further interest, especially children. And guess what? There is at least one astronomy club that does just that. The St. Louis, MO Astronomy Society does, and it appears to be wildly successful. Check out their webpage, and click on the link that says Library Telescopes. I don't know what genius thought of this, but the club (a very active one) has combined with a number of library branches to have 4.5" reflectors available for sign out for seven days with a library card (they currently have 43 scopes!). You have to be 18 to sign one out.
Think about this for a moment. I was 15 or 16 when I began to really get interested. We had no public observing nights back then. I would have had my parents downtown at the library regularly to take out that scope for another week. A family who sees their child with a growing interest in astronomy (possibly from a public observing night, or perhaps from a hands-on science class) can foster this interest, free. Later, if the interest continues and develops, they can possibly buy the child their own scope.
Now imagine a young boy or girl looking through the club telescope on an open house night. It is their first time. They see the moon, and it explodes their brain! They see Saturn. They are speechless. They hear a talk from a knowledgeable member, and learn some of the constellations. They leave excited and pumped. Now what? Well, next month mom and dad are busy, and can't take them to the open house. The following month it is cloudy. And so on. But imagine if those parents could have gone next day and borrowed a small scope from a library branch near their home. Here is a capture from the St. Louis webpage...
SLAS also provides the libraries with ongoing educational support and telescope maintenance. Throughout the year, libraries host star parties – telescope viewing sessions where the public can gather to view the night skies through a number of telescopes operated by SLAS members.
Seriously, how cool is that? Imagine that type of lending program spreading across North America and the rest of the world. The mind boggles. Instead, we seem to be stuck in a loop where we are always teaching "Astronomy Lesson #1" over and over. With more people using telescopes, more could be done to fight light pollution. More people would join astronomy clubs. More people would read astronomy magazines and on-line news items. Astronomy would become popular with the general public. Instead, we have people leaving the open house events with enthusiasm (assuming it was clear), but a month later what has happened to that enthusiasm? The members of the St. Louis Astronomy Society know the answer to that question. And they are doing something about it. They have 18 new scopes on order for the autumn. That is very impressive work. I might even leave them a donation in my will for that lending program.
As usual, I would love to hear your comments (anyone from St. Louis reading this?).
Clear skies.
Mapman Mike
What is the primary objective of these open nights? The main goal is to try and popularize astronomy. However, by its very nature, astronomy cannot be popularized. For one thing, most of the events take place at night. Many people prefer to sleep at this time. For another thing, astronomy is not something people encounter regularly. Even diehard observers like myself sometimes have to wait weeks for a good observing night. In that amount of time, many people will simply forget about astronomy, if they once had a budding interest. It is not something that can be neatly scheduled into one's day or night (oh, how I wish it were!).
Another reason that astronomy will never become popular with the general public is that they can very comfortably go through their entire lives without ever "needing" astronomy. It is a branch of science that has no application to daily life. It is one of few areas of knowledge that Sherlock Holmes contemptuously avoided wasting his time learning (I would disagree with him--knowing when new moon and full moon occurred, in times before universal street lamps, would certainly have helped him in his investigations. But then, he could have simply looked up the time of moonrise and moonset in an almanac, as well as the lunar phase).
A third reason that astronomy will never be popular with the general public is because we are going about gaining their interest in the wrong way. Benjamin Franklin certainly knew it (see quote, above). I have been involved with public education since 1980, specifically music education. To my everlasting amazement, even in this day of over-used smart phones and such, kids and adults still like to play musical instruments, even old fashioned ones like piano, trumpet, flute, clarinet, etc. Why is this?
When I began training to become a teacher, I was specializing in music education. But I also had to undertake a minor teaching area, and I chose science. Now, music education is certainly an obvious poster activity for "hands on" education. Those early days in September when I used to stand in front of a class of 5th or 6th graders and demonstrate the different instruments they could choose from, they were squirming in their seats and salivating, dying to get their little hands on something and make a sound. Those first few weeks were key encounters. Would they want to learn music all year, or would they soon get bored and lose interest? Usually it is the former, but sometimes it is the latter. You cannot make a great musician out of everyone who learns the basics about playing a musical instrument. However, you have a better chance of fostering a life-long interest in music.
But without those shiny instruments in those little hands, what chance would you have? Suppose I showed up once a month at a school that had no music program or instruments, and I brought a different instrument with me to show them each time, perhaps playing a few tunes. Then I left. How many of those children would get an opportunity to learn an instrument without help from the school? Only those ones whose parents were enlightened enough to sign them up for lessons somewhere. The others would simply move on to an interest that they could literally get their hands on.
My science teacher at the Faculty of Education was a hands-on education man, and when he found out about my interest in telescopes, he helped me devise a series of lessons with one of my high school classes (I was a student teacher) where we combined lenses and made our own crude telescopes in class. The homeroom teacher did not want any hands on learning, saying that the students would be unmanageable and would likely break the lenses. I think it was a Gr. 10 class. Anyway, the lessons went so well (many of the students wanted to take their lenses home to look at the moon at night) that I was pretty hooked on hands on learning afterwards.
What am I getting at here? Do we provide telescopes for the average person to use? YES!!! Exactly! It is the only way people will gain further interest, especially children. And guess what? There is at least one astronomy club that does just that. The St. Louis, MO Astronomy Society does, and it appears to be wildly successful. Check out their webpage, and click on the link that says Library Telescopes. I don't know what genius thought of this, but the club (a very active one) has combined with a number of library branches to have 4.5" reflectors available for sign out for seven days with a library card (they currently have 43 scopes!). You have to be 18 to sign one out.
Think about this for a moment. I was 15 or 16 when I began to really get interested. We had no public observing nights back then. I would have had my parents downtown at the library regularly to take out that scope for another week. A family who sees their child with a growing interest in astronomy (possibly from a public observing night, or perhaps from a hands-on science class) can foster this interest, free. Later, if the interest continues and develops, they can possibly buy the child their own scope.
Now imagine a young boy or girl looking through the club telescope on an open house night. It is their first time. They see the moon, and it explodes their brain! They see Saturn. They are speechless. They hear a talk from a knowledgeable member, and learn some of the constellations. They leave excited and pumped. Now what? Well, next month mom and dad are busy, and can't take them to the open house. The following month it is cloudy. And so on. But imagine if those parents could have gone next day and borrowed a small scope from a library branch near their home. Here is a capture from the St. Louis webpage...
About the Program
The St. Louis Astronomical Society ("SLAS") Library Telescope Program seeks to foster scientific literacy, stimulate an interest in astronomy, and provide people who have never looked through a telescope the chance to experience the excitement that comes from discovery. The program takes advantage of the public library system infrastructure to place telescopes in local public libraries for circulation just like a book. Library patrons age eighteen-years or older with a valid Library card are able to check out a telescope for seven days. Libraries can setup book displays using the telescope as a centerpiece. SLAS uses the Orion StarBlast 4.5" telescope for its program. Each telescope is modified by SLAS to be more durable and patron friendly and is equipped with accessories to help library patrons explore the night sky, including a user’s manual, constellation guide, Moon map, and night light.SLAS also provides the libraries with ongoing educational support and telescope maintenance. Throughout the year, libraries host star parties – telescope viewing sessions where the public can gather to view the night skies through a number of telescopes operated by SLAS members.
Seriously, how cool is that? Imagine that type of lending program spreading across North America and the rest of the world. The mind boggles. Instead, we seem to be stuck in a loop where we are always teaching "Astronomy Lesson #1" over and over. With more people using telescopes, more could be done to fight light pollution. More people would join astronomy clubs. More people would read astronomy magazines and on-line news items. Astronomy would become popular with the general public. Instead, we have people leaving the open house events with enthusiasm (assuming it was clear), but a month later what has happened to that enthusiasm? The members of the St. Louis Astronomy Society know the answer to that question. And they are doing something about it. They have 18 new scopes on order for the autumn. That is very impressive work. I might even leave them a donation in my will for that lending program.
As usual, I would love to hear your comments (anyone from St. Louis reading this?).
Clear skies.
Mapman Mike
