Astronomy is a Great Distance Learning Subject

Seabury has an inquiry based science program. Inquiry is an investigative approach to teaching and learning. Students at Seabury get to explore solutions and develop explanations to phenomena they observe or learn about. This is much the same as what scientists do in the real world. They ask observe a phenomena, ask questions, and investigate. As they obtain new information their ideas and understanding change. Inquiry often begins with a counter intuitive or unexpected event. 

Astronomers investigate the universe using mathematics and electromagnetic radiation such as light, microwaves, and x-rays. Seabury students were presented with three interesting ways light interacts with with objects on earth to create images. One was its reflection on a spoon. The concave bowl of the spoon reflects a different image that the convex back of the spoon. Why? Students were asked to come up with their own question about the phenomena, this lead to ideas about why things appear smaller or larger at different distances. Students also investigated mirrors an infinite loops of reflections. Lastly the students constructed their own refracting telescopes which magnify far away objects. Many connections can be drawn between the way light acts in these situations. 

Seabury is also about hands-on and being there (actually experiencing things). In Astronomy class students have been taking stargazing challenges, trying to locate different constellations and witness events. Some students woke up at the crack of dawn to see an arch of planets or stayed up late to see the sunset. We will be using our new telescopes to focus in on planets and the moon. To document this students are creating their own web-pages using Padlet.   

Astronomy often occurs at night so this distance learning gives us an opportunity to bend our regular schedules and do some nighttime investigations. 

Color shift in infinite reflections