Astrophysics at Keele University 4-5 December 2009
Course WMC09001
Everyone is fascinated by the stars and the galaxies and learning about 'How Science Works' through the study of the Earth and the Universe. It engages young people and can be the 'hook' that draws them into science.
We are again offering teachers our Astrophysics course which will provide an opportunity to engage with astrophysics and its practitioners. This course starts with a Friday twilight session at the Keele Observatory enabling teachers to have hands on experience. Afterward an evening meal and overnight accommodation at the Keele Management Centre are included and on Saturday teachers will undertake a day's CPD.
The £200 fee for the course is redeemable by an IMPACT AWARD of the same value for teachers from maintained schools.
The course will be led by David Martin, a teacher of Astronomy and author of online textbooks covering Astronomy, including the present Edexcel GCSE Astronomy course and the new Edexcel GCSE Astronomy course beginning in September 2009 (both endorsed by Edexcel), as well as OCR online textbooks. David is also Founder of Star Learner, a website dedicated to supplying secondary school teachers and their students with support materials for Key Stage 3 and 4 (see http://www.starlearner.com).
THE KEELE OBSERVATORY - The main instruments seen in the Keele Observatory are a 24 inch reflector equipped with an SBIG ST7 CCD camera, and a 12 inch refractor. Observatory colleagues will be keen to extend invitations for teachers to take advantage of their programme of guided tours and talks to schools, in order to increase interest in Science.
The observatory holds public open nights every Tuesday evening from 20:00 (irrespective of weather), from September to April (the sky is too light over the summer) and is also open on Saturday afternoons, from 14:00 to 17:00 (a solar telescope operates then). The Keele Observatory works with The SuperWASP consortium of universities, which has recently announced the discovery of 10 new planets going around other stars. Over 200 hours of observatory time at Keele have helped confirm five of these as transiting extrasolar planets. For more details on the observatory and how it can support your teaching, contact the Observatory Director mdb@astro.keele.ac.uk.
INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF ASTRONOMY - The course delivered is particularly relevant given that 2009 has been the international year of astronomy, with the aim of helping citizens of the world rediscover their place in the universe through the day and night time sky... hopefully this course will help participants engage their pupils with a personal sense of wonder and discovery and encourage further observatory visits with school groups.
WEEKEND CPD - This course ran successfully in autumn 2008 as a pilot for weekend training. The model was well received by participants, as one remarked "I can spend the time focusing purely on my own development without the worries of what has happened to my classes.... plus the school doesn't have the expense and uncertainty of supply cover".
For further course information and booking details, please click here