Teacher Workshop at Dyer Observatory

Teachers from across Middle Tennessee attended the Dyer Observatory "Eyes On The Skies" Workshop July 21-25, 2008. Visit the Dyer Observatory website to Learn more about teacher workshops and community outreach at: http://www.dyer.vanderbilt.edu/

During several of the sessions teachers used activities from the Astrobiology In Secondary Classroom curriculum currently underdevelopment by a team of teachers, scientists, and faculty at Tennessee State University.

Thank you to Dyer Observatory for including these materials in the workshop!

Teachers Explore the Alta Spectrometers

The ALTA® Reflectance Spectrometer is a handheld device that is suitable for classroom use for measuring the proportion of light that reflects off objects as a function of the light's wavelength.

Allan Treiman of the Lunar and Planetary Institute designed this devise to provide schools an affordable way to explore reflectance spectroscopy. "The spectrometer uses light in visible colors (blue through red in seven wavelengths) and in four invisible "colors" of infrared light. The results are good models of spectra from NASA probes like Mars Pathfinder and environmental satellites like LANDSAT. The spectrometer can be used in any class that deals with light, color, or spectroscopy. .. The ALTA® Reflectance Spectrometer is ideal for open-ended student research." Quote from the Lunar and Planetary Institute website: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/products/spectrometer/

A class set of ALTA Spectrometers can be borrowed from the Lunar and Planetary Institute at the following website: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/products/spectrometer/loan.shtml.

The Alta is used as a standalone unit and does not require an interface or computer to attach to. Using this instrument, students will discover that different materials absorb and reflect different wavelengths of light. Reflectivity is a property that is important in many situations from deciding what color the outside of a satellite should be to hypothesizing about the color of plant life that might exist in another solar system.

In this ASC lesson, teachers select a green leaf to analyze. The leaf was large enough that the sensor array under the ALTA fit on the leaf. The teachers recorded their data on to the chart in the lesson guide and made a graph of the result. See the results int he next ASC Blog posting.
Photos taken during a teacher workshop at Dyer Observatory July 21, 2008.

Teachers Graph the Data from the Alta Spectrometers

Teachers graph their data as “reflectance vs. light wavelength” and emphasize that this graph is a reflectance spectrum characteristic of their leaf. Teachers discussed their graphs and talked about any differences due to scales used on the axes or slight variations in leaf colors. They compared their data to the sample in the Vernier teacher's guide that came with the The ALTA® Reflectance Spectrometer.

Photos taken during a teacher workshop at Dyer Observatory July 21, 2008.



When teaching this as part of Astrobiology in the Secondary Classroom (ASC) lessons teachers will encourage their students to discuss how scientists use spectra analysis to search for life in the universe.

Teachers Experiment with UVB Probeware and Lab Quests

Ultraviolet light is part of the electromagnetic that has a wavelength shorter than that of the violet end of the visible spectrum but longer than that of X-rays. The frequencies are higher than those that humans see as the color violet.











Ultraviolet light is placed into categories of A and B depending on the wavelength and frequency. This lesson uses a hand held piece of equipment called a LabQuest made by Vernier Scientific. Attached to the LabQuest is a UVB probe that senses ultraviolet light (UVB).