Before introducing the Public Information and Outreach efforts underway at the Gemini Observatory and Mauna Kea at large, it is useful to review the Gemini Project as well as a bit of the history and recent developments on Mauna Kea.

The Gemini Observatory Project consists of a seven-country partnership between the United States (50%), the United Kingdom (25%), Canada (15%), Australia (5%), Chile (5%), Brazil (2.5%) and Argentina (2.5%). Each of these countries has contributed to fund the $184 Million (US dollars) construction of twin 8-meter telescopes, one on Hawaii's Mauna Kea (Gemini North) and one in Chile on a mountaintop called Cerro Pachon (Gemini South). Together, these twin telescopes allow access to the entire sky and provide an important resource to astronomers in each partner country without restrictions to institutional affiliation.

The Gemini telescopes are designed to observe the universe in both optical and infrared light and have been optimized to perform exceptionally well at infrared wavelengths that will give them unique capabilities among existing ground-based telescopes. The telescopes are designed to operate remotely and utilize Internet technologies to achieve optimum operational efficiency by matching observations with atmospheric conditions to obtain the best possible scientific data.

At this time, the Gemini North telescope has begun limited scientific operations and Gemini South is undergoing commissioning and poised to begin scientific operations in mid-2001. Gemini South is slated to be dedicated in January of 2002.

It is relevant to this discussion to pay particular attention to the location of the Gemini North telescope which is located among a large community of astronomical observatories near the 13,824 foot summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. Several important instruments lie among this collection of telescopes including the world's largest optical/infrared observatory, the twin 10-meter Keck telescopes, and the 8-meter Subaru Observatory of Japan. Other facilities include:

• James Clark Maxwell Submillimeter Telescope

• Caltech Submillimeter Telescope

• Smithsonian Submillimeter Array

• NASA Infrared Telescope Facility

• United Kingdom Infrared Telescope Facility

• University of Hawaii 88" Telescope

• Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope

• Very Large Baseline Array

A very selective history of Mauna Kea (geologic and modern) follows for perspective:

• 10,000 years B.P. summit glaciers melted

• 3,500 years B.P. last volcanic eruptions on Mauna Kea

• 2,000 years B.P. Polynesians arrive

• 1700's Western contact

• 1964 Road to summit built and small observatory test site on Pu`u Poliahu

• 1970 First major telescope completed (UH 88")

• 1993 Keck I begins scientific operations

• 2001 Gemini and Subaru operational

As can be seen, the past 40 years has seen significant changes to the summit area of Mauna Kea. However, the future will probably not see a repeat of this level of development.

In addition to the development of the Mauna Kea summit area, observatory headquarters have been established in the Big Island communities of Hilo and Waimea with the majority being located near the University of Hawaii at Hilo's University Park. In addition, a substantial support facility has been established at the 9,200' level of Mauna Kea called Hale Pohaku. This "mid-level" facility provides lodging and acclimatization for visiting astronomers as well as a Visitor's Information Station (VIS) which services up to 100,000 visitors annually (more details on the VIS provided later).

It is estimated that astronomy and related activities have produced a total capital investment of about $1 Billion, an annual influx of $61 Million and over 750 jobs for the island of Hawaii.

Until now the development of Mauna Kea has been guided by a "Master Plan" that was established in the mid-1980's. As we enter the twenty-first century, it has become necessary to develop a new "Master Plan" for the next 20 years, and this process has been difficult, at best. Many groups have expressed concern over the continued development of Mauna Kea, since it is an important cultural site for native Hawaiians and has a unique and fragile environment. After many emotional and heartfelt testimonies at public meetings, a new Mauna Kea Master Plan has been developed and approved (in 2000) by the University of Hawaii's Board of Reagents. This plan allows for limited new summit construction that includes a possible new generation 30-50 meter telescope as well as the renewal of existing observatory sites with input and review by several groups sensitive to Mauna Kea cultural and environmental concerns. In the immediate future, the W.M. Keck Observatory will exercise this process by requesting permission to build four small outrigger telescopes to support its joint interferometry project with NASA.

The new Master Plan also mandates a significant increase in outreach activities at the VIS and work on this has already begun.

One of the critical outreach needs identified for Mauna Kea is the expansion, updating and modernizing of the VIS exhibits and programming. Currently the center is undersized by a factor of about 4 and exhibits are extremely out of date and not representative of the state-of-the-art facilities on the mountain. To help address this problem, a committee called the Mauna Kea Observatories Outreach Committee (MKOOC) was formed in early 2000 with representatives from each observatory. To date, this committee has helped to establish a very successful monthly lecture series called "The Universe Tonight" which utilizes observatory staff and scientists to share the latest research at their facility. In addition, a MKOOC subcommittee has been formed to assess the VIS exhibit needs and develop a plan to revamp exhibits and displays. The VIS also holds monthly "Cultural Nights" to share the cultural significance of Mauna Kea with the public.

Currently the VIS accommodates up to 100,000 visitors per year and provides evening stargazing 7 days a week with up to 4 large portable telescopes (10"-16" aperture). The current paid staff is approximately 4 FTE's and 50 intermittent community/student volunteers. Because of the success of the evening stargazing program, additional telescopes are planned and an existing 20" telescope is envisioned for permanent installation at the center within the next 5 years. Donations are accepted at the center and monthly donations often exceed $5,000.

In addition, a 1-meter class educational telescope is planned for installation near the summit of Mauna Kea within the next five years for use by informal science educational institutions and undergraduate students via a consortium of contributing universities.

The largest single outreach initiative currently underway that involves all of the Mauna Kea observatories is a planned science education center in Hilo called "The Mauna Kea Astronomy Education Center" (MKAEC). Although significant planning funds have been released through NASA, this center is still in the early planning phases and a Director is being sought and is expected to be announced shortly. The center is scheduled to be completed by 2005 and feature extensive state-of-the-art exhibits, links to the nearby observatory facilities, a large planetarium and classrooms that will serve as a major educational center for Mauna Kea to service local students and visitors. It is expected that construction funds will be on the order of $20-25 Million.

In addition to the coordinated efforts of the Mauna Kea Observatories, most of the individual observatories perform some level of local outreach from presentations at local schools to science fair judging. For example, the W.M. Keck Observatory has been sponsoring a student employee program for many years and provided meaningful employment for approximately 70 area students, many of which have gone on to pursue technical or scientific careers. Subaru has begun a regular lecture series for the public and is exploring the creation of a visitor's gallery at the observatory similar to the existing gallery at the Keck I facility.

Because of the difficulty and health risk involved with public visitation to the summit of Mauna Kea, the Gemini Observatory has focused its outreach resources in Hawaii on sea-level activities. The Gemini Observatory PIO effort currently consists of a PIO Manager, Local Outreach Assistant and part time (0.5 FTE) Librarian and Web Master. Current initiatives include a StarLab portable planetarium project that services local schools in both Gemini communities (Hawaii Island and Chile).

The Gemini Observatory outreach effort is currently undergoing a 5-year expansion phase that has resulted in the recent hiring of a full-time Outreach Assistant in Hawaii and plans to hire a similar position in Chile by mid- 2001. These positions will facilitate media relations in both locations as well as providing extensive coverage to area schools and students in the Gemini communities in both Hawaii and Chile. Over the next 5-years Gemini will expand its PIO efforts locally and internationally with the hiring of a PIO Media Assistant to provide media support and a Graphics Specialist to produce animations, illustrations and graphical elements for educational products.

The Gemini PIO effort in Chile has realized significant leveraging by partnering with the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). CTIO has been involved with several local initiatives such as a group called REDLASER and the Mamalluca Observatory that provide educational programming to local schools and the public. A key objective of these efforts have been to provide information and recommendations on lighting which will save money and preserve the dark skies surrounding the Chilian observatories. The Gemini Observatory has also presented a StarLab portable planetarium to CTIO and the REDLASER group and this has proved to be an extremely effective educational resource that will be expanded with the hiring of an Outreach Assistant in Chile.

Over the past few years, the Gemini PIO efforts have resulted in the production of many materials and resources such as extensive video archives and b-roll, animations, high-quality images and educational classroom resources for teachers. One initiative that has been identified as a key project for the next two years is the development of a Gemini Virtual Tour. Currently this project is in the prototype stage and test versions of the tour are installed in local museums and the VIS to obtain user feedback and suggestions. It is envisioned that this tour will be available via the World Wide Web and on CD-ROM for schools as well as informal educational facilities such as museums to provide a stand-alone behind-the-scenes tour of Gemini and other observatories on Mauna Kea and in Chile.

Other outreach initiatives being explored or initiated at Gemini are the establishment of a Gemini PIO liaison network involving representatives from all of the Gemini partners. A local student observation program with webcast interaction between students and scientists. Hawaii and Chile teacher exchanges and the continued development of educational and media resources are also being considered for the next few years.

SOUTHWESTERN CONSORTIUM of OBSERVATORIES for PUBLIC EDUCATION (SCOPE)

By Sandra Preston of the McDonald Observatory

The Southwestern Consortium of Observatories for Public Education (SCOPE) was formed in 1996. The idea for the collaboration came from Dr. Roger Mitchell, a program officer at the National Science Foundation in Informal Science Education.

MEMBERSHIP

On November 13, 1996, the following original members of SCOPE, met for the first time at the National Solar Observatory, Sunspot, New Mexico to create the collaboration:

McDonald Observatory, Fort Davis, Texas

Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona

Whipple Observatory, Amado, Arizona

Kitt Peak National Observatory, Tucson, Arizona

Apache Point Observatory, Sunspot, New Mexico

National Solar Observatory, Sunspot, New Mexico

National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Socorro, New Mexico

The requirements for membership were:

1. An institution must be a professional research observatory located in the Southwest. (Southwest was defined as Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico.)

2. The institution must have an active public program in place.

3. At least one staff member must be devoted to the public programs.

In 1999, The University of Arizona's Flandrau Science Center joined the Consortium.

MISSION AND GOALS

The mission statement for the organization is:

We are Southwestern Research Observatories working together to inspire public awareness of astronomy through access and education.

The goals of the SCOPE organization are to:

1. encourage ethnic and minority involvement in astronomy

2. improve science literacy

3. enable the public to make informed decisions about a science

4. inform people about our observatories

5. make research astronomy relevant to everyone

6. create better advocacy for science

7. preserve the research environment

8. assist educators, students, parents, and families in learning science and astronomy

9. provide links and networks for other astronomy resources

MEETINGS

SCOPE members generally meet each quarter or trimester. The purpose of the meetings are for member institutions to give updates on their programs and to discuss collaborations. Responsibility for hosting and chairing the meetings rotates among the member institutions.

ACTIVITIES/PROJECTS

At the inception meeting, SCOPE institutions listed the following projects as possible ways to accomplish its mission. (The numbers in parentheses indicate how many votes the potential project received. Members present were asked to vote on their top three project choices. Some institutions had more than one member voting.)

Submit joint grant proposals (10)

Create traveling exhibits (7)

Travel tour Industry, public service announcements promoting science, astronomy, attitudes (5)

Teacher packages and means of distribution (3)

Promo videos and/or cd roms (2)

Homepage (2)

Sharing ideas, failures, successes (2)

Product Development (2)

Bilingual opportunities (2)

Work with AAS Education Office for publicity and consultation (1)

Long distance learning between sites (1)

Cooperative marketing (U.S. Visitors) (1)

To conduct live solar viewing via Internet (0)

Participate in micro observing project (0)

Familiarity -- meet and get to know each other (0)

Visitor Overlap study (0)

Economy of scale: A. exhibits, B. brochures (0)

Target audience--Hispanic population (0)

Hire staff to share (0)

Highlights of Activities and Projects Conducted

A. Trade Shows

From 1997-1999 the SCOPE group had a booth at the American Astronomical Society's winter meetings. The purpose of the booth was to make astronomers aware of the formation of SCOPE and also to offer them an educational/public outreach opportunity for their NASA grant proposals. Since SCOPE has no funds to purchase booth space, the booth is shared with other SCOPE members.

B. Proposals

Several educational proposals have been submitted to both NASA and NSF, and several have been successful.

C. Brochures

General information brochures about SCOPE were produced by Kitt Peak National Observatory and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and printed by Whipple Observatory. These brochures were distributed at the American Astronomical Society's January 1998 and 1999 meetings.

Promotional and educational fliers were produced and paid for by Astronomy Magazine in the summers of 1997 and 1998. The fliers advertised SCOPE and Astronomy Magazine. Each press run for these pieces was in excess of 100,000. They were disseminated by Astronomy Magazine and by the member observatories. They contained summer star charts and an advertisement for Astronomy Magazine. These fliers were very popular at the star parties conducted by the various observatories.

D. Posters

Three posters have been produced and disseminated to large student and teacher audiences by the SCOPE organization.

In 1998, the first poster was produced to promote education and access to the seven research observatories in the Southwest . The poster was entitled "Visit the Observatories of the Southwest" and featured a Roger Ressmeyer photo of McDonald Observatory at night. The poster was designed to encourage teachers and students to visit the observatories. The poster provided access to travel information together with URL's where more information could be obtained. K-12 activities on the back of the poster offered teachers, students, and parents an opportunity to participate in sky-watching activities that focused on the summer sky.

Funds to produce this poster were provided by the New Mexico Space Grant and the Texas Space Grant Consortium. A total of 40,000 posters were printed and disseminated to teachers through the seven observatories, the New Mexico Space Grant, the Texas Space Grant Consortium, and at the National Science Teachers Association meeting in New Orleans, LA April 3-6, 1997

The theme of the second poster, produced in early 1999, was "Contact Your Local Observatory." This poster featured a spectacular photograph of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array taken by Roger Ressmeyer and Gene Rously donated by Corbis. The back of the poster included a map and information on visiting the SCOPE members, answers to questions about life at an observatory, an activity on observing the moon, star charts for the year, and tales about how the universe was created. About 15,000 copies of this poster were distributed by the various SCOPE members.

The theme of the third poster (printed in 2000) was "Our Star The Sun/El Sol Nuestro Estrella." This poster highlighted a spectacular image of the Sun made by the National Solar Observatory. Information on the back of the poster included the solar activities taking place at each observatory and/or visitors center/science center, four K-12 activities on the Sun that align with National Standards for Science Education, a map showing the location of the SCOPE members, references on resources about the Sun, frequently asked questions about the Sun, and instructions to go to the SCOPE website for the Spanish version of the activities and the evaluation.

The poster was disseminated to 25,000 middle school teachers in the National Science Teachers Association journal, Science and Children in the back-to-school issue for September/October 2000. An article on the Sun, written by Dr. Mary Kay Hemenway accompanied the poster. An additional 15,000 copies were distributed by the SCOPE members. The posters were paid for by SCOPE members and the National Solar Observatory covered the cost of the posters that were inserted in Science and Children.

All three posters were designed at The University of Texas McDonald Observatory.

E. Tourist Brochure Display

A tourist brochure display was constructed of Plexiglas. This display holds about 50 of each of the member institutions' brochures. A large astronomical photograph and map of the Southwest indicates where each observatory is located. Each member institution has the display mounted in a high traffic area encouraging visitors to pick up information about other observatories. The tourist brochure displays were designed and constructed by Flandrau Planetarium and Kitt Peak National Observatory.

F. Website

SCOPE's website, http://www.as.utexas.edu/mcdonald/scope/scope.html, contains links to each of the member institutions, a map showing the location of each institution, educational activities posted in both English and Spanish and a form to evaluate the educational activities. The web page was originally created by UT McDonald Observatory and is served by the UT McDonald server. It has recently been redesigned by Kitt Peak National Observatory. Responsibility for responding to inquiries from the website is handled by Kitt Peak National Observatory.

BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES

SCOPE members have experienced both benefits and challenges.

SCOPE's benefits include producing promotional and educational information at reduced costs and gaining wide dissemination. Additionally, by being able to include the leveraging and dissemination opportunities available through SCOPE, some of the member observatories have successfully competed for NASA Education/Public Outreach funds and/or National Science Foundation funding for Informal Science Education.

Other benefits of collaboration include finding opportunities to work together. For example, Whipple Observatory helped to get the Spanish version of StarDate, Universo, produced by McDonald Observatory on the local Nogales, Arizona radio station. Also, Kitt Peak produced a brochure on Comet Hale-Bopp and in addition to their local distribution, they were distributed to the thousand teachers using McDonald Observatory's StarDate/Universo in the Classroom.

Challenges for the organization were created when it moved away from the original membership criteria and because there has always been a lack of formal and salaried leadership. In 1999 the group moved away from the requirements for membership that were set up at inception. The group is looking at ways to clarify the membership criteria and investigating possibilities for formal leadership in the future.

TEXAS ASTRONOMY EDUCATION CENTER (TAEC)

By Mary Kay Hemenway

Planning formal programming for the Texas Astronomy Education Center (TAEC) is underway. The expected audience includes schoolteachers, groups of students, and adults participating in formal learning events. Our preparation includes incorporating the National Science Education Standards for professional development into the programs and preparing new instructional materials. The inherent belief underlying our efforts is that "Learning is an active process." Evaluation of the programs and materials occurs at several levels. Additional materials are being prepared for pre/post visit use and for dissemination over the web.

The new Texas Astronomy Education Center will open in late 2001. This paper on formal learning parallels that of Cianciolo (2001) on informal learning.

PLANNING NEW PROGRAMMING

In the arena of formal learning, our efforts have been guided by the beliefs inherent in the US National Science Education Standards (NSES, 1996) that:

Science is for all students (all people)

· Learning is an active process.

Planning has included building frameworks to coordinate the various sites (the classroom, the museum, the theater, the small telescopes, the observing areas, and the tours) for learners at the TAEC, and preparation and field-testing of new activities for various school levels. Some activities were field tested with small groups of teachers at state and local science teachers' meetings, but the first "on-site" experience will come in June 2001 (before the completion of the TAEC) with several resident groups of teachers. For each group, a program is custom designed to fulfill their needs and make maximum use of our facilities. All programs are designed to meet the National Science Education Standards. They emphasize non-computer based "hands-on/minds-on" learning.

NEW INSTRUCTIONAL UNITS

· Telescope Technology for Teachers. This unit consists of four challenges concerning the construction of the HET. Learners explore the cost-benefits of segmented mirrors and how to use simple geometry to position the mirrors; they make a human model and "tip, tilt, and piston" the mirror segments while attempting to form a steady image, then explore the reason for a tracker. An additional activity exploring fiber optics completes the set. (Hemenway and Armosky, 2000).

· Spectroscopy. Learners begin this series by constructing and using a small spectroscope. Classifying spectra allows them to estimate stars' effective temperatures. Transposing visual spectra to line tracings leads to an exploration of how line widths change due to atmospheric pressure. The conclusion is that stars can have the same temperature, but different diameters. The final segment pulls all the concepts together to develop the H-R diagram as a tool for studying the life history of a star.

· Our Star The Sun. This series of activities was developed to appear on the back of a poster of the same name. One goal was to have NSES based activities that spanned a number of grade levels, especially elementary school. The units (Shadow Play, Reflective Solar Cooker, Equatorial Sundial, and Sunspots) were nationally pilot-tested with classroom teachers. These show a northern hemisphere bias. (Hemenway, 2000)

· A revision of the StarDate/Universo Teacher Guide is currently under development. This guide will offer suggestions for teachers on how to use StarDate or Universo audio CD-ROMs in their classrooms, as well as, offer auxiliary hands-on astronomy activities. Pilot testing will begin in March 2001.

STANDARDS FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

As we prepare to use these, and other, activities in teacher workshops, we are aware that meeting the Standards concerning content and pedagogy is only one factor. We are also striving to meet the Standards for Teacher Professional Development.

1. Professional development for teachers of science requires learning essential science content through the perspectives and methods of inquiry.

2. Professional development for teachers of science requires integrating knowledge of science, learning, pedagogy, and students. It also requires applying that knowledge to science teaching.

3. Professional development for teachers of science requires building understanding and ability for lifelong learning.

Good programs share several elements:

· Reflect on classroom and system practice

· Use feedback to improve practice

· Encourage collegial and self-reflection

· Involve mentors and peer-coaches

· Include research and experiential knowledge

· Apply research to gain knowledge about science and teaching

4. Professional development programs for teachers of science must be coherent and integrated.

MEETING THE STANDARDS FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Some of these elements are easier to achieve than others. There is a real temptation to shove so much "content" into a workshop that not enough time is allowed for building community among the participants or allowing them to reflect on what they do within their own teaching. However, their long-term use of that content may depend upon these factors more than the brilliance of the instructional unit or the workshop facilitator.

To prepare the TAEC staff for new roles as education facilitators, we began by offering a small teacher workshop in May 2000 at the current Visitor Center. A Visitor Center staff member partnered with each teacher while performing an educational activity on solar heating that was new to all of them. Following the mini-workshop, the pedagogy was discussed with the staff. The new education coordinator for TAEC (Marc Wetzel) has begun to attend state and national science teachers meetings, to come to Austin for training sessions and discussions on workshop presentation, state and national standards, effecting systemic change, and planning.

EVALUATION OF PROGRAMMING

To measure the effect and impact of our efforts, we have written several evaluation instruments for use in pilot-testing and classroom visits. Although we have more sophisticated instruments, one of the most useful for the teacher workshops has been a simple index card. On one side of the card, we ask the teacher-participant to write one sentence concerning the workshop. On the other, they write three words: USE, SHARE, CHANGE – and a short statement of "what they will use" from the workshop, "what they will share," and "what they would change (either in the activity or the workshop itself)." This is a short and valuable tool to help us access our progress as facilitators and developers of astronomy workshops and materials.

PREPARATION FOR SCHOOL GROUPS

An important part of preparing instructional units, and preparing the TAEC staff to interact with school groups, has been to have the staff practice presenting astronomy units in schools. When the TAEC is open, much of the educational coordinator's work will be to present hour-long activity-based lessons for visiting school groups. Since the new facility will have a theater and museum, as well as tours, large groups can be separated into smaller groups that rotate through the classroom activity. This keeps the group size at 24 or under. It is easier to do hands-on, minds-on activities with smaller groups of students arranged in cooperative learning groups. Our goal is to have a menu of topics targeted for different grade levels. Teachers will pre-select the activity their visiting group will perform. The activity will be integrated into their other experiences at the observatory. Eventually, we will have pre-visit and post-visit materials available for the teachers so that the activities can be anticipated prior to and continued following the physical visit.

OTHER EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES

Although most of the groups that visit can be separated into groups of informal visitors or formal-education groups, the observatory is a regular host to at least one special group. Older adult learners who participate in the international Elderhostel program desire to go beyond the level of tourist as they expand their knowledge of astronomy with life-long learning. They bring many life experiences and interests into their observatory interaction. We plan to expand our current offerings to them by incorporating portions of the telescope technology units and building spectrometers. We will also expand our "Introduction to the Night Sky" with more formal instruction on using planispheres and star maps.

Among the other resources produced at McDonald Observatory are the daily radio show StarDate (in English, with its companion programs in German "Sternzeit" and Spanish "Universo"). (Barnes, 1996) Each show is two minutes in length. Six issues per year of StarDate magazine provide another avenue for the public to learn about astronomy. The related StarDate and Universo web sites contain auxiliary materials aimed at learners, including versions of special publications such as a guide to the solar system (McDonald Observatory, 1998) in English and Spanish and educational posters with classroom activities are available for teachers.

CONCLUSION

Although most programs described here physically occur at McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis, by putting materials on the web and continuing our outreach through state and local science teachers' meetings, we anticipate a much broader use for the products we are developing. Our goal for the TAEC is that it becomes the hub for all astronomy education for the state of Texas. It has been a challenge to plan an integrated series of activities that span the expected population of visitors and learners of all ages.

Facilities, staff, instructional activities, support -- all unite to form a robust and organized program.

In conclusion, consider these words of Richard Feynmann:

The world looks so different after learning science.

For example, trees are made of air, primarily. When they are burned, they go back to air, and in the flaming heat is released the flaming heat of the sun, which was bound in to convert the air into tree. And in the ash is the small remnant of the part which did not come from air, that came from the solid earth, instead.

These are beautiful things, and the content of science is wonderfully full of them. They are very inspiring, and they can be used to inspire others. (NSES page viii)

We astronomers have a wonderfully inspiring subject – let's learn to work together to inspire others.

TEXAS ASTRONOMY EDUCATION CENTER (TAEC)

Currently under construction at the base of Mt. Locke, the Texas Astronomy Education Center (TAEC) was designed to meet the physical needs of a projected 250,000 annual visitors to the University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory and to educate, inform, and stimulate interest in astronomy and astronomical research. To achieve these goals, the TAEC will include an outdoor telescope park and observing area, a state of the art theater with live telescope video imaging capabilities, a classroom for teacher workshops and student hands-on activities, and an NSF-funded exhibit designed to explain the technique of spectroscopy and its fundamental importance to the understanding of the universe

LOCATION

The Texas Astronomy Education Center (TAEC) will be the focus for many of the onsite educational activities at the University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory. Founded in 1931, McDonald is located in far-west Texas at altitude of 2070 meters (6800 ft.) (Latitude 30 degrees 40 minutes North) in one of the darkest sites of any major observatory in North America. The Observatory is actively working to maintain these dark sky conditions by working with the surrounding communities to control the growth of outdoor lighting. Over the past year, lighting ordinances have been enacted in at least 2 of the larger towns within 100 miles of the Observatory and similar ordinances are being considered in several others.

SITE

The TAEC will be located at the base of Mts. Locke (site of the Harlan J. Smith 107" and the Otto Struve 82" Telescopes) and Fowlkes (site of the Hobby•Eberly Telescope) . Currently under construction adjacent to the existing Visitors' Center (built in 1981 and currently host to over 80,000 visitors each year), work on the TAEC is proceeding on schedule for an opening in late 2001.

TAEC

The Texas Astronomy Education Center is a multi-phase project which includes:

· The George T. Abell Gallery (GTAG) - a public gallery, already in use at the Hobby•Eberly Telescope (HET), where visitors can learn more about this unique design, its operation and purpose, and where they are treated to a virtually unobstructed view of one of the world's largest optical telescopes.

· The TAEC building itself.

· A large, light-shielded, outdoor amphitheater (for conducting public naked-eye constellation tours for up to 350 people), a new telescope park, and a sundial court.

· An NSF funded educational exhibit entitled "Decoding Starlight."

· Remodeling the existing Visitors' Center for TAEC staff offices and to support amateur astronomy

The TAEC building has 11,000 sq. feet (or 1024 sq. meters) of floor space and will serve as the focus for many of the Observatory's educational programming.. It houses a 1500 sq. foot theater with seating for over 90, and an 800 sq. foot classroom, which is described in more detail by Mary Kay Hemenway elsewhere in this document. The centerpiece of the TAEC is the Decoding Starlight exhibit which focuses on how astronomers study objects through the technique of spectroscopy. Emphasizing this scientific technique for the exhibit seemed an obvious choice given not only the design and primary use of the Hobby•Eberly Telescope but also the power that spectroscopy has to teach us about the universe.

Currently, retail efforts support a significant portion of public program costs, and the new Center will house an 1100 sq. feet gift shop. The TAEC will also house an 800-sq. feet Café with seating in a shaded courtyard. The existing Visitors' Center and Public Observatory will be remodeled to included office, work, and meeting space for staff, storage space for retail stock, and facilities for amateur astronomers.

THEATER

Theater presentations are currently in the very early stages of development. Hands-on demonstrations of spectroscopy, discussions on archeo-astronomy, current research at McDonald and other observatories, lighting control, and HET design are under development. Another use of the theater is to present live telescopic video images. This technique has been used quite successfully with the Center's current equipment but can be greatly improved with the use of the new TAEC theater and additional video equipment currently being reviewed.

The use of video equipment on the Center's 16" Meade telescope has proven to be an excellent addition to eyepiece viewing. While direct eyepiece views through telescopes are vital for giving visitors a direct connection to the cosmos, video projection is an essential tool for presenting detailed views and explanations of astronomical objects to large groups. Inexpensive video equipment is relatively easy to use and to maintain, yet provides telescopic views to people who might otherwise not have been able to see them. This is particularly helpful for visitors with visual or physical challenges that make it difficult to look through the eyepiece of a telescope.

IN CONCLUSION

This facility is designed to meet the needs of a projected 250,000 visitors per year for many years to come and provides the educational background to understand the HET at McDonald Observatory.

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

By Terry J. Teays of the Space Telescope Science Institute/Computer Sciences Corporation

The Hubble Space Telescope conducts an extensive program for education and public outreach. Descriptions are given of the various components for formal science education (kindergarten – 12^th grades), informal science education (museums, planetariums, etc.), and online outreach. Discussion of the overall philosophy and "lessons learned" from the program is also presented. HST is one of NASA's Origins missions. NASA's Origins Education Forum is directed by the author as well, and some insights are shared based on his experience with coordinating the education & public outreach efforts of the Origins missions, especially as they might apply to the confederation under discussion.

INTRODUCTION

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is operated for NASA by the Associated Universities for Research in Astronomy at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland. An important part of the operation of HST is the education and public outreach programs (EPO) of the Office of Public Outreach.

THE ORIGINS EDUCATION FORUM

HST is part of NASA's Astronomical Search for Origins and Planetary Systems theme. One of OPO's tasks is to conduct the Origins Education Forum, which works with the individual missions to coordinate their EPO efforts. The Origins Forum is one of four education forums that are part of the NASA Office of Space Science Education Support Network (see http://spacescience.nasa.gov/education/index.htm for more information).

The Education Support Network fosters a wide variety of highly leveraged EPO activities that are disseminated across the country. Leveraging is a key concept. Not only does it increase the efficiency and impact of our efforts, but it is also absolutely necessary. Science education is a big challenge, and even the large astronomical research organizations represented at this conference are a very small part of the effort to address it. Our limited resources need to be partnered with the existing education expertise and ongoing reform programs to achieve real effect. (Of course, leveraging is not a new concept: "Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand and I will move the earth" – Archimedes.)

The Origins Forum provides a number of services to its member missions, which may be relevant to our deliberations at this conference. It is important to maintain regular communication among the members of a collaboration. We conduct monthly telecons and operate an email exploder and an electronic bulletin board for communication among the members. We make use of the fact that many of the EPO Leads attend the American Astronomical Society meeting to staff informational booths, to have an informal meeting. We also host a yearly retreat where we discuss collaborations in some detail. The Education Support Network issues a monthly, internal newsletter, and the Forum coordinates and edits the input for this organization.

Another important Forum service is to coordinate meeting attendance. If an Origins mission plans to attend a meeting, perhaps because it is nearby, then all of the other missions can send materials to be distributed to one central booth. Furthermore, the Origins EPO Leads are knowledgeable about the other missions and their respective EPO products and programs. The Origins Forum also maintains an evaluation service. Any Origins mission can submit a product that is in development, and obtain a formative evaluation from experts on the Forum staff, at no cost to the mission. By doing this before extensive production costs have been incurred we save time and money, as well as fostering better products.

The formation of connections is an important outcome of forming a collaboration such as we are discussing at this meeting. I would like to cite some examples of recent, interesting connections that we have experienced at HST. (1) The Teach for American program is an organization that recruits recent college graduates to work for two years as teachers in under-resourced school districts. While we made the connection serendipitously at a local level, we are now discussing providing a training session at their annual national training workshop. (2) For the past two years, there has been an excellent conference held in Salt Lake City for science education Web site developers. The attendees of this small, by-invitation conference are selected based on their exemplary Web sites. The sharing of common problems and the diversity of approaches to solving them has made this a truly exciting conference. The participants seem to be groping their way towards forming some sort of professional society or other confederation. The participants are a useful collection of experts from which to draw advice, obtain product reviewers, recruit peer review panelists, or look for proposal partners, because they share a common understanding of what is involved in constructing a science education Web site. A similar synergy might occur between large institutions with state-of-the-art telescopes that have significant EPO programs. (3) The sharing of work to produce education products, especially if both telescopes/missions are working on common subject matter is especially useful. None of us can afford to have all of the material and human resources necessary to produce a full range of creative EPO products.

The Origins Education Forum also hosts the Space Science Education Resource Directory for NASA's Office of Space Science. This is an online directory that can be searched by grade level and topic or key words to find what space science education materials are available to meet an educator's curriculum needs. The products that are listed in the Directory have been checked for scientific accuracy and contain information about how the product was evaluated. The intention is to be a "trusted source" of high-quality materials. At present, in this first year of the prototype, only electronically-accessible items are listed (Web sites and PDF files), but the Support Network is working hard to add the ability to order hardcopy products such as CD-ROMs, posters, etc. from the Directory. The development and continuing operation and enhancement of this Directory would not be possible without assistance from many committed collaborators. The Resource Directory is located at http://teachspacescience.stsci.edu.

There have been many lessons learned during the course of the development of the Origins Forum. One of the best ways to bring a group of individuals together and turn them into a real partnership is to give them a critical task to perform together. Selecting a specific project that members of this group can agree to work together on in the near term, would do a lot towards crystallizing our partnership. Another issue that will have to be confronted is that of ensuring that individual observatories (missions, in our case) get sufficient credit and recognition for their contribution, while maintaining a unified message and product identification. Does a logo cease to be an effective advertising mechanism if you have to put twenty of them on the product, so that it looks like a racing car?

THE HST EPO PROGRAM

OPO is the organization that conducts HST's EPO program. It has branches that deal with the news and press relations, scientist outreach, formal education, informal education, and online outreach, as well as the Origins Education Forum discussed above.

· News

The news team at HST is regarded as a model of effective science communication. The experience of the staff and the effectiveness of their processes contributes substantially to the success it enjoys. One point that I will note is that the News team at HST works closely with the EPO team, and this is a practice that I heartily recommend. Many images, video, and text developed for a press release can find reuse in education products.

· Scientist Involvement and Scientist Outreach

This audience does not need to be told that it is essential for scientists to be integrated into the development of all EPO products. It is also important to communicate the story of your observatory (mission) to the scientific community so that they will support it and make the best use of the telescope. NASA's Office of Space Science has a goal of trying to increase the number of scientists who are engaged in "giving back" to the public through EPO activities. It is important to understand that there are many ways of contributing. To many astronomers, EPO suggests that they should go into a school classroom and give a talk on their research, albeit at a "watered down" level. Scientists, however, can play many roles, such as checking the scientific accuracy of a museum exhibit or Web site.

· Formal Education

· Some general observations

Formal education usually refers to learning that takes place in classrooms within a formal curriculum structure and with specific learning objectives. Here, I am generally restricting my discussion to pre-college education, though our program also includes pre-service teachers. In general, NASA develops products that support curricula, rather than developing entire curricula. In order for a product to be useful in the classroom, it must meet many requirements. It goes without saying that scientific accuracy is essential in any materials produced, and this is an area where major research institutions can play a key role, since they have a degree of name recognition that will allow the educators to feel confident in adopting their material. One key point frequently raised by teachers is the lack of time that they have to check out new resources. They want to be able to go to a "trusted source" and know that they will find accurate and uniformly high quality products without having to sort through a large volume of chaff. In the United States, teachers must have materials that they can integrate into the curriculum, of their state, or they will not be able to use the product, even if it is an attractive one.

Another important aspect of formal education is teacher training. I will not say a great deal about this topic, since large-scale teacher training is not the job of the observatory (nor do they have the expertise or resources to do it). We do in-service teacher training workshops, but primarily when they are highly-leveraged opportunities where we are training "master teachers" (i.e. those who will train other teachers) or there is a very special target audience. When developing products one must factor in whether or not effective use of the product will require training or is it usable "off the shelf". The latter may require more development work to provide the necessary information to the teacher.

One of the most common characteristics of programs that have developed exemplary astronomy education materials is that scientists and educators developed them in partnership. At STScI, we make use of this approach in developing all of our formal education materials. This team approach is used throughout the process in a concurrent engineering methodology.

· Hardcopy materials

STScI has put a strong focus on developing materials for the World Wide Web. Some key advantages of the Web are: (1) it is a very cost effective way to reach a large number of constituents, (2) full advantage can be taken of animation, sound, etc., (3) content is easily updated, (4) allows collaborative learning projects, and (5) wider range of possibilities for interactive learning. While most schools in the USA are hooked up to the Web in some fashion, somewhere in the school, they are still a long way from being in common use in the classroom. For this reason alone, there will be a need for hardcopy products for some time yet. In addition, hardcopy products accommodate students with different learning styles.

At STScI we produce a wide range of materials including posters, lithographs, teacher guides, activity packages, trading cards, bookmarks, and business cards. The last two items serve largely as reminders of the URL for our Web sites. As a side note, the trading cards (we have one set for the solar system and one for galaxies) are one of our most sought after items by educators. It is worth noting that many of the images, animations, etc. that are used in our education materials were first developed for use by the HST news team.

· Amazing Space

Amazing Space is the name of our collection of interactive, online activities that support kindergarten to 12th grade education. While we use HST data and images in the activities, our aim is to address basic science and mathematics concepts.