The NVO for Schools, Informal Science Centers, Planetaria, including and Remote and Local Telescopes:

The National Virtual Observatory and Hands-On Universe (HOU)

UC Berkeley

Building Meaningful Use and Understanding of NVO Data through Use of Telescopes and Image Processing in Schools,

Science Centers and Planetaria

brought to you by the:

US National Science FoundationEducation and Human ResourcesElementary, Secondary and Informal Sciences EducationProgram

NVO: A Revolutionary Development.With Arguably Unprecedented

Public/Educational Outreach Capability:Why not meaningfully reach many, many people, (instead of

just 10,000 Astronomers) with high quality data?

Professional Quality Data

Humans, students

Hands-On Universe Interfaces,training,activities,communities you!

Just putting stuffOn the web bombs!!

Hands-On Universe Tools -- see http://hou.lbl.gov

Hands-On Universe Resources --What have we got to share with the NVO?

• Image processing software (C++ and IDL based)• Master Teacher Corp of 22 Teacher Resource Agents (many have been with the project for ~ 7 years)• Curriculum for High School• Real Astronomy Experience for Informal Science Centers• Growing Telescope Network (RTML!!)• Teacher workshops• On-line teacher workshops!!• Growing Alliance with Starry Nights/Maxim DL/Bob Denny• 700 Trained HOU teachers in the US• Another 500 trained teachers around the world• Some good discoveries -- young women have found supernovae, asteroids, etc.• Knowledge of how to make astronomy work in school environments• TIMSS Evaluation

On-Line Course

Good Global Partners

JAHOU (Subaru SuPrime Camera Data is on its way!!)

France (Global HOU Meeting, Paris, July 24-29)

TIMSS Results -- On-Line Training of Teachers Seems to as Effective as Face-to-face workshops, as measured by

Student Performance

Of great interest to teachers and Students:

• Real Research

• Non-analyzed data (save a portion of the sky for kids?? e.g., Quark Net will probably save a trigger for kids)

• Sense of adventure and discovery

• Light Curves!!! Transient Objects

• Seamless connections to real telescopes (Aussie VO ideas)

• FTS not Jpeg!!

Some Underpinnings of Hands-On Universe

(courtesy of NSF ESIE)

• People learn science best by doing aspects of science with modern tools

• The least powerful deserve the most powerful tools

• Scientists can share their sense of exploration, their sense of joy with students and the public

• There is always an opportunity to make a small or large discovery.

HOU Pre-NVO and new technology

• High Bandwidth Networking -- video conferencing experiments with teacher training -- we trained a group of teachers using Polycom-based one-day workshop.

• Resources that genuinely need computing to succeed

• Data bases

• Automated Telescopes

• CCD Image Cameras

• Teacher support networks using the internet

• On-Line courses

Optimistic Signs

• Teachers like astronomy and others are eager to change

• Students know computers and networking are the future

• We have many resources that are available and are working

• NVO!!!!

• Small remote telescopes (RTML)

• Internet enables unprecedented level of – Access

– Communication

– Collaboration -- if we do it right and carefully

Why Astronomy?

They like it better than other sciences in school1= HOU provided Less, 5= HOU provided more:

Why Astronomy 2

:

• From Master’s Thesis of Curtis Craig, early in HOU -- young women thrived at it.

• HOU is thriving in some inner cities of US and France with a diverse audience.

What Does HOU have to gain from the NVO?

• New unprecedented set of great data for universal access

• Possible collaborations and linkages to more scientists, educators, and other institutions

• Data base and infomatics for kids

• Better Collaborations

Resources to Supplement IVO for Public Venues:

HOU/RAE to the Rescue

• HOU IP Software

• HOU On-line and face to face workshops -- scalability!

• Web-site (http://hou.lbl.gov) • Data Base• Video Conferencing • Growing world of small telescopes, too (Monet, etc.)

Ladder of Cognition:

Narrabri Remote Telescope in Australia at ANTF

Some System Architecture

Visitor Software• Maxim DL (easy version) Image Processing

• Starry Night Planeataria software for requests and understanding sky and interacting with IVO

• Instant Telescope Control Software

• Data Base (HOU and IVO!)

• Video Conferencing with remote telescopes

• Control of Observatory Cameras

• Take home images, software, etc.

Starry Nights

Starry Nights

Starry Nights

Visitor Image Processsing Software

Supernova and HOU IP!

• Before

• After

Powerful but Easy to Understand Image Processing Tools:

Data Base• on-line images, requests, learning, etc.!

Example: Asteroid Discovery by Young Women! These materials are not esoteric to kids!

• FS144:

• FS144:

Asteroid Search Download Page

Kids and Supernovae

• Important Objects (in the California standards!)

• They create all of the matter of the universe -- you and I are star children

• Kids and Teachers love them

• They teach science and math kids have to learn anyway

• Kids have found them

Use in Classrooms and RAE

• Students/visitors rediscover a supernova in existing data or evolving data

• Slowly building a student-based supernova search

• Use supernova images to find asteroids

• Connect with Berkeley supernova groups and science

• Scale to AGN’s and all other transient objects

Small Telescopes Can Supplement NVO Data

• Follow up asteroids, variable AGN’s, stars, etc.

• Make science more valuable and immediate

• Exciting

• Teaches more inquiry- based science

• RTML (Remote Telescope Markup Language

More that NVO Do for HOU:

• Excel -->> SQL Cross-compilers/interpreters be able to make a global search on stars that vary, search on absolute magnitudes, search on any reasonable derived attribute. Jim Gray says it is possible.

• Utilize some Grid technology to establish up-link/server sites to consolidate data that cannot be put on a stable server at users “observatory” -- do photometry, astrometry, etc.

• Click on a Starry Night Star, and get all of the data ever taken on this, from every observatory or satellite in the world

• Be open to formative evaluation to make this operation successful -- establish a working group with funding for travel

The Future is Incredibly Bright

• There will be hiccups

• We can prove stuff works and succeeds better than “normal” informal science education soon!

• It will be a great journey together