Planets and Suns: Astronomy for Homeschool Teens
*The event has already taken place on this date: Wed, 12/16/2015
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For our fourth consecutive year, RMSC Strasenburgh Planetarium offers morning astronomy courses for homeschool families with students around 12 to 15 years old.
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In "Planets and Suns," we use the Planetarium exhibit area and Star Theater (open just to us during our time). We begin by learning how to watch the beautiful groupings of bright planets that will appear in the pre-dawn sky in October. Then we move on to planets and their orbits, how planet motions appear to us on Earth, and how Kepler and other great astronomers figured out that the planets in our sky revolve around our Sun. After surveying our own solar system, we move out to the stars, noting how some stars resemble our Sun and others are different. All this leads to our final exploration: the search for Earthlike planets orbiting other stars in their "Goldilocks zones." Students will compile a collection of information handouts and activity sheets (and will get a binder to keep them in for future reference.)
Parents and guardians are welcome to attend all sessions, either to sit at the side or work with their student. Parents and guardians are responsible for all health requirements for their students (we do not dispense medication, for instance), and for arranging non-distracting activities for siblings who may come along.
Our philosophy for homeschool courses:
1. Parents and guardians are in charge of directing their students' learning and activities.
2. Our goal is to present only solid science. We select material that is suitable and interesting for the students' age level, but we do not present kid stuff or fake explanations that will have to be unlearned later.
3. There is no pressure to "keep up" or pass tests. We hand out occasional quizzes just to get an idea where the students are in their understanding and previous experience.
4. Some of our activities use math up to the level of simple geometry and algebra, but with no pressure. We don't promote answer-getting or requiring problems to be solved in a certain way.
*Times, dates, and prices of any activity posted to our calendars are subject to change. Please be sure to click through directly to the organization’s website to verify.