What I've Learned So Far

1. List at least 3 things you've learned since you started working on your senior project.

• In order to understand what Astronomy is about and learned it's fundamentals, you need to be able to start from the beginning. Understanding basic vocabulary and define each object.

• Teaching astronomy can be very difficult because every year new information gets updated, therefore, the student/teacher need to acknowledge these materials being presented.

• What material is presented to the class and how it is presented matters a lot. This is why you want to divide the subject up as my interviewers told me. It would just be easier to focus on the subject and fully understnd it.

2. Post evidence of this accomplishment. It can be in the form of a picture, video, document, etc. 

As you can see in this picture, the students are learning about lunar eclipse. The students seem to be very engage with what is being presented. Moreover, you can see how the material is being presented in a way were students are getting involved.

EQ: What is the most important quality of a successful astronomy class?

(1) Define possible terms in your EQ

Important- something that is influential to other things

Quality- different "kinds", many different factors

Sucessful- useful, strong

(2) So far based on your research, what are possible answers to your EQ? 

Based on my research so far, I would say possible answers would be the following. First, the subject that deals with stars and galaxies. One of the essentials that astronomy focuses on. Another answer could be the solar system itself. This deals with the plantetary, satellites, and other object surrounding our universe. Last, I can see space travel being one of the major elements to my essential question.

(3) What has been your most important printed source and why?

The most important source has been the book that Professor Phil gave me when I interviewed him- Universe by Roger Freedman. It comes with a visual an audio cd as well. It is the most important source for now because its a recent book about astronomy. It tells you everything that you have to know and understand about the sunject before you go into teaching it. It has been very helpful.

Second Interview Questions

1. What inspired you to become an astronomy teacher?

2. From your point of view, what is the most difficult subject to teach in astronomy? 

3. What would you say your weakness and strenghts are in astronomy/teaching?

4. What is one of your favorite topics, when teaching astronomy? Why?

5. What is required in order to become an astronomy teacher?

Interview Reflection #1

What is the most important thing I learned from the interview and why? The most important thing I learned from my interview was how the subject is divided. My senior project is not that easy due to the fact that it's to broad and there's a lot to learn. I learned that astronmy has three branches it can be divided into : solar systems, galaxies, and the universe itself. This will help me narrow down the topics I want to teach for my final presentation, which is teaching astronomy. It clearly helped me figure out what specific thing I want to focuss on in astronomy. Now I know what I need to research to fully meet my goal and understand this subject overall. Clearly, this is the most important thing I learned from my first interview.

Five-Minute Presentation Reflection

1) What would you say stood out about your presentation performance and why?
I would say that I was very professional when presenting my topic, Astronomy. I knew my information and was very comfortable when I did my presentaion. I think it showed because I got some feedback from the students after my presentation and during as well. When I checked for understanding, most students wanted to participate and knew the aswer. That made me understand that I did a pretty good job in presenting and demonstrating my point.


2) What was most challenging to do and why?
The most challenging thing to do in my presentation was to put all my information between two and five minutes. I knew so much that I did not know how to divide the information  easy enough for students to understand. Not to mention my topic contains a lot of information that is hard to present in just a short amount of time. But I believe I did a pretty god job.

Career

Exit Interview

I-Search

Idea Approval

What would you like to do/create for your independent component?
For my independent task, I want to be able to teach astronomy to teens and kids. I've been talking to Ms. Melagno and she actually offered me this opportunity to teach the class in the beginning (for ten minutes) every day I have class with her. I do not know if it would count because it's in iPoly, but I have a second plan. I am doing community service with Mendoza Elementary School and I would probably teach kids astronomy. I talked to the principal and she said that she would allow me this opportunity.So this two independents tasks are what I have in mind so far.

Explain how you think this will be a worthwhile use of 30 hours?
This independent task is a great opportunity because not only would I learn how to teach to students, but I will be able to teach teens and kids about astronomy. They will have a better view of the subject and I know I can learned a lot before my big presentation. This is why I am doing my service learning with an astronomy professor so I can be able to put in action what I learned in a similar way. By the end of my independent task, I will figure out what should I focus on for my final presentation and how will I present it.

How will this help you to answer your EQ?
My EQ is -What is the most important quality of a successful astronomy class? My independent study will help me answer my question because I will be teaching so much in different areas, that it will help me narrow down the what materials and methods are most valuable in astronomy. Throughout my studies, I will find my aswer to this questions.

Independent Study 2

Interview 1 Prep

Who do you plan to interview?Why?

Even though I am waiting for a reply, I want to interview Julie Bray. She is a professor at Mt.Sac who teaches Astronomy and is a good candidate for my first interview. Bray teaches an introduction of Astronomy, which I believe can help me guide through the beginning of my research for my topic. She can give me a brief introduction on the subject and what I will be getting myself into. Moreover, Bray is also a teacher and it could help me get some feedback in how to start my teaching skills for a class. I can learn some tips in how to motivate and make a class fun for students and things similar to that. It would be a fun experience to be able to interview her in such an interesting topic.


You've been assigned five questions. What more do you plan to ask?

I plan to ask questions that can really help me get a better understanding of the subject. For instance, I may ask her to give me her persperctive in some topics in the field or her teaching skills. I may even ask her what are the most important issues regarding to Astromy. Basically, questions that can give me an explanation of the subject and valuable things that can help me improve my teaching skills. An exaple would be the following:

What topics are most important or should be more focused and why?
What teachniques do you use when you teach?
How do you teach an astronomy class?
Do you do anything in particular that makes students understand better?

Math

Presentation Rough Draft

Objective:  Students will learn a brief introduction of what astronomy is and how is it different from astrophysics.

Procedure:

1. Start my presentation with describing what my topic is and what will I be talking about.(5sec)
2. Ask audience what they know about astronomy.( 30sec)
3. Describe is the oldest subject around and the newest.(30sec)
4. Describe how astronomy can be divided into three categories- solar systems, galaxies, and the universe itself.(2min)
5. What is the difference between astronomy and astrophysics.(30 sec)
6. Make the audience answer verbal questions(40 sec)
7. Thank you. This ends my presentation.(5 sec)

Check for understanding:

At the end of my presentation, I will be asking  students  to answer some questions that was taught during my presentation and ask them if they have any questions as well. It will allow me to understand if the students understood was given to them.

Resources/Materials:

Two posters-1 a picture of space:2 a list of differences between astronomy and astrophysics

picture of the solar systems and galaxies

Product

Topic Choice

What is your topic?

My senior topic is astrophysics, physics of the universe. Astrophysics deals with the mysteries and properties of the universe such as black holes, dark matter, galaxies, the Big Bang and many phenomanal theories that has scientists and me fascinating. It has helped scientists discover the age of the sun, time of our existence and hopefully another home from Earth.

Why did you choose this topic?

I chose Astrophysics as my topic because I want to teach and learn the mysterious of the universe. It's very exciting to know that there are much bigger stuff than the planets in space. There's black holes, which really are like "mosters" in space because they eat anything according to scientists. Moreover, theres also dark matter that has become one of the key elements for the existence of the solar systems and everything else. Mysteries like this is what got me very interested in this subject; people think there's only danger here on Earth, but there much bigger tragedies heading towards Earth. I am very curious to know what other mysterious exist in the universe and how does it affect us individually.

What do you hope to accomplish after studying this topic all year?

I hope to accomplish "anwers" after studying Astrophysics all year. I want to be able to know what these mysterious around the universe truly are and their existence. I hope to see physcics and astronomy in another way that will help me through my journey of life. Finally, gain more knowledge on subjects like physics, technology, math, and astronomy. Overall, I want to accomplish these and much more.

Research Semester 2

Science Fair

Service Learning