The Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) is a not-for-profit foundation established in 1998. Located in the Pisgah Forest 30 miles southwest of Asheville, NC, the PARI campus is a dark sky location for astronomy. The 200 acre campus houses radio and optical telescopes, earth science instruments, 30 buildings, a fulltime staff and all the infrastructure necessary to support STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education and research. PARI offers educational programs at all levels, from K-12 through post-graduate research. The institute is affiliated with the 16-campus University of North Carolina system through PARSEC, a UNC Center hosted at PARI, and is a member of the NC Grassroots Museum Collaborative. For more information about PARI and its programs, visit www.pari.edu.

C. Whitworth, M. W. CastelazPisgah Astronomical Research Institute, One PARI Drive, Rosman, NC 28772 www.pari.edu “Cosmos in the Classroom: A Hands-on Symposium on Teaching Introductory Astronomy,” ASP Annual Meeting, Boulder, Colorado, August 1, 2010

Effective Online Tools for Astronomy EducationFunding for this program is provided by the National Science Foundation, DUE 0937824

Astronomical Photographic Data Archive (APDA )• North American astronomical photographic data collections stored at

PARI• Rescue, archive, index, provide astronomical photographic data

Main SCOPE website with pages for “The Science,” “How to Take Part in SCOPE,” “Classify Stars,” FAQs, and Feedback.

Login and select a plate. Stars ready for classifying on the chosen plate are outlined in blue boxes.

Selected star is outlined by a yellow box and ported to a new screen for first level of classification by comparing to standard spectra.

After the first level of classification, a subclass can be chosen again by comparison to standard spectra. When done, the user is prompted to classify another star.

Stellar Classification Online Public Exploration (SCOPE)

Learners, as citizen scientists, explore the visible stellar sky. Digitized images of archived astronomical photographic data taken over three decades are available through a user-friendly web interface and designed for classification of stars.

School of Galactic Radio Astronomy (SGRA) -

Smiley

The School of Galactic Radio Astronomy was created to address the need to provide resources for middle and high schools for observational astronomy projects and labs. The main resource is the 4.6 m radio telescope, called “Smiley.” Users attend a one-day workshop to learn about radio astronomy, perform lab activities, practice using the telescope and ask PARI staff questions. About 500 teachers and students now have a user name and password which allows them to schedule time and access the telescope from their home and school. The School of Galactic Radio Astronomy has been operating since November 2001. Features include:• Streaming video of the telescope via

webcam.• Current position reading in both alt-

az and equatorial coordinates.• Simulated hand-paddle for manual

adjustment of position.• Source catalogue for automatic

positioning• Switches for changing from

continuum to spectrum mode.• Provision for tracking or drift scan

observations.• Observation room for watching

other users activities

Educator Tools for SGRA

Educator Tools for SCOPE

•Four lab/lesson outlines found in the NSDL.org system and at http://www.pari.edu/programs/teachers/smiley/Labs

•Lab 1. What’s Between the Stars?

•Lab 2. Doppler Effect

•Lab 3. Mapping Radio Sources

•Lab 4. Radio Waves from the Galaxy

•New!! BETA access to data without requiring a login to Smiley is found at http://www.pari.edu/smiley-data/applet.html

• http://www.pari.edu/library• Contact: mcastelaz@pari.edu

HR diagram lesson- Available Now! At http:// scope.pari.edu using spectra in the SCOPE system.

Coming soon!! Researchable topics to be found in the SCOPE system.