Developing the "Multiwavelength Astronomy: Galaxies in a Different Light" ActivityMary Kay Hemenway, Shardha Jogee, Kyle Fricke, and Randi Worhatch (University of Texas at Austin)

and Lauri F. Ruberg (Wheeling Jesuit University, Center for Education Technologies)

"Multiwavelength Astronomy" is designed to lead high school students to an understanding of how astronomers use different wavelengths to learn about the nature of galaxies. In developing the activity we followed guidelines from the NASA-funded Virtual Design Center created by the Center for Educational Technologies at Wheeling Jesuit University. With the project rationale and standards-alignment analysis completed, we surveyed high school students from several classes about their understanding of and interest in topics related to galaxy research. Their responses, and later pilot tests with secondary teachers and students, informed the development team's efforts. Among the topics are the electromagnetic spectrum, false-color imaging, image resolution, Wien's law, and galaxy morphology. These were chosen to serve as pre-requisites for future analysis activities that involve students using data sets from the HST Advanced Camera for Surveys, from the Galaxy Evolution, Morphology and SEDs (GEMS) survey, one of the widest-area galaxy surveys conducted in two filters with HST to date, as well as data from other observatories. Our description of the development process will illustrate how we structured activities to move from introductory, hands-on sorting of images (in this activity) to computer intensive and conceptually challenging activities (future) with the design goal of incrementally increasing student conceptual learning. Products for this activity include student and teacher guides, series of images in different wavelengths, a PowerPoint presentation, and sample materials for student assessment and evaluation of the activities.

Support from NASA grants NAG5-13063 and NNG-06GB99G and NSF grant AST- 0607748 is gratefully acknowledged.

Materials for Multiwavelenth AstronomyAbove: galaxies in different wavelengths & study guide

Below: exercise in pixels and false colors

Goal

To produce a series of activities for high school students that • will be related to the science PI's research• are linked to standards• are engaging for high school students at several levels and varying abilities

Students pilot test the activity

Procedure1. Having a vague idea of where we want to

end up (using state-of-the-art research results on galaxies), lay out a graduated plan to get there.

2. Consult with VDC 3. Align with standards2. Survey audience to find out what they

know and what they are interested in. (Simple questions, open-ended answers - categories such as bored, liked a little, liked a lot.) 29 physics, 14 AP physics, 7 astronomy students [Sept 2006]

3. Use survey results to develop materials.4. Pilot test the materials with teachers

[December 2006] and with target audiences of students [January 2007 and April 2007]

5. Revise after each pilot test.

Planned sequence of activities

For more information about working with the Virtual Design Center: http://vdc.cet.edu

For copies of the activity, contact Mary Kay Hemenway at marykay@astro.as.utexas.edu

For more information about GCET:http://www.as.utexas.edu/gcet/

VDC steps• project rationale • standards alignment• investigation question• assessment• best practices• learning technology

Virtual Design Center Principles• Designers should enhance learners' ill-structured

problem solving skills• Research question should pique learners' curiosity• Research question should spark learners' idea

about the answer• Designers should offer learners choices during the

conduct of investigations• Designers should provide support by fostering

multiple abilities• Designers should provide support by promoting

self-regulated learning• Designers should encourage team work• Designers should scaffold learners to organize

their understanding of the problem• Designers should help learners justify their

solutions through argumentation

Visual image classification of galaxies(Introduce galaxy sorting by types in visual wavelengths)

Multi-wavelength inspection of galaxies(Respond to survey results - interest in wavelengths other

than visual) THIS ACTIVITY

Stellar evolution(Scaffold step needed to understand why different types of

galaxies have different types of stars; this includes a fair amount of physics.)

Far, far away(Use the Galaxies and Cosmos Explorer Tool (GCET) to examine very distant galaxies. GCET uses an Internet

interface.)

Long, long ago(Redshift is a time label that indicates age of the universe

when the light left the galaxy. Compare and contrast galaxies over time using GCET.)

Important ConceptsOf the activity

• Astronomers use data from many regions of the EM-spectrum• False color images make information at "invisible" wavelengths easy to view at a glance• Different detectors result in different resolution, similar to different pixel sizes• Everything emits radiation - Wien's law • Different types of celestial objects emit different types of radiation• Telescope/instruments vary in wavelength region, size, resolution….

Pilot Testing Results• Changed galaxy cards to be negatives - easier to notice details AND less toner needed to make copies • Changed galaxy cards to be all the same size• Added information on cards about the telescope used, and data sheet on the telescopes - due to student interest• Added "coloring" exercise on resolution (high student response)•Expanded activity beyond sorting to include reflection on making choices.• Added "expert" interpretation of sample images to provide a sample of scientific reasoning for the sorting exercise• Keep this activity "low tech" with hands-on cards to be duplicated at teacher request (not sufficient classroom computers for computer version)• Expanded accompanying PowerPoint that shows color images of galaxies in different wavelength regions.

Interactions with VCD

• Initial meeting at 2006 ASP conference• Requested facilitation, October 2006• Telecoms in October, November, December• Written comments from VCD in January 2007• Meeting at AAS Seattle meeting, January 2007• Telecom in April 2007 (after final pilot test)

Materials submitted to the VCD for review at several stages of the project included original EPO proposal for the project, the results of the student surveys, copies of the activity in progressive stages.

Advice helped the development team focus on objectives and ways to increase student learning. The big change from prior activity development was the focus on student comments before we started writing the activity. Student interest in multi-wavelength observations drove the team to insert this activity as part of the scaffolding to get to GCET.