Sunday, October 11, 2009

ASTRONOMY

Ds 9 has been taking an Astronomy course at a community college this Fall. This is actually the third week into the quarter, and our lives have become extremely busy. Though ds has read many books casually on general Astronomy, planets, black holes, galaxies and what not before this college course, he is finding new things to learn further and appreciate in this course. He is especially riveted by the magnificent professor who is teaching this course. He is loving his home works, labs, his classmates, and just cannot stop talking about all the fun things about Astronomy:).

This is not his first college course in a college campus; but this is the first college course that has made him totally oblivious to the whole world around him. When he took the other courses, he was seen as a cute boy in the class, whose feet did not yet reach the ground. People were curious, and wondered about him. He was not comfortable as much with all the attention he got from others. This time, people do notice, admire and are curious about him. He has shot a bit in height, but not so much to 'blend' in with the rest of the class. He is still seen as a cute boy in this class by his adult classmates, but he does not seem to notice or mind that at all. He has 3 hours of lecture and 1 1/2 hours of lab, back to back, (with just 15mins break during the lectures), and that too, twice a week classes, and he still wants more! He comes home after class, wanting to work more, claiming that his brain is awake with new thoughts! He has this sudden deep interest in knowing more about Astrophysics.

Sometimes I wonder if he will ever find just 'one' field fascinating enough to stick to in his adult life. He has so many interests, that it amazes me the way he juggles all of them, to keep learning about every one of them. I see him battle with his multiple interests and talents, and finds it hard to give up any of them. Lately, unable to give up his 'first love' computers and computer science, he says that he would find a way to club the fields of computer science, (Astro) physics and (Astro) biology to become the scientist he wants to be. And with all of this, he also plans to find a way to be a Typographer and Writer as well:). Well, I am just happy that this quarter is working very well for him.

Since Astronomy has become one of 'my' favorite sciences in the recent years because of my kids:), I have been dabbling with some wonderful online materials, as well as books from the library, for the past few years. Before doing any serious learning on Astronomy through books, we spent enormous time just watching the sky! Some of the fabulous times we have spent as a family are in Chabot Space and Science museum in Oakland. We used to visit the Chabot Space center every Saturday, to view the planets late in the nights through the spectacular telescopes there. It was (and still is), one of our favorite things to do as a family outing.

My kids were exposed to telescopes and planets very early. They have been obsessed with watching the planets since age 2. They would insist on waiting in those long lines along with the other grown-ups for those late night viewings beyond 11pm, not minding the chilly fall and winter weather at the Chabot observatory. They would climb up onto those telescope ladders on those dark nights, ('I will do it all by myself' would be their mantra). They would watch the planets and stars wide eyed, kind of mesmerized by what they would see, (until I had to peel them off of the telescope to get them down, so others could take their turns). The scientists close by would explain what was being focused in the sky, and were happy to have long conversations with the kids, impressed by their interest and knowledge about space and planets. And then, the kids would march right back onto the back of the line, to wait yet another turn to watch it again. And then again and again:).

There were other scientists, professional and amateur astronomers who would be also present, and sometimes they had their own telescopes set up for anyone to see through them. They were very happy to talk to the kids as well, and entertained the questions and discussions. Dd would bring in all her readings on space, mythology, and physics into her discussions, while ds would obsess about black holes and Stephen Hawking:). This went on for many years as part of our homeschooling journey. I used to look forward to the planet viewings every weekend, along with the kids. We still enjoy watching the planets as a family, and love our visits to Chabot. But we also found other places to hang out with professional and amateur astronomers, as well as with our own telescope and binoculars, to watch the sky. We also attended many public lectures in the universities, museums and science centers.

Here are a few places in the SF bay area that are highly recommended by my kids to learn more about Astronomy.
There myriad ways to learn about Astronomy from books and online programs. I have tried to list a few here. Hope it is of use to you. The following are a few Astronomy college level courses available online for FREE, for anyone to use.

Check out this fabulous list of college level Astronomy courses. Most of these are beginner levels, and are wonderfully done.
  • Astronomy 101 Basic Astronomy course from About.com. Check out this fabulous course, and also the forum.
High school level courses
Standard Deviants
General DVDs regarding Astronomy we have enjoyed so far, and are easily available through the libraries.



Kids Astronomy Resources

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Books on Astronomy
This is not an exhaustive list, and I am sure there are more available in the book stores. Ds spent much of his times reading books by Stephen Hawking, Brian Greene, Issac Asimov, and Carl Sagan. In addition, below are some of the books we have brought home frequently from the library. Some of these we liked so much that we added to our personal home library collection.

General Astronomy, planets, stars books
Solar system and more(from my personal blog)

Sky Observation and telescopes
Constellations, mythology, some history
Cosmology, space, universe, history
Science Fiction stories with Astronomy selective list of short stories and novels, which can be used to teaching Astronomy and reinforcing concepts. From the Astronomical society of the Pacific.

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