Teacher Workshops

Chris Kinion Age of the Milky Way Galaxy Workshop 2009

Are you interested in astronomy? Most likely your students are too. Do you want to incorporate astronomy into your science curriculum? Astronomy offers an inviting way into the world and culture of science. Would you prefer a teacher-centered, engaging learning experience? Passive lectures and slideshows will not dominate your time. You will do the activities with a dual mindset of student and teacher, while learning firsthand the concepts and applications.

Summer 2012 Workshops at the Observatory

McDonald Observatory offers a unique setting for teacher workshops: the Observatory and Visitors Center in the Davis Mountains of West Texas.  Tours of the telescopes, discussions with the research astrophysicists in residence, and nighttime observations are an integral part of every workshop experience. Not only will you do inquiry-based activities aligned with science and mathematics TEKS and TAKS, you will practice your new astronomy skills under the Observatory’s dark skies, weather permitting, and partner with trained and nationally recognized astronomy educators.

McDonald Observatory has been celebrating the 2009 International Year of Astronomy by offering K-12 teacher IYA content in teacher workshops as part of the international Galileo Teacher Training Program. We will continue to offer this same programming throughout the 2012 workshops.

Benefits

• 20 hours or more of Continuing Education Credit for Summer workshops
• inquiry based activities that are TEKS- and TAKS-aligned
• immersion: lunch and dinner are at the Observatory
• meet astronomers and discuss current astronomical research
• practice basic astronomy skills

How To Apply

The online application is available here. Please apply!

The deadline for all applications is February 10, 2012. All applications accepted after that date are for wait lists only.

Directions to the Observatory

The McDonald Observatory is located in the beautiful Davis Mountains of west Texas.
Click here for driving and flying directions to our facility.

2012 Schedule, Fees and Information

Scholarships for teachers are available for three of this summer's
workshops. For these funded workshops, room and board, program fees, and
materials are provided by the funding agencies listed with the workshop
descriptions. Accepted teachers are required to pay a refundable $100
deposit, and are responsible for their own transportation to/from McDonald
Observatory.

* Workshop sponsors have provided full scholarships for all U.S. participants for the "Comets!," "Worlds Beyond Our Solar System", "Exploring the Hubble Universe", "Solar Systems Uncovered", and "Light and Optics" workshops only. The scholarships cover lodging, meals, program fees, and instructional materials. Scholarship participants must pay a $100 deposit by April 16, 2012 to hold their reservation, and pay for their transportation to/from McDonald Observatory.

Other workshops are available for $600/participant. This fee covers lodging, meals, program fees, and instructional materials. A $100 deposit is due April 16, 2012, and remaining fee due one month before workshop begins. (A deposit will still be due by April 16.)

All programs include both day and night instructional sessions, materials, daytime tours, evening observing (weather permitting), lodging, and meals. Shared hotel rooms have been reserved for registered participants only.  Participants who do not wish to share a room with another participant are responsible for reserving and paying for any other additional hotel room arrangements for themselves or accompanying family or friends. If you are participating in a workshop and will be arranging your own room, please let us know at least 45 days in advance of the workshop. Please be aware that some of the telescope observing activites will last until late hours.

All applications must be submitted by February 10, 2012. You should receive notification as to the status of your application within 2 weeks after the deadline date. For all McDonald Observatory workshops, we require a $100 deposit to be made to our secure online system by April 16, 2012 to hold your reservations. If the deposit is not paid by this date, your spot will be given to the next qualified applicant.

Payment and $100 Deposit Refund Policy

If you are accepted into a funded workshop ("Comets!", "Worlds Beyond Our Solar System", "Solar Systems Uncovered", "Exploring the Hubble Universe", or "Light and Optics")

• A $100 deposit is required by April 16, 2012.
• If you attend the workshop, or cancel more than 30 days before the first day of the workshop, your deposit will be refunded to you.
• If you fail to appear for your workshop, or cancel less than 30 days before the first day of the workshop, you will be charged $100.

If you are accepted into the "Explore Our Solar system" workshop:

• The workshop fee is $600 unless outside funding is obtained.
• A $100 deposit is due April 16, 2012. The remaining balance, if necessary, is due one month before workshop begins.
• Your $100 deposit is fully refunded if you cancel more than 30 days prior to the beginning of the workshop.
• Teachers cancelling less than 30 days prior to the beginning of the workshop do not receive deposit refunds.

Suggestion: If you are accepted for a workshop and require funds for travel, we recommend you contact your school administration or parents' organization. Some teachers have found support from local businesses and industries in their communities. And some have done fundraising events such as bake sales. McDonald Observatory does not have any travel funds available for participants. For each workshop, we post a school email address for each participant so that travel/carpooling arrangements can be coordinated.

Workshop Descriptions

Comets!
June 25-27 (3 days/2 nights)
Recommended for grades 6-12
20 SBEC credits
Application Deadline: Feb 10
$100 deposit due: April 16

The study of comets has provided significant contributions to our understanding of the origin and evolution of the solar system. This workshop will offer a variety of lessons on comets, solar system formation, properties of planets, spectroscopy, and the related astronomical instrumentation used to study these topics.

NASA provides support that enables us to offer scholarships for this workshop under grant #NNX08A052G. Teachers cover their own transportation.

Worlds Beyond Our Solar System
June 28-30 (3 days/2 nights)
Recommended for grades 7-12
20 SBEC credits
Application Deadline: Feb 10
$100 deposit due: April 16

Astronomers are finding new planets around other stars at an increasing rate. What do we know about these exoplanets? How do we know what we know? This workshop will focus on spectroscopy and how it applies to our discoveries of the properties of these distant worlds, including detection of the atmospheres of some exoplanets. Visit the first ground-based telescope to ever observe the atmosphere of an extra-solar planet.

The National Science Foundation provides partial support that enables us to offer scholarships for this workshop under grant #0807992. Teachers cover their own transportation.

Light and Optics
July 9-11 (3 day/2 night)
Recommended for Grades 8-12
20 SBEC credits
Application Deadline: Feb 10
$100 deposit due: April 16

Explore how astronomers use lenses, mirrors, prisms, and diffraction gratings in building astronomical instruments and telescopes. Build a cardboard spectrometer, and perform activities that explore light at many wavelengths, such as the infrared region of the spectrum, that you can do in your own classroom. Learn how NASA develops astronomical instrumentation for its missions. Recommended for physics and astronomy teachers.

NASA provides partial support that enables us to offer scholarships for this workshop under grant #NNX10AC68G. Teachers cover their own transportation.

Exploring the Hubble Universe
July 16-18
Recommended for grades 8-12
20 SBEC credits
Application Deadline: Feb 10
$100 deposit due: April 16

How do the nature and observations of galaxies play a role in our understanding of the Universe? This workshop will offer insight into the needs for both ground and space based telescopes, how galaxies form and evolve, galaxy shapes, and the conditions of the early Universe.

Solar Systems Uncovered
July 23-25 (3 day/2 night)
Recommended for Grades 6-12
20 SBEC credits
Application Deadline: Feb 10
$100 deposit due: April 16

With over 600 planets known to revolve around other stars, astronomers are now able to learn more details about these stars and their planets. Spectroscopy is a powerful tool that is used with ground-based telescopes to complement the work done from space in NASA missions. Perform activities that explore light at many wavelengths. Compare these planets to our solar system. Perform activities on how stars and planets are measured.

Outside funding for this workshop is being pursued and we hope to have scholarships available. If we are unable to raise funds to offer scholarships and there are sufficient participants willing to pay the $600 registration fee, we will offer the workshop on a fee basis. Fees cover lodging, meals, registration, and instructional materials. Teachers are responsible for their own transportation.

Explore Our Solar System
July 26-28 (3 days/2 nights)
Fee $600
Recommended for Grades K-8
20 SBEC credits
Application Deadline: Feb 10
$100 deposit due: April 16

Celebrate the Year of the Solar System by exploring our solar system through hands-on, minds-on activities that you use in your classroom. Learn about the Sun——its characteristics and apparent motion. Explore properties and motions of planets. At night, observe the sky with the unaided eye and view a variety of celestial objects through telescopes at the Visitors Center Astronomy Park. Tour the research telescopes.

Fees cover lodging, meals, registration, and instructional materials. Teachers are responsible for their own transportation.