Request a Reservation | McDonald Observatory

Contact About Friends of McDonald StarDate Online Sky Tips

This form is for classroom visit reservations only. All school groups are responsible for their own transportation needs while at McDonald Observatory.

We strongly recommend planning your visit at least six weeks in advance. This gives you time to plan and prepare students for a worthwhile learning experience at McDonald Observatory. We encourage teachers to think of the Observatory as an informal extension of their classroom and science instruction.

School Information — Please fill in all applicable fields

School Name

School Address

City	State	ZIP

School Phone Number	School Fax Number	School_ESC*

School Email Address

*Educational Service Center -- Texas schools only.

Contact Information for Lead Participating Teacher — Please fill in all fields

Title	First Name	M.I.	Last Name

Please provide your personal contact information so we can alert you about future teacher workshops. Use school address (above) for home address (below)
Home Address

City		State	ZIP

Phone Number		Email Address

Best Way to Contact You

Address: School Address Home Address

Phone: School Telephone Home Telephone

Email: School Email Home Email

Please Select the Student Field Experience Program

Grade Range	Group Size
	12 to 30 - Enriched Program 12 to 41 - General Program 42 to 80 - General Program — Groups greater than 41 must start at 10 a.m. or later.

A Student Field Experience Program can accommodate up to 80 students. If you are unsure which type of program best suits your needs, please review our information about Student Field Experience Programs.

Grade Level(s) and Group Size

Select your grade level above, the check all that apply:
K 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th

Approximate number of students:
80 student max. for general program; 30 for enriched. While we can accommodate fewer, we charge for a minimum of 12 students.

Approximate number of adults:
One adult is free for every 10 students for the Student Field Experience and evening Star Party; however, all participants are charged for the Twilight Program.

Lunch/Dinner Meal Arrangements

I want to arrange a lunch Meal at the on-site StarDate Café
We will bring our own sack lunch

My students are likely to purchase drinks, snacks (cookies, chips, etc.)
from the StarDate Café: Yes No

Note: Dinner Meals are available on a limited basis throughout the year. Please contact the StarDate Café for details if you want to request a dinner Meal or if to discuss Meal options before submitting a date request by calling 432-426-3644.

Enrichment Activity (for groups of less than 30 only)

You must choose an enrichment activity before submitting your request. If you are unsure about which of the following TEKS aligned activity to choose for your students, we can help. Please call Dr. Judy Meyer 432-426-4153, or Mr. Mark Cash 432-426-3684 to discuss which activity is most appropriate to enrich your regular classroom instruction.

	None - I am bringing more than 30 students and will not be selecting an activity.
	Our Star the Sun (K-5) Students make safe observations of the Sun, witness Earth’s rotation, and build scale models to represent the sizes of the Earth, Sun, and solar features.
	Shadow Play (K-4) - Students investigate the Sun's apparent motion in the sky with shadows.
	Constellation Games (K-3) - This activity centers on creativity and pattern finding.
	Planet Tours (3-6) - Students working in small groups research a member of our solar system.
	Making Scale Models (5-8) - Students build a distance and volume scale model of two Solar System objects.
	Modeling the Night Sky (3-8) - This solar system activity is a time scale model for the orbital motion of planets in our solar system.
	Solar System Science (5-8) - Students explore and compare planets in our solar system.
	Equatorial Sundial (5-9) - Student build an equatorial sundial, and use it measure solar time compared to standard time.
	Reflection (Mirror, Mirror) (5-9) - Student construct for themselves the law of reflection based on empirical evidence.
	Our star the Sun (6-8) - Students make safe observations of the Sun, witness Earth's rotation, explore our sun model and word wall, and learn about seasons.
	Telescope Technology (6-12) - Through this set of four problem solving challenges, students become members of a model HET.
	Our star the Sun (9-12) - Students make safe observations of the Sun, witness Earth's rotation, learn about energy transport and multi-wavelength observations of the sun.
	Spectroscope (9-12) - Students build a spectroscope with a diffraction grating and common classroom materials.
	Make Your Own Galaxy (9-12) - Students build a scale model of our Galaxy, identify major components, calculate scale distances, and compare neighboring galaxies to neighboring stars.
	Colors of Stars (9-10) - Students explore connections between matter, light, color and temp in the context of astronomy and stars.

Choose up to three dates and times for your visit

Student Field Experience programs are available from Monday - Saturday only. Groups greater than 41 must start at 10 a.m. or later.

	Date	Start Time
First choice:
Second choice:
Third choice:

Do you want to join a public Star Party and/or Twlight Program?

Star Parties are available on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays only. Our Twilight Program is an engaging, 60-70 minute learning experience which begins 90 minutes before the Star Party on Star Party nights only. This program is separate from and does not include the Star Party, although you may do both if you wish...most people do. Cost is $5 per person.

Star party? Yes, date:
Your approximate Star Party group size — Students: Adults:

Twilight program? Yes, date:
Your approximate Twilight Program group size — Students: Adults

Click Submit below to enter your request. You will be contacted by telephone or email regarding the status of your visit.

Support for HST-ED90234-01 was provided by NASA through a grant from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities in Astronomy, Incorporated, under NASA contract NAS5-26555.