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This is the Classical Astronomy Update, an email newsletter especially
for Christian homeschool families (though everyone is welcome!)
Please feel free to share this with any interested friends.
IN THIS UPDATE:
- Announcements
- Heart of the Matter Online Conference
- Astronomy Poem - Reader Submission
- Using Signs & Seasons With Young Students
Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. - Acts 17:22
Welcome to the Classical Astronomy Update!
Hello Friends,
Many readers and others have inquired as to why so much time has gone by lately between Classical Astronomy Update newsletters. It has been my desire to create one of these once or twice a month, but we've had a series of family difficulties since about March, 2009, and it's been difficult to keep up with the many miscellaneous demands of life.
Please always keep in mind, folks, that I'm a busy homeschool dad with a day job, just like the dads in your home! Classical Astronomy is not much more than a hobby, and sure does not pay the bills around here! So we will do what we can to keep you informed throughout 2010, as opportunity permits.
Basically, it's been a slow season for astronomy news. Like much of the rest of the USA, alommg with the entire northern hemisphere, we're having an historic winter here in Ohio. Our hometown of Cleveland was recently named "worst winter city in the USA"! Suffice to say, we been having a LOT of snow lately, and haven't been seeing much of the starry sky. We'll hopefully have more to report as the season warms up and the skies clear out. In the meantime, here's a few brief notes....
Mars
If you are one of the few blessed with clear skies, the red planet Mars continues to rule the evening sky. You can't miss Mars as it shines at its brightest, having a copper color not unlike a shiny new penny. The waxing gibbous Moon will swing below Mars on the evening of Thursday, February 25. Give that a look-see if your clouds happen to part that night.
Galileo
I pretty much muffed an opportunity to write a timely article about the 400th anniversary of Galileo's discovery of Jupiter's moons, back in January. But suffice to say, way back in 1610, Galileo produced verifiable scientific evidence that not every object in the sky moved in an orbit around the Earth. This ultimately led to the development of modern science, and all the many technological advances that we enjoy today, like computers!
Announcements
Heart of the Matter Online Conference
Anyone interested in participating in an online homeschool conference? I've been checking into this concept and it's pretty cool. No driving in the snowy weather and fighting crowds... just grab a warm drink and sit home on your computer and let the conference speakers come to you over the internet!
I'll be participating in the Heart of the Matter Online Conference, which will be going on next week, from February 22 - 25, 2010. I'll be hosting a webinar entitled Classical Astronomy: The Biblical Purpose for the Sun, Moon and Stars at HOTM on Monday, February 22 at 12:30 PM EST. Check out this list of speakers and the topics of their presentations.
More info is available at the site, just follow the links.
My webinar will include a PowerPoint presentation that attendees can see online, and I'll be able to answer questions through a text chat box interface. It's a very cool online interface, presented through GoToWebinars.com, a related company to GoToMeetings.com, which I hear all the time advertising on talk radio.
The webinar feeds my voice and a view of my computer desktop that can be viewed by webinar participants. The online "room" can accommodate 1000 listeners! So you're all invited! (Please note - there is a nominal charge through HOTM, as this webinar service is not free.)
If you're interested in hearing me speak in person, or if you would ever consider recommending me for your homeschool conference, check out my speaker profile and schedule posted at the link below. Thanks!
Astronomy Poem - Reader Submission
We received this poem in an email from Heather Logsdon, an Update reader. Thanks Heather for your contribution! If anyone else would like to contribute to this newsletter, please drop us a line. We'd be happy to consider any submissions as long as they are not controversial, contrary to our mission to serve homeschool families, or otherwise something that I personally disagree with. Also, feel free to send us links to your website or other online content, consistent with the above guidelines. Thanks!
Galaxy Song
By Heather Logsdon
How greatly He esteems us,
That He should make the universe our playground-
The mammoth masses of spinning galaxies for our wonder.
We are a less than a fleck on a marble,
Held in a great swirling arm
Of one of these goliath phenomenon
That polka dot deep space.
Yet we are the ones who delight in their presence.
Do they have eyes to see one another?
Or mouths to tell each other how lovely they are?
Can they be amazed at one another's mysteries?
It is we who search them out
Because our minds make room for new amazements.
It is we who admire them from our look-out towers-
Witnessing secrets kept since time's beginning.
We look at them
But learn about ourselves-
How small we are,
And how greatly He esteems us,
That He should make the universe our playground!
Using Signs & Seasons With Young Students
Following our last newsletter in December, we got this question from Mrs. Edwards, who writes:
I am writing this in response to your call for questions in the last newsletter. I purchased Signs & Seasons 3 years ago when my eldest was in 2nd grade. I now have three children of elementary school age. What is the best way to introduce this material? We started with the seasonal constellations. Our approach is to do a little study each month or so.
I am hoping that this also might be a help to those who are interested in classical astronomy but are not ready to take on the rigors of the material in Signs and Seasons.
Dear Mrs. Edwards, thanks for your question. I believe it says somewhere in Signs & Seasons that, while the program is developed for teens, it can be used with younger kids under parental guidance. I think we've mentioned these points in the past, but it might not hurt to mention them again.
The best way to introduce Classical Astronomy at any age is to start observing the sky! Young kids, with their uncluttered minds, are very observant and do better than older kids at learning the constellations and observing the phases of the Moon. Try to learn the brighter seasonal stars and show those to the kids. Winter is a great time to get acquainted with Orion and the bright stars in that vicinity. Once you learn Orion and the winter sky, it's easy to learn Leo and the other seasonal skies as they roll in over the span of the year.
Also, when you see on the calendar that it is near the New Moon, make it a point to observe the waxing Moon at the same time in the evening over a period of days, weather permitting. This will get your kids used to looking at the sky when they are outside after dark. When our kids were little, I played a game with them called "Moonfinding." When we were outside, I'd ask them to find the Moon. They'd look around and the first one to see it would receive the honor of being told, "you're a Moonfinder." They thought this was fun when they were very little, between about 3 and 7.
Also have them make a backyard compass (as described in Signs & Seasons ) and make it a point to observe the lengths of their noon shadows over the span of the year. Also notice the changing "amplitude" of the Sun, how the Sun rises and sets far to the north in the summer, and far to the south here in the winter. This will help them observe the astronomical causes of the changing seasons and varying daylight.
You can also take the kids to the local planetarium where they can see a depiction of the night sky. Kids like this and they can learn a whole lot, especially if you make regular visits. If the kids are using the computer, download the Stellarium program mentioned in the last newsletter (http:/www.Stellarium.com). They can learn a lot by just playing around with that.
Hope these suggestions help, thanks for the question. -jay
Coming in future Classical Astronomy Updates:
- We may still yet about "The Galileo Affair" sometime in early 2010.
- The bright morning star Venus has emerged again from the sunset and will now be visible as the evening star until October, 2010.
Til next time, God bless and clear skies!
-jay
The Ryan Family
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and
the stars, which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art
mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
- Psalm 8:3,4, a Psalm of David
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