The Lowell Observatory Navajo-Hopi Astronomy Outreach Program: the 2017-2018 School Year

洛厄尔天文台纳瓦霍-霍皮天文学推广计划：2017-2018 学年

• 批准号: 1738032
• 负责人: Deidre Hunter
• 金额: $ 8.87万
• 依托单位: Lowell Observatory
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-10-01 至 2018-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1738032&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Lowell; Observatory; Navajo; Hopi; Astronomy

The Lowell Observatory Navajo-Hopi Astronomy Outreach Program is a science enrichment program for Navajo and Hopi elementary school (5th-8th grade) students and their teachers. The program uses astronomy-­related activities in order to help teachers inspire students about science. The high school graduation rate of children in the Navajo and Hopi Nations is well below state and national averages; this program aims to inspire Native children to stay in school and to pursue careers in science. The investigators have taken the time to build relationships with the Native communities and to understand cultural differences that might hold children back from engaging in science. For example, several Nations have taboos about looking directly at the Moon or at a solar eclipse. The investigators build partnerships between astronomers and teachers in Native communities with each astronomer making multiple visits to a school to lead activities with the teachers and students. The school groups then visit Lowell Observatory for tours and visit the telescopes for a night of observing.The investigators plan to develop curriculum based on Project Based Learning and to explore the possibilities of expanding their program. For example, Burt Medicine Bull, a Northern Cheyenne educator, is interested in collaborating with the group. Trying their methods with a different group of students from the Northern Cheyenne Nation will help them determine how easy it will be to export their program. Assessment and evaluation will be managed by an education professor at Northern Arizona University who is an expert at working with Native educational groups.

洛厄尔天文台纳瓦霍皮天文学外展计划是针对纳瓦霍和霍皮小学（5至8年级）的学生及其老师的科学丰富计划。该计划使用与天文学相关的活动，以帮助教师启发学生有关科学的知识。纳瓦霍人和霍皮国家儿童的高中毕业率远低于州和国家平均水平；该计划旨在激发土著儿童留在学校并追求科学。调查人员花了时间与本土社区建立关系，并了解可能使儿童从事科学的文化差异。例如，几个国家对直接看月球或日食的禁忌。调查人员与每个天文学家之间的天文学家与教师之间建立了伙伴关系，他们对学校进行了多次访问，以与老师和学生一起进行活动。然后，学校团体访问洛厄尔天文台进行旅行，并访问望远镜观察晚会。调查人员计划根据基于项目的学习开发课程，并探索扩大计划的可能性。例如，北部夏安教育家伯特·医学公牛（Burt Medicine Bull）有兴趣与该组织合作。与来自北北国北部的不同学生一起尝试他们的方法将帮助他们确定出口计划的容易性。评估和评估将由北亚利桑那大学的教育教授管理，他是与本地教育小组合作的专家。