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Engaging Communities with Live Space Data EUSEA Annual Conference 2012

Engaging Communities with Live Space Data EUSEA Annual Conference 2012. Dr Niall Smith Cork Institute of Technology Blackrock Castle Observatory. Blackrock Castle Observatory (Cork, Ireland). Observatory and Science Centre operated by Cork City Council and Cork Institute of Technology

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Engaging Communities with Live Space Data EUSEA Annual Conference 2012

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  1. Engaging Communities with Live Space DataEUSEA Annual Conference 2012 Dr Niall Smith Cork Institute of Technology Blackrock Castle Observatory

  2. Blackrock Castle Observatory (Cork, Ireland) • Observatory and Science Centre operated by Cork City Council and Cork Institute of Technology • Particular interest in STEM education • Over 200,000 visitors to science centre in 5 years • Over 50,000 schoolchildren have availed of our workshops (at primary and secondary level) • Accredited to provide CPD to teachers to use “space” in the classroom Significant feedback from a wide and varied cohort

  3. Why Engage with Communities? • To increase interest in STEM related careers at a time when technology is increasingly commonplace in society • To develop innovative methods underpinned by inquiry-based education that can reach directly into existing educational systems • To improve the baseline understanding and acceptance of scientific methods amongst the general public Students Communities Teachers

  4. What is “Live Space Data”? Optical Spacecraft Ground-Based Telescopes Radio Customised Web Interface USER Student Public Research Primary / Secondary / Tertiary

  5. “ • Send a message towards a known exoplanet via a small radiotelescope using a real radio signal • Watch live via a web interface • Messages can be tracked subsequently using a unique user id Case Study I - Radio Telescope

  6. Case Study I - Radio Telescope Permanent live feed from another radio telescope

  7. Case Study I - Radio Telescope • Deployment into schools in Cork in autumn • - curriculum links / resource packs / sensors • Sending a message to space provides a unique context for discussion • - what are stars and planets? • - how far away are the stars? • - how do you make a radio telescope? • - what might alien DNA look like? • The same questions can be discussed according to the user level. • The complexity of the data you receive depends on the user level. Hugely flexible and very cost-effective

  8. Case Study II - Optical Telescope • Live imaging using telescope at Chabot Science Center in San Francisco • 8 hour time difference • Acts as a catalyst for ideas, conversations, connections Chabot at night Art and Science Images taken and processed by 5 schools

  9. Next Phase – Optical Telescope Farms Communities Research Cloud Big Data Centres of Excellence in Science Communication

  10. Conclusion • Now technologically possible to bring live space data into the classroom, the science centre, etc. • Coordination by Centres of Excellence • Live space data can be customised to the target audience • Especially important for teenagers • The experience is centred around inquiry / debate / uniqueness • Encourages discussion across cultural and discipline boundaries

  11. Thankyou www.bco.ie

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