(*) STAFF OF THE PROJECT

1. THE PROJECT IN NUMBERS • ~350-400 students per year freely decide to take part of the project • 14 hours of astrophysical lectures + 2 conferences are given to the students by the staff of the Dept. of Astronomy and the teachers involved in the project • 26 high schools of Veneto region are currently involved • 9 out 26 high schools have a leadership within the project (reference schools) and host the scheduled lectures • ~30 teachers and several principals are involved • ~150-170 students per year decide to attempt the admission test after having attended the astrophysical lectures • 50 students per year are admitted to the training period at the Asiago Astrophysical Observatory • ~35-40 hrs per student are necessary for observations, data reduction, data analysis and interpretation during the period at the observatory • ~12-13 scientific reports per year are produced by the students focused on several astrophysical topics TOPICS OF THE LECTURES • The blackbody radiation • The dual nature of light and the hydrogen atom • The magnitudes, colors and spectra of stars • The H-R diagram and the stellar evolution • The planets of the Solar System and the search of extrasolar planets • The gaseous nebulae spectra • The Universe of galaxies WORKING AT THE TELESCOPE SOME WORKS OF THE STUDENTS Grouping the students The first step of the training period in Asiago consists of a briefing with the students and their teachers, when some topics of research are proposed by the astronomers. Then the students are organized in groups of 3-4 members and a specific topic is assigned to each group on the basis of their own choice. Observing with the telescope During the night, if weather conditions are acceptable, students can directly observe, pointing the telescope and acquiring the data necessary for their research. First, the students get acquainted with Linux operating system and begin with a first introduction to the use of IRAF software. In case the weather does not allow to open the dome, datasets of archival data are already prepared for data reduction and analysis. Working with the data During the day the students carry out the reduction of both spectroscopic and/or photometric data under the guide of the astronomers, who explain the procedure step by step. Then the analysis of the data is performed using astronomical software and taking adavntage of scientific information extracted from ADS abstract service and internet web sites. The collected material is used for the finale reports. RESEARCH TOPICS PLANETS: Spectral analysis of absorption features Rotation curve and mass determination STARS: H-R and color-color diagrams of open and globular clusters Light curves of variable stars Spectral classification of main sequence stars Temperature determination of main sequence stars NEBULAE: Temperature, density and chemical composition of Galactic gaseous nebulae Star formation rate in extragalactic HII regions GALAXIES: Morphology of nearby galaxies H-R diagrams of dwarf galaxies of the Local Group Stellar populations in galaxies Mass estimate of spiral and elliptical nearby galaxies Spectroscopy of active nuclei and starburst galaxies JENAM 2008 - "NEW CHALLENGES TO EUROPEAN ASTRONOMY" Symposium 2 - Education and Communicating Astronomy in Europe - Preparation for IYA2009 THE SKY AS LABORATORY The educational project of the Department of Astronomy of the University of Padova S. Ciroi, F. Di Mille, V. Cracco, P. Rafanelli & the staff of the educational project (*) Department of Astronomy – University of Padova INTRODUCTION “The Sky as Laboratory” is the educational project of the Department of Astronomy of the University of Padova. It is a regional program designed to improve science education in the last two grades of the high school, by creating cooperation between scientists and teachers. Started as a pilot project in 2001, it is now present in 26 high schools around all provinces of the Veneto region in the north-east of Italy. The close involvement in the didactical activities of teachers of the high schools, most of which have a degree in Astronomy, obtained at the University of Padova, is without any doubt the winning strategy of the project. Their enthusiastic participation to the teaching and organizing activities attracts each year the attention for sciences of an increasing number of students and suggests new ideas for future educational activities. Indeed, every year the project involves about 350-400 students, who attend a set of lectures on the basics of astronomy and astrophysics, organized and carried out by those teachers in cooperation with research and technical staff members of the Department of Astronomy. Under the guidance and supervision of the astronomers of the Department of Astronomy, the best motivated and skilled students gain the unique chance to directly observe at the 1.2 m telescope of the Asiago Astrophysical Observatory on the basis of proposed research programs, to process the data taken at the telescope, to interpret them and finally to write scientific reports. • AIMS OF THE PROJECT • "The Sky as Laboratory" has three main goals: • to give the students a physical approach to astronomy and astrophysics; • 2) to point out the interdisciplinary nature of astronomy and astrophysics, stressing out that many of the open questions on the interpretation of celestial phenomena are connected with other sciences, like e.g.: chemistry, geology and biology; • 3) to offer guidelines to the students for the choice of their future field of study at the university, giving them the possibility to raise awarness on their attitude or not for science. PROJECT STRUCTURE • A conference for all students and teachers at the University of Padova • A test with multiple answer questions for the admission to a training period at the Asiago Astrophysical Observatory A training period of 3 days for the admitted students including nights of direct observations at the 1.2m telescope equipped with a Boller & Chivens spectrograph and modern CCD detectors. Conclusive reports written by the students in scientific article format and collected in a volume edited every year by the Dept. of Astronomy, and presented by them to their colleagues and teachersas powerpoint slides at the Seminar Room of the Dept. during the final day of the project. • A course of lectures of basics of astronomy and astrophysics • A conference of a researcher of the Dept. of Astronomy in each reference school (*) STAFF OF THE PROJECT Staff of the Department of Astronomy in Padova: Piero Rafanelli (Director, P.I. of the project), Stefano Ciroi, Enrico Maria Corsini, Valentina Cracco, Elena Dalla Bontà, Francesco Di Mille, Alessandro Pizzella, Rosaria Tantalo, Luigi Vaona, Stefania Sacchetti, Sergio Dalle Ave (OAPd/INAF) Teachers in charge in the reference schools: Monica Sambo and Sandra Moni (Liceo “Veronese” – Chioggia, Venezia), AntonioDel Negro and Antonio Tegon (Liceo “Morin” – Mestre, Venezia), Marzia Scalabrin (Liceo “Curiel” – Padova), Vito Giavarini (Liceo “Paleocapa” - Rovigo), Silvio Flego (Liceo “Berto” - Mogliano Veneto, Treviso), Claudio Forieri (Liceo “Benedetti” – Venezia), Marco Gazzaniga (Liceo “Levi” - S. Pietro in Cariano, Verona), Giorgio Magrelli (Istituto “Fogazzaro” – Vicenza), Aldo Pegoraro (Liceo “Quadri” - Vicenza), Leonarda Vocale and Massimo Ottone (Liceo “Galilei” – Belluno) Website of the project: http://www.astro.unipd.it/progettoeducativo/