National Optical Astronomy Observatory

ASTRO Chile

Even half a world apart and across people of different languages and cultures, the most effective ways to teach concepts in science is hands-on with discussion following. Since the Fall of 2002, NOAO North in Tucson & NOAO South in Chile have held videoconference workshops for teachers and for students in Tucson, AZ, and La Serena, Chile. The teachers and students exchanged methods and ideas about how to teach and learn about light and color, various physics activities, light pollution monitoring, lunar eclipse activities and a remote sensing activity on the Earth and on Mars. The workshops are held in Spanish and English and are facilitated by the bilingual science teachers from the Tucson area and the teachers from Chile. The collaboration, dubbed ASTRO-Chile, merges the teaching strategies and techniques from both countries into a cross-cultural exchange.