Welcome to the NOAO RBSE site:
NOAO has sponsored the Research-Based Science Education (RBSE) project for a number of years: this has included an annual teacher’s workshop as well as follow-up opportunities for teachers. This year we are conducting a large-scale review of the project, and as a result we will not be running the workshop for teachers in summer 2009. We are instead working with those teachers who have attended the program in the past to find the best model for the future. Stay tuned: new opportunities should be available on this site in spring 2009!
If you are interested in research-based astronomy education, you may find our astronomy research projects and data of interest. The site (also linked on the bar at the top of this page) includes background material to get students started. A good place to start is on the Digital Images page, which describes how to create color digital images and introduces free downloadable software to use. Other projects are Nova search, open clusters, stellar spectroscopy, AGN spectra and solar magnetic fields. Students who work on these projects, which make use of Kitt Peak Observatory data, are invited to submit papers to our RBSE journal, an annual on-line publication.
Teachers who have participated in the RBSE program are encouraged to consider the TOP observing program which offers time on New Mexico Skies and also time at Kitt Peak National Observatory.
In the News:
TOP student Kimmerlee Johnson is co author of paper to be published in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Beth Thomas, a participant in both the RBSE and Spitzer program, brought Kimmerlee to Kitt Peak for a TOP run. Kimmerle was subsequently selected to work with Steve Howell in a summer program which resulted in this paper.
INTEL International Science & Engineering Fair: May 2008 | Matthew Walentosky, Oil City High School, Oil City, Pennsylvania, a student of Tim Spuck, participant in both the RBSE and Spitzer Teacher program won second place in the grand awards, physics division and second place, Pricilla and Bart Bok Award (presented by AAS and ASP) for his project, New Components in Accretion Disks: Evolution of the Lightcurve in WZ Sge.
TLRBSE Alumnus receives ASP honor | The Thomas J. Brennan Award, for excellence in the teaching of astronomy in grades 9-12, was awarded to Thomas Morin, Belmont HS, Belmont, NH. Tom was a participant in the 2003 Workshop. ASP Announcement
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The Astronomy RBSE program is administered by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory with funds from the National Science Foundation.