HartRAO Home >
news >
Solar Eclipse Workshop at HartRAO 2002/07/08
Solar Eclipse Workshop at HartRAO 2002/07/08
To prepare for the total solar
eclipse that will trace a path over southern africa on 4 December 2002,
a workshop was held at HartRAO about the eclipse for partner science
education organisations. This workshop was partly funded by a grant of
R25000 from the Foundation for Education, Science and Technology (FEST) on behalf of the Department of Arts,
Culture, Science and Technology (DACST), now the Department of Science and
Technology (DST).
The aim of the workshop was not only to supply information about the
eclipse, but to provide our partners in the eclipse project with materials
they could use to educate people in their area of the country. This
entailed a considerable amount of work by the HartRAO Science Awareness team
and support staff, particularly in the mechanical workshop.
A photographic report gives an idea of
the preparation for the eclipse workshop, and some of what took place during
the event.
The workshop was held from 9 - 11 July 2002. External participants were:
- Samson Mongolele, Giyani Science Centre, Giyani, Limpopo Province
- Alpheus Mamadi, Bostec, Burgerrecht Village, Limpopo Province
- Dr Jacob Manale and Phillip Mutshena, University of Venda for Science
and Technology, Thohoyandou, Limpopo Province
- Jonathan Aitken and Lorato Trok, Moffat Mission Trust, Kuruman,
Northern Cape
- Keabetswe Oliphant and Jalo Holele, North West Dept Ed (NWDE), Mothibistad
District, North West Province
- Moses Ngubeni, Limpopo Tourism, Polokwane (Pietersburg), Limpopo
Province (Tuesday only)
- Colleen Hughes, FEST, Pretoria (Wednesday afternoon only)
HartRAO staff Conrad Mahlase, Glenda Coetzer, Japie Greef and Meisie Fourie
also participated.
The University of the North Science Centre are also partners in the
project but were unable to participate in the workshop. However they also
received the materials described below.
The workshop was run by Kim de Boer, Pulane Moroeng, Logan Moodley and
Dr. Mike Gaylard of HartRAO.
The first day of the workshop comprised:
- Opening followed by a video on astronomy to provide basic background
- Setting up a scale model of the solar system to demonstrate
sizes and distances of the Sun and planets
- The Sun and seasons, using an orrery (mechanical model of the Sun, Earth
and Moon)
- The Moon - origins, comparison with Earth, phases
- Beyond the solar system - slide show
- Making and using starfinders and star maps
- Night sky viewing - identifying planets, stars and constellations
Day Two focused on the eclipse:
- Solar eclipses - what is an eclipse? Why do eclipses occur? What is the
difference between a partial and total eclipse? Why is a total eclipse only
seen over a small area on Earth? Why do solar eclipses not occur each month?
What is a lunar eclipse?
- Experiencing a total solar eclipse - slide show
- The solar eclipse of 2002 Dec 04 - When? Where? How to view it safely?
How to demonstrate what happens?
- Making and using resources - projection of the Sun's image with pinholes
and with binoculars, using eclipse viewers, making and using simple
telescopes, using the HartRAO orreries; OHP resources for simulating
eclipses; 20cm Sun and 1 cent Moon.
The third day was devoted to:
- General implementation strategies for raising awareness and
understanding of the 2002 Dec 04 total Solar eclipse
- Implementation strategies for each centre
- Documenting activities - using the cameras - what makes a "good"
publicity picture
- Tour of the observatory - Control Room, Radio Telescope, Satellite Laser
Ranger etc.
- Braai by starlight
Materials received by each centre included:
- Sectioned binoculars on a tripod for projecting Sun's image and for
demonstrating how binoculars work
- 35mm camera with 6 rolls of ISO 400 film, for photographic documentation
of the Eclipse 2002 activities carried out by the Centre
- Book "Understanding Eclipses" by Cliff Turk, published by Struik
- Book "Sasol First Field Guide to Skywatching in Southern Africa" by
Cliff Turk, published by Struik
- Set of 21 slides developed by HartRAO, with notes, on the eclipse
- Three diskettes with free astronomy
software
- Eclipse 2002 workbook with notes and activities for explaining the eclipse
- Orrery made by HartRAO to demonstrate day and night, seasons,
phases of the Moon and eclipses
- Set of laminated overhead projector resources, for eclipse simulations
- Simple telescope kit (from Case Rijsdijk at
SAAO)
- Starfinder (planisphere) kit for identifying bright stars and
constellations (from the
Johannesburg Planetarium)
- Master copies of the A4 leaflet on the eclipse, designed by HartRAO,
which will be available from the FEST
website.
The level of knowledge was evaluated by two short questionnaires given to
participants at the start and at the end of the workshop. These covered
general astronomical concepts (maximum mark = 118), and the eclipse
(maximum mark = 99):
Astronomy Eclipse
Name Before After Change Before After Change
A 13 46 +33 25 85 +60
B 13 72 +59 23 84 +61
C 17 45 +28 27 78 +51
D 26 56 +30 73 83 +10
E 34 46 +12 25 67 +42
F 59 80 +21 78 81 +3
G 65 105 +40 71 93 +22
H 68 71 +3 81 85 +4
I 78 104 +26 89 97 +8
J 85 108 +23 87 87 0
Some of the participants had essentially no prior exposure to astronomy,
which is shown by the "before" scores of 10, 13 and 17. They all showed
substantial improvements in understanding in their "after" results.
All participants showed a very satisfactory understanding of eclipses
after the workshop. Those with almost no prior knowledge, with scores
of 7, 14 and 25, showed particularly dramatic improvements.
The draft implementation plan shows the direction
each centre will follow.