[meteorite-list] Elementary School Show n Tell

[Larry Lebofsky]

Hi Gary and Bob:

These are great stories. Are there more stories out there? I know there are 
other who do similar things.

One of the main reasons Nancy and I decided to become editors of Meteorite 
magazine was because of its potential for education outreach. For the teachers 
on this list, asteroids, meteors, and meteorites are in the standrads in many 
states (many times with embedded misconceptions). Are they in the science 
curricula of other countries?

While it is relatively easy to hold a star party or to tell people what is up 
in the sky (planets and constellations) and other special events (comets, 
meteor showers), other than meteor showers (which does little good in the 
city), what can one do for teachers and their students, planetarium staff (who 
generally know little about asteroids and meteorites; there are exceptions), 
and the general public? 

Your stories are good ones and could be used by others to reach out.

Ultimately, I would like to have this written up for the magazine and possibly 
distributed beyond the magazine to organizations that do outreach like the 
Astronomical Society of the Pacific or the Astronomical League.

Could the two of you send me short write-ups of what you did? I would also 
want pictures.

The big question is what do the kids go away with? In astronomy, they could 
get their parents to buy them a small telescope. There is even a lot that can 
be done without a telescope! Other than give kids a small meteorite (which is 
a wonderful idea), what can we do? Name an asteroid after them: the 
International Meteorite and Asteroid Registry (just kidding)?

Thanks in advance.

Larry

-- 
Dr. Larry A. Lebofsky
Senior Research Scientist
Co-editor, Meteorite                      "If you give a man a fish,   
Lunar and Planetary Laboratory               you feed him for a day.
1541 East University                       If you teach a man to fish,
University of Arizona                        you feed him for a lifetime."
Tucson, AZ 85721-0063                                     ~Chinese Proverb
Phone:  520-621-6947
FAX:    520-621-8364
e-mail: lebofsky at lpl.arizona.edu