A Stargazing Opportunity for Half of England's Pupils

当涉及到激发年轻人对科学的热情时，直观的动手活动是非常有效的。在这方面，天体的美丽总是使天文学特别有吸引力，这也解释了它通常受到媒体的关注。然而，天文学在国家课程中只有有限的空间，在实践中，学生没有多少机会接触这门学科，更不用说通过望远镜的目镜进行第一手的实验了。这个项目的目标是在三年的时间里给尽可能多的学生带来这样的观星体验，同时提高他们的老师在传授这门课程和其他科学课程方面的能力。为了实现这些目标，我将利用自己在赫福德郡大学贝福德伯里天文台担任活动组织者长达5年的经验，并利用科学学习中心联盟（SLCC）在伦敦、英格兰东南部和中部的网络，该联盟的总部也设在贝福德伯里，在覆盖英格兰47%公立学校的地区举办近40场观星活动。为了组织这么多的活动，其中包括讲座、天文馆展览、实验室实验和计算机活动，我将在我将要访问的每个地区寻找并让热心的教师参与其中，并与当地的业余天文团体联系，以协助观星活动。为了确保这些活动的成功，最重要的是，为教师提供持久的资源，我将在一个可部署的开放晚会包中收集所有关于在这些活动中设置和运行所有活动的解释，这些活动也将与课程联系起来，特别是与GCSE天文学资格的主题有关。这样一个包——最有可能以平板电脑应用程序的形式出现——将成为这个项目的真正遗产，帮助教师进一步激发学生对天文学的热情，无论是在课堂上还是通过组织他们自己的观星活动，也可能是与他们社区的业余天文学家合作。事实上，我将不仅根据我的活动所产生的热情程度来判断我的项目的成功，而且主要取决于老师们对我的可部署开放之夜一揽子计划的持续使用，以及监测在我的奖学金期间将选择或有兴趣选择天文学GCSE课程的学生人数。

When it comes to enthusing young people into science, intuitive hands-on activities can be extremely effective. In this respect, the beauty of celestial objects has always contributed to make Astronomy particularly attractive, which would also explain the attention it generally receives from the media.Yet, Astronomy has only a limited space in the national curriculum and in practice pupils are not provided with many chances to approach this subject, let alone to engage in first-hand experiments such as looking through the eyepiece of telescope. The goal of this programme is to bring such a stargazing experience to as many pupils as possible over the course of three years, whilst boosting their teachers` in delivering this and other scientific subjects of the curriculum. To achieve these goals, I will draw from my own 5-years-long experience as event organiser at the Bayfordbury observatory of the University of Hertordshire and tap into the capillary network of the Science Learning Centre Consortium (SLCC) for London, South-East and Central England, the head-quarters of which are also based at Bayfordbury, to mount nearly 40 stargazing events across an area that covers 47% of England's state schools. In order to man such a large number of events, which will feature also talks, planetarium shows, laboratory experiments and computer activities, I will seek out and involve keen teachers in each of the regional areas that I will visit, liaising also with local amateur astronomy groups to assist with the stargazing element of the event. To ensure the success of these events and - most important - provide a lasting resource for teachers, I will assemble into a single Deployable Open Evening package all the explanations for setting up and running all the activities that will take place at these events, which will also link to the curriculum and in particular to the subject of the GCSE qualification in Astronomy. Such a package - most likely to be in the form of a tablet application - will be the real legacy of this programme, helping teachers to further carry on enthusing their students into Astronomy, either in class or by organising their own stargazing event, possibly also in collaboration with amateur astronomers in their communities.If fact, I will judge the success of my programme not only on the level of enthusiasm that will be generated by my events, but mostly on the lasting use of my Deployable Open Evening package by teachers and monitoring the number of pupils that during my fellowship will choose, or show interest in opting for a GCSE in Astronomy.