BASE Camps for Afterschool

BASE is the Bangalore Association of Science Education. BASE focuses on non-formal science education. It offers workshops, exhibitions, summer camps, etc., for school-age children. For more information go this this link and see under BASE. The website also offers a sky chart for every month - you will find it at this link.

Moon Struck Afterschool!

Chandrayaan I has been launched. Here are some videos to relive the moment:

A You Tube video recorded 4 km from the launch site at Sriharikota.

Here is another You Tube video of the DD live telecast. It gives a feeling of 'being there'. Must point out to children how calm and composed the scientists are!

And from ISRO's own website are these video resources (you need to use Internet Explorer) - the DECU-ISRO video on the mission is good.

Mission Moon - Afterschool!

Get your afterschool programme to focus on India's first mission to the moon - and fast (the launch is due in a few weeks time)!

Chandrayaan-1 (Chandra- Moon , Yaan-vehicle) is a scientific investigation of the Moon by spacecraft. Chandrayaan-1 is the first Indian planetary science and exploration mission and will be launched soon from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota (SHAR), India.

The Indian Space Research Organization website has some good resources on the mission you can use. Here is a well-written booklet.

Catch the Eclipse Afterschool!

It is the day of the partial solar eclipse (in India) today - and it times itself so well for an afterschool program - starting at about 4.30 pm and ending at about 6 pm. The skies have a lot of cloud cover - so while I'm not sure what we can actually get to see from Hyderabad, there is a lot to do in any case: keeping a safe solar viewer ready at hand, digging out reference books for entries on eclipses, setting up a small demonstration on the eclipse and logging on to NASA TV for a live telecast!

The next solar eclipse (this one will be total) is due on 22 July 2009. So be sure to stock up your afterschool program with a astronomy kit from Vigyan Prasar. The kit has amongst other things a safe solar viewer, information cards and a small demo kit.

Astronomy Afterschool

A readily available resource for learning science is the sky! Joining an astronomy club or starting one on your own is a good way to dwell deeper into the fascinating world of stars, eclipses, comets, etc.

The Astronomy Club of Hyderabad offers support to set up your own afterschool (or school) astronomy club. The Amateur Astronomers Association in Delhi is another resource. While it would be useful to give a complete listing of such organizations/institutions to help you find one in your city - this is beyond the scope of this blog. But a stroll through these two websites should provide you enough pointers and contacts to get info on your city/state.