Gordon after hours

Galileo spent years looking at the moon.
 

Fourth grade had five weeks this fall to recreate his work.
 

Their teacher gave them no direct instruction.
 

He just asked them questions, led them in conversation, and had them record their observation of the moon every day for a month.
 

The assignment was to make basic observations, but also to predict the changes in the moon’s appearance over the course of the month and determine the rhythm of the moon’s rising and setting.
 

The ultimate goal? Like Galileo, they would develop a working theory of the relative rotations of the sun, the moon, and the earth.
 

Last week, they were reaching the end of their twenty-eight days of moonwatching.
 

Their data suggested they could expect a full moon on Thursday.
 

If the moonrises continued to happen approximately forty-five minutes later each day, it would be low in the sky, in front of the school, around five-thirty on Thursday.
 

Thursday, then, was the perfect date for an after-hours fourth grade science class.
 

In preparation, they explored the school’s telescope.
 

For the demonstration, it was focused on the basketball backboard, up on the hill.
 

The second backboard, the one further away.
 

Sure enough, students were able to read the eye chart to the fifth line.
 

When Thursday night arrived, energy was high.
 

The big reflecting telescope was outside.
 

So were the ipads, with Night Sky loaded up.
 

And students had everything they needed to build their own refracting telescopes out of cardboard tubes.
 

Families had been invited.
 

Students were eager to share their knowledge.
 

The adults and siblings jumped right in.
 

Even with considerable light pollution, there was plenty to see.
 

The moon looked stunning through the professional telescope.
 

The cardboard ones were more low-fi.
 

But everyone was committed to making them work.
 

Mars and Jupiter were easy to spot, too, once they were pointed out.
 

Students made their final entries in their journals.
 

They still had not completely sorted out how the sun’s light, the earth’s orbit and the moon’s rotation combine to create the phases of the moon.
 

That’s something they will talk through in class this week.
 

But after week’s of solo observations, they finally got to experience it all together.
 

They were able to explore all of the science lab’s tech - low-fi and hi-fi.
 

And they got to process their learning by sharing it all with the most important people in their lives.

 

Many more photos