Help Me Set A Good Astronomy Session

[MissWolfington]

I am putting together an Astronomy Session for the WeBeLoS summer camping experiance ... it will be about 45min to 1 hr ... I would like to know the Requirments if any that are in their hand book so I can cover some spacifics but because my boys are only Bears ... well basically I don't want to waste the time giving wonderful information that want help them get any badges or pactches or loops or something ... any suggestions on some requirments??? Information on the younger levels as well because I may use thiers to fill in lag time and some of them may be there since alot of people have kids of several levels ... thanks

[Bob White]

Here are the requirements for the Astronomy Academic belt loop and pin. You should be able to compolete some of the requirements, and give them information toward others. Depending on the size of the group you may find 45 minutes to be beyond their attention span.

 

http://www.geocities.com/cybercubber/aands-astronomy.html

 

 

[Trevorum]

I've found that Astronomy and Paleontology have a lot in common as far as the public goes. Everybody loves both, but only in small doses. Bob is right; 45-60 minutes may be OK for a den-sized group where you can provide personal attention to each cub, but may be too long for a larger group who will probably start to fidget and talk amongst themselves. Also, make sure the material is tailored to the age of the audience. You're going to have fun!

[MissWolfington]

well the session is as long as they tell me i have ... that is suppose to be 45 to 60 min. ... I just hope about 200 Webelos can deal with a stary blue eyed blonde/red head with glow in the dark stars on her shirt and shorts on stage being silly is interesting enough for that time ... I was thinking about doing some visual stuff along with the talking ... my assistance showing things and moving around while I talk ... I was looking for a glow in the dark solar system if i can find one ... I wanted to talk about the native american side of the the study of stars ... and I hope to be able to come up with some interesting things to show ... the entire idea of posting here is to find out if any one knows of star songs ... or poems or skits or something to act out that might be interesting ... buti am sure i can come up with something on my own ... after i go over all the requirements ... I just want to do a good job ... and one thing that works is being a goofe ... I am pretty good that so i should be ok ... I know it not the same as the tigers ... they took notice of me when i never realized they did ... i was helping with the wolves ... I am slowly regretting getting into this ... because I expected to get some feed back and yet everyone I ask about suggestions, requirements, and ideas of past events ... well they clam up and say hey it is your idea ... but with the art??? I have all sorts of ideas for a session for about 16 to 20 kids and then they tell me because their are two of us going to teach art that we have to teach the same things ... I know art more then astrology or astronomy ... this is all tough ... but you know what??? I will do a as good as I have seen or better ... and most kids like me ... especially men and boys ... *snickers* which are like kids lol ... it will all be ok ... thanks!!!

[ScoutNut]

The Astronomy Belt Loop & Pin is the only astronomy related award that a Webelos can earn. Bob gave you the link for the requirements. They are pretty basic and all very hands on.

 

I can see covering the requirements with small group sessions, but on stage - in front of 200 Webelos, I don't see it. You will just basically be putting on a show for them while they sit & watch. You will probably do a great job & it might be fun to watch, but none of the boys will have earned any part of the Belt Loop or Pin.

 

If you want to talk about astronomy & the native American, constellations and their stories are a great place to start. There are a lot of neat stories about how the constellations got their names & how they got into the sky. You could have your assistant walk around with a large picture of the constellation with the related image superimposed over the stars while you tell the story. There are enough constellations that this might fill up your 45-60 min time frame.

 

I could not find any fun astronomy related songs or skits. I don't think that a skit would work well with only 2 people on stage preforming it. If you could find some astronomy related run-ons or even knock-knock jokes, those might work better for just you & your asst on stage.

 

I am not sure how art comes into the astronomy session. Are you running 2 sessions for the Webelos, art & astronomy? It sounds like your art session will be COSIDERABLY smaller than your astronomy one. I can understand why the camp would want all sessions of art to cover the same things. It would simplify figuring out who earned (or did) what. Find out who the other art presenter is and get together with them to plan the sessions out.

 

 

[Lynda J]

Contact your local Astronomy Club. Most of them love having scouts come. Ours meets at the Science and History Museum once a month. They set up their telescopes in the parking lot and it is open to the public. I call them from time to time about bringing boys. When my boys moved up into Boy Scouts one of the guys informed me that he would Merit Badge Council the Astronomy Merit Badge it I wanted. As soon as Kevin finished a couple of badges he is working on he wants to do Astronomy.