REPORT ON THE NATIONAL EDUCATION AND OUTREACH INITIATIVE

The initiative was introduced to the professional astronomical community in a presentation at the CASCA Annual Meeting in Hamilton in May, and to the amateur astronomical community in a report to the RASC National Council at its meeting in London in June. At the latter meeting, a questionnaire was distributed, asking for suggestions about what information and support would be most useful to RASC Centres which wanted to become more active in education. A summary of the responses was distributed to the RASC Centres.

Not surprisingly, the most frequent requests were for a web site, with exemplary, curriculum-related activities and resources, including audio-visual material, and information about astronomical news and events. But there were other useful suggestions also. An important feature of the RASC Annual Meeting was a half-day workshop for grade nine teachers. With the help of summer research assistant Heather Kincaide, we have compiled a database of over 100 organizations in Canada which provide education and outreach programs: astronomy clubs, university departments, planetariums and museums. The database is such that it can be distributed in print form, but also mounted on the WWW. We plan to canvass these organizations, to find out how best to integrate them into the project. Bev Caswell, a teacher and graduate student, worked this summer to develop a teacher-friendly "unit" on astronomy for the grade six level.

The emphasis is on practical advice on how to implement the material in the classroom. The content was based on the Ontario grade six curriculum, but the unit should be usable at the senior elementary level across the country. With the help of undergraduate research assistant Akos Bakos, the unit will be posted on the web shortly; comments and suggestions will be most welcome. Next summer, we hope to develop a similar document for the Ontario grade nine astronomy course. We are about to canvass science consultants in Ontario, to get practical advice on how our support for teachers can best be delivered -- the web? print documents? workshops? through the science consultants? Under the leadership of Michael De Robertis, guidelines and an on-line application form for the CASCA-Westar lectureship have been developed. Some "pilot" visits will be held this year, and the program will be in full operation in 2002. Our education and public outreach initiative is supported by CASCA and NSERC's PromoScience program. Other funding is imminent. I would be happy to work with other astronomers and institutions in Canada to develop proposals for local and regional funding.