DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES

1. See paragraph one. What did Helen Keller imagine experiencing as she thought about the sky in the month of June and about a bird who flies there? Which bird did she talk about? Write a brief portrait of this bird. (Hint: To find information about the bird that Keller wrote about, go to the Bird of the Week area [via its alphabetical list] of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology Web site. Its url is cited in the Related Internet Sites section of this book's chapter featuring BirdNet—The Ornithological Information Source Web site.)
2. Keeping Keller's experience of a bird in mind, as indicated in Question/Activity no. 1 above, choose and describe a bird known to be around during the month of June, or about that time of year in the Northern Hemisphere (late Spring, early Summer), in the area where you live. Describe this bird in the ways that Keller imagined the bird she experienced, then in other ways that you have experienced or can experience a bird. (Note: To help you find and describe a bird that is around in the month of June, or thereabout, go to this book's chapter on the BirdNet Web site referred to in Question/Activity no. 1 above, then visit these Web sites cited in that chapter's Related Internet Sites area: "What is Migration?" Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, "Excerpts from the Life Histories" in the Birds of North America, the Nutty Birdwatcher, and other Web sites referred to in that chapter's Question/Activity no. 10.)
3. See paragraphs four through seven. Quoting phrases or words (especially those that are metaphors or poetic) that Keller used, briefly describe her descriptions of what she knew is in the night sky and how the night sky must be. Also briefly describe what she said a planetarium represents, a special machine in it and what that machine is for, and what a planetarium show shows of the night sky as people of the earth experience it (in general, but also especially as experienced at the time Keller wrote this article).
4. Keeping in mind what you did with Question/Activity no. 3, choose three places on different parts of the earth that Keller mentioned (such as a city, state, nation, or region). Cite something astronomical (such as a planet or a constellation) that can be found in the night sky in each of these particular places, especially some time during the month of June (either in late Spring or early Summer), and during three other months, one each in Winter, Autumn, and early Spring or late Summer. (For data, check the Web sites for the Skywatching Center, Star Journey, StarGazer, The Sky This Month, Space—In the Spotlight, Space Calendar, Astronomy Now Magazine's Breaking News or The Night Sky, Astronomy Magazine's Calendar of Events, and Sky and Telescope Magazine's Sky At A Glance. [Their urls are cited in the Related Internet Sites section below, or in this book's Appendix D.])

1. See paragraph eight. What did Keller say about a planetarium with reference to people on the earth in the past, and of the future? Do you agree or disagree with what she said? Explain her point of view, and yours. Check the Web sites This Month in the History of Astronomy, Some Favorite Links—Astronomy—History of Astronomy, Space Calendar, History of Astronomy—Links, and Space—In the Spotlight. (Their urls are cited in the Related Internet Sites section below.) Describe something astronomical that people of the past experienced, and that people of the future, on the earth, may experience. (Hint: For the second part of the activity just above, consider what can or will be experienced with help from space exploration aids similar to what exists now, such as space telescopes, modern earth based observatories, artificial satellites, the space station, a space shuttle, and probes.) (Option: Try using the Solar System Live Web site if your computer can accept special software. Its url is cited in the Related Internet Sites section below.)
2. In paragraph nine, how did did Keller define a planetarium? Referring to planetarium visits, she urged parents and teachers to "avail themselves of this opportunity to acquaint children with the wonders of the universe and to cultivate their inner vision." Choose a planetarium at one of these online areas: the Planetarium Reference Library's Planetarium Web Sites or Planetarium Compendium, or Sky and Telescope Magazine's Resources—Organizations, Planetariums, etc., or one you can find via the science areas of general Web directories. (Their urls are cited in the Related Internet Sites section in this book's chapter featuring "The Role of Planetariums in Astronomy Education," or in this book's Appendix D or Appendix E.) If possible, visit a planetarium. Choose one thing that happens at your chosen planetarium or something that can be experienced there. Describe it and explain how it could "cultivate [your] inner vision." (Hint: For help, and insight, note Keller's comments referred to in Question/Activity no. 7 below.)
3. Keller aimed to express to readers her unique ways of experiencing. Read paragraphs two, three, and ten to discover what she said on this subject. What did she say readers can see, and in which way that is different but similar could she experience? What did she say would happen "if we would look into our own minds"? What, according to her, does the imagination do, and which two things did she attribute to the imagination? Note the vivid phrase she used to describe what readers see (which she said, maybe ironically, she could not see). Apply your imagination in the way she described, and think of, then describe, three other vivid phrases to describe astronomical objects or phenomena.

RELATED INTERNET SITE(S)

Skywatching Center

http://www.earthsky.com/Features/skywatching

This site features links to data on Tonight's Sky (for every day of the current month), About Tonight's Sky, Skywatching Forecast, Star Pronunciation Guide, and Skywatchers Toolbox (Internet sources). There are also links to science subjects, including many sky-related items in: News Bulletins, Science FAQs, Articles, and Cool Site Reviews.

StarGazer: The International Edition

http://www.netside.net/starhustler

This site provides the scripts of the latest one-minute and five-minute episodes, plus past shows' scripts, including the first one of November 4, 1976, that are vignettes of current astronomical features presented by "Star Hustler" astronomer Jack Hornheimer, on PBS-TV stations in cooperation with the Miami Museum of Science and Space Transit Planetarium. Note also the Star Hustler's favorite phrase, links to the episodes in online video versions requiring special software, and links to FAQs, Questions and Answers, a Star Hustler biography, listings of planetariums and museums, and favorite links.

Space Calendar at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/calendar

Links by month (including current month) for a full year feature descriptions and links to more data on space related activities and anniversaries. This is information on astronomical occurrences, manned and unmanned space exploration, and other happenings. An archives covers the past two years.

Star Journey

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/stars/chart/index.html

Clicking on a part of a star chart or map of the Northern or Southern Hemisphere brings up illustrations of astronomical features in that part of the sky. Note also on the page for each sky part: a list that indicates particular features on the chart, a link to images from the Hubble Space Telescope, and a link to Star Chart Notes for more information. On the main page, see also links to the Hubble Telescope, for details about this "eye on the universe," and Star Attractions, for interesting features of constellations, star clusters, nebulae, our Milky Way Galaxy, and other galaxies.

Space—In the Spotlight

http://space.about.com/education/space

Note the link to About Space Daily News for information on subjects including space's teenage stars, and what the students of the NASA Student Involvement Program are doing. See also many other links to information on natural happenings in space, current unmanned probe missions, and current humans-in-space happenings. See also highlighted news items of the present and from the past, and This Date in Space History.

The Sky This Month

http://www.wokr13.tv/astro.main.asp

On this Web page, provided by a TV station in Rochester, New York, find out about the astronomical events of the current month, and featuring something about the moon, the planets, the constellations, space missions, and special astronomical events.

Solar System Live ["An Interactive Orrery"]

http://www.fourmilab.to/solar

Select time, date, viewpoint, observing location, orbital elements, and something to track in the solar system. To use this site downloading special software is required.

Some Favorite Links—Astronomy—History of Astronomy

http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/index.html

Scroll to Favorite Links, click Astronomy link, then History of Astronomy link, then note links with subjects including Ancient Astronomy, Greek Astronomy, The Art of Renaissance Science, Cosmology since 1900, and people including Copernicus, Galileo, Brahe, and Newton.

This Month in the History of Astronomy

http://astro.martianbachelor.com

Originally connected with the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and the Colorado Springs Astronomical Society, this periodically updated Web site by an astronomer features links by month to astronomers' biographies, plus astronomical discoveries and events that occurred on particular days and years in history during a particular month.

History of Astronomy—Links

http://www.astro.uni-bonn.de/~pbrosche/hist_astr

This links page was set up by Wolfgang Dick who has university degrees in physics and astronomy, has worked at the Main Astronomical Observatory of the Academy of Sciences in the Ukraine, and has done research for the International Earth Rotation Service. The page features links to general information (e.g., overview, brief history, from ancient through twentieth-century astronomy); museums, observatories and other places; topics (e.g., anniversaries, calendars, solar system, constellations, nebulae, star clusters, and more), historians, persons, other information sources, and more links.