A workshop promoting Dark Sky eduction will be held at the American Astronomical Society conference in Austin Texas on Sunday January 8, 2012. Registration is $40 and the deadline is December 20, 2011, but a minimum number must be registered by November 17.
Discover how to preserve dark skies while conserving energy through standards-based, immersive learning experiences illustrating responsible lighting, effects on wildlife, night-sky brightness measurements and more. The National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) has created successful outreach programs on dark skies awareness to educate college and K-12 students through doing activities in classroom and evening sessions, holding star parties, providing downloadable resource materials on-line, and participating in international citizen science campaigns and photo contests. Many of the activities in the Dark Skies Rangers program (www.darkskiesawareness.org/DarkSkiesRangers/) address how light pollution affects issues on energy conservation, wildlife and health, in addition to preserving a dark night sky. In addition, the successful citizen-science campaign, GLOBE at Night (www.globeatnight.org) offers the opportunity to use of technology to take measurements of the night sky brightness and to follow up with research in areas affected by light pollution. The workshop will be facilitated by Dr. Connie Walker, other Education and Public Outreach staff at NOAO, International Dark-Sky Association staff, and other dark skies awareness experts. Activities used, approaches taken and lessons learned in working with various audiences will be presented. Dark Skies Education Kits will be available.
Registration information available at aas.org/files/219th_Workshop_Form.pdf