Pre-conference Workshop

GLIPSA: Workshop on Live, Interactive Programming
Karrie Berglund (Organizer)

Wednesday, approximately 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Limit: 40 participants – Cost: $30

This all day workshop is intended to give GLPA attendees a sense of what happens at the annual Live Interactive Planetarium Symposium (LIPS). LIPS is a multi-day gathering that focuses on all facets of live programming: presentation skills, sample activities, etc. As with LIPS, ideas and content presented at GLIPSA are intended to apply to everyone who does live shows, no matter whether those shows are in a portable dome or fixed, with a digital system or starball. GLIPSA is open to anyone registered to attend GLPA; there are 40 slots available, which will be filled on a first come, first served basis. The price of the workshop includes lunch.

Conference Workshops

Light Show for $50
Buddy Stark and Brian Wolff

Workshop session 1 (2:30 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.) --OR-- Workshop session 2 (3:15 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.)
45 minutes, Limit: 20 – Cost: Free

Over the past few years, Longway Planetarium has used a program called Magic Music Visuals to create in-house light shows for our theater. We have had a great public response in our dome and have sold the shows to other organizations around the world. An entire show remains a time commitment, but creating stunning visuals no longer needs to break the bank. In this workshop, we will detail many of the techniques we have developed in creating our shows. Participants will also spend time directly interacting with the software to create a 30-second light show snippet of their own.

Construction of a Dramatic Classroom Spectrum Projector
Gary Tomlinson

Workshop session 1 (2:30 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.)
45 minutes, Limit: 40 – Cost: $5

Note: This workshop will NOT result in a finished project (too big to easily transport) but will provide all of the hard-to-find items, construction details and a demonstration of how this projector is used. Furthermore, it will require an expenditure of about $10.00 to complete this project following the workshop.

Participants will receive the hard-to-find materials necessary to construct a spectrum projector (retail price $225.27) and colorimeter that was demonstrated in the author’s talk at the 2011 GLPA conference in Champaign (see “Color Activities That Can Be Used in Conjunction with Cosmic Colors,” GLPA 2011 Proceedings pp 97+ Supplemental Material). The spectrum projector and colorimeter can be used to investigate and demonstrate: (1) a continuous spectrum, (2) the effect of filters on light, (3) adding and subtracting colors of light, (4) absorption spectra, and (5) the fact that a rainbow has many more colors than just 7 (very dramatic). A demonstration of a completed (fully functional) spectrum projector and colorimeter, a complete set of written instructions and over $30 worth of materials are included within this workshop. The grating used in the project is 100 times more efficient than acetate gratings.

Kinesthetic Learning Under the Dome
Tiffany Stone Wolbrecht

Workshop session 1 (2:30 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.)
45 minutes, Limit: 20 – Cost: Free

With the stunning visuals produced in planetariums, we easily connect with visual learners. However, what about those who learn by doing? In this workshop, we will discuss how people learn and how to use kinesthetic practices to engage audiences in a planetarium setting. Examples include introducing planet to 3-year-olds and explaining how we locate black holes to a general audience. If you want to engage your guests in new ways, join us and be ready to get moving with activities of your own creation! (Presented at IPS 2018 Conference in Toulouse, France)

Python, Jupyter Notebooks and Data to Dome
Mark SubbaRao

Workshop sessions 2 & 3 (3:15 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.)
90 minutes, Limit: 30 – Cost: Free

This workshop will provide a hands-on exploration of modern programming skills for accessing with astronomical data and visualizing that data in a planetarium. I will also introduce the resources available through the International Planetarium Society's Data to Dome initiative. The first half of the workshop will consist of a brief introduction to Python, Astropy, and Jupyter Notebooks. In the second half of the workshop, participants will choose projects to work on in a mini “hack-session.” From the beginner to an experienced programmer, nearly everyone can benefit in some way using these software tools.

Learn more About the NISE Network’s FREE Explore: Earth and Space Toolkits
Ali Jackson

Workshop session 2 (3:15 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.) --OR-- Workshop session 3 (4:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.)
45 minutes, Limit: 25 – Cost: Free

In this workshop, participants will learn about the National Informal STEM Education (NISE) Network’s new Space and Earth Informal Science Education project and how their organization can get involved. In collaboration with NASA, the NISE Network is currently assembling a new set of free engaging, hands-on Earth and space science toolkits with connections to Heliophysics, Earth Science, Planetary Science, and Astrophysics, and their social dimensions. 350 toolkits will be awarded to eligible organizations through a competitive application process in the fall of 2018. In this workshop, we will present a general introduction to the project and provide an overview of the Explore Science: Earth & Space toolkits, including information about how to apply. Participants will also have the chance to experience many of the toolkit materials and brainstorm ways to integrate, adapt, and develop educational activities that meet the needs of their own organization.

NISE Net’s Earth and Space Project: http://www.nisenet.org/space
Explore Science: Earth and Space toolkit: http://www.nisenet.org/earthspacekit
For more info on Earth and Space events across the country, please watch this video: https://vimeo.com/241736250

Construction of a Unique Table Top Model of the Earth, Sun, and Moon
Gary Tomlinson

Workshop session 3 (4:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.)
45 minutes, Limit: 40 – Cost: $1.00

Note: This workshop will NOT result in a finished project (too big to easily transport) but will provide all of the hard to find and custom made items, construction details, educational use instructions, and a demonstration of how it can be used. Furthermore, it will require an expenditure of about $32.00 to complete this project following the workshop.

Participants will receive the hard-to-find (perhaps nearly impossible) materials necessary to construct a table top model of the Earth, Sun, and Moon that was described in an article appearing in the Planetarian September 2003, Vol. 32. #3 pp 11-17.

This model is useful in the classroom to: (1) Explain the two reasons for the seasons, (2) Explain why seasons are opposite for the Northern to Southern hemispheres, (3) Tell time of sunrise/sunset at different latitudes, (4) Explain eclipses and eclipse seasons, (5) Explain day and night, (6) Illustrate the varying lengths of daylight at different latitudes/seasons, (6) Measure the altitude of the midday Sun at different seasons, (7) Illustrate the “Land of the Midnight Sun,” (8) Explain the reason the North Star does not change with the Earth’s rotation or as the Earth revolves around the Sun, (9) Explain why different stars are visible during different seasons, (10) Explain Moon phases, (11) Address the misconception that the Earth changes its direction of “tilt” as it revolves around the Sun, (12) Demonstrate other seasonal concepts.

The complete construction of the tabletop model will be demonstrated, and complete written instructions will be distributed. Participants will be furnished with custom-made materials (as it would be extremely difficult to construct this model from scratch) valued at “priceless.”