SCIENCE
CONTENT
AND RESOURCES
FEATURED CLUB
Cresthaven After School Astronomy Club
The Cresthaven Afterschool Astronomy Club was formed in September of 2004. Cresthaven Elementary School is located in Silver Spring, MD. We have almost 600 students and have classes in grades K through 5. Our student make up is as follows: 37% Hispanic, 30% African American, 19% Caucasian and 12% Asian.
We have had two 6-week sessions this year. In these sessions we have made balloon rockets, have learned about various aspects of the Sun by making "solar cookies" to represent the different parts and actually observing the Sun using our telescope and solar filter! We have also studied comets, learned about the electromagnetic spectrum using UV beads, studied the relative size of the planets and the relative size of our solar system. We have also experimented with the different ways astronomers observe the solar system, plus much more!!! Many thanks to Dorian Janney for the complete syllabus that made these sessions easy to execute and exciting for the students.
The club is run by classroom teacher, Mrs. Thorington and an instructional assistant, Mrs. Bussard. Mrs. Thorington, our coordinator, wrote a grant for a telescope and she wrote a grant for The Starry Night program. She was awarded both! It has been very exciting to use the telescope and view the moon and the sun. We are looking forward to more opportunities to view our solar system. Our After School Astronomy Club has sparked an interest in science for these students. They have made connections in their classrooms and at home from what the learned in the Astronomy Club.
