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| Paper: |
Colors of Nature StudioLab Remote Summer Program |
| Volume: |
531, ASP2020: Embracing the Future: Astronomy Teaching and Public Engagement |
| Page: |
326 |
| Authors: |
Sparks, R.; Teal-Sullivan, P.; Liston, L.; Orchard, A.; Beuden, T. |
| Abstract: |
For the past three years, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO, now part of NSF's NOIRLab) has partnered with the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (ASDM) and Tohono O'odham educators to create a one week academy, Colors of Nature StudioLab, presented twice each summer, once at ASDM and once at Kitt Peak National Observatory. The program incorporates Tohono O'odham culture and language into a thematic exploration of color at the intersection of art and science.
This program is an outgrowth of the Colors of Nature summer academy, part of a four-year collaboration between NOAO, The University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the University of Washington Bothell, designed to study the formation of science identity in middle school girls (supported by the National Science Foundation, award number DRL-1224020). The original Colors of Nature program developed a two-week summer STEAM (STEM + Art) academy in which learners explored the art and science of color from multidisciplinary perspectives.
With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's in-person Colors of Nature StudioLab was necessarily cancelled, and the team decided to present an asynchronous remote-learning program for youth on the Tohono O'odham Nation. To address challenges such as learners' remote locations and limited internet access, the team created small kits of art and science materials that could be shipped to participants, along with a series of instructional videos on memory sticks. The videos are also available online.
This presentation will outline the process we went through to design and distribute the kits and create a remote-learning version of the Colors of Nature StudioLab. |
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