The Faulkes Telescope Project (USW)

General Information

Lab name Faulkes Telescope Project

Lab category Remote Lab (Two robotic telescopes)

Lab Owner Dr Paul Roche

Lab URL http://www.faulkes telescope.com

User Interface Language(s) English

Primary aims of the lab

Demonstrate how scientists work Demonstrate how, through the use of

telescopes, astronomers can draw conclusions on what they observe in the Universe

Demonstrate how a very complex scientific instrument works

Current number of lab users About 5,000 users (teachers and students) Demographic information of users (if available) This lab is aimed at school students, ages 15 18 Average time of use (per experiment/session) 1 hour

Brief description of the lab

The Faulkes Telescope Project is an education partner of Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGTN).

The aim is to provide free access to robotic telescopes and a fully supported education

programme to encourage teachers and students to engage in research based science education.

Access to our resources and those of our partners is provided at no charge to teachers and students.

Robotic Telescopes LCOGTN operates a network of research class robotic telescopes. Currently there are two telescopes, one in Hawaii and the other in Australia. These telescopes are available to teachers for them to use as part of their

curricular or extra curricular activities and are fully supported by a range of educational materials and a team of educators and professional astronomers.

http://www.faulkes

telescope.com/resources/videos/ft lcogt_introduction

Pedagogical Information

Subject domain(s) Astronomy

Physics

Grade Level Upper Secondary Education (15 18 years old)

Engaging in scientific reasoning

Through the use of the telescopes, students can manipulate different scenarios on how universe evolves and on how astronomical objects move.

They can select the parameters of the observation;

identify the most appropriate period for an observation, to compare their images with professional images.

By examining telescope observations of currently interacting galaxies, students will be encouraged to predict what will happen to these galaxies in the future – they can then test their predictions by running the simulation software until their simulated galaxies match the observations, and then run time

Pedagogical Information

forward to see what may happen to the galaxies.

Inquiry Cycle Phase Observing

Use of guidance tools and scaffolds No guidance tools and scaffolds provided.

Teacher ICT competency level

Teachers will need to be competent in the following ICT areas:

Searching the internet for information Accessing data from websites

Using JAVA tools (simulation software) and navigating websites for further information which may aid in the use of the tools

Level of difficulty Medium (Teacher Guidance is needed at some stages of the process)

Level of interaction High

Context of use This lab is designed to be used in a computer lab during an approximately 2 hour lesson.

Supporting students with learning difficulties and special needs

The material can be enlarged on screen for those students with visual impairments.

User manual

There is a support section which among others includes documentation.

http://www.faulkes

telescope.com/support/documentation

Additional supportive materials (e.g., usage scenarios)

Multimedia Resources Web Applications

These applications are designed and built by the FT team and run in your internet browser. These applications go hand in hand with our educational projects but can also be used independently.

Interactive Animations

Have a look at our interactive animations which help explain scientific concepts and methods.

These animations are fun to play with and good educational tools which aid our educational programmes.

Google Sky

Add Faulkes Telescope images to Google Sky.

These packs are constantly updated and could include images that you have taken.

Videos

Have a browse through our video library. These videos and podcasts are produced by members of the FT team and include topics from information about the Faulkes Telescope Project through to how stars are formed.

Pedagogical Information

Description of a use case

There are numerous showcases available on the web site of the telescope

http://www.faulkes

telescope.com/showcases/schools

Technical Information Web client (link to client app(s) N/A

APIs (server) There is no API involved in this lab

Alternative clients http://rti.faulkes,telescope.com/control/Login.isa

Compatibility

Compatible with Windows, MacOS, Linux, iOS, Android

JAVA plugin required for simulation software Compatible with IE, Firefox, Safari

Registration needed

Registration for a telescope is currently only open to education organizations in UK (through Faulkes Telescope Project) and Hawaii. In the framework of the Go Lab project access will be provided to pilot schools.

By filling out the form and accepting the Las Cumbres Observatory terms and conditions you are registering your organization for telescope use.

http://rti.faulkes telescope.com/control/Register.isa Does the lab require to book time/schedule

beforehand? Yes

Conditions of use

Free

http://www.faulkes

telescope.com/information/registration

Additional software/hardware needed? None

Does the lab store experimental data

(measurements performed by users, images collected, etc.)?

Yes. There are several ways to search through all our public observations. Use any combination of the options below to help narrow your search.

http://lcogt.net/observations/search

Does the lab track user interactions? Yes. Though an internal system that provides web analytics.