Constellation Project in Progress
- Now Closed for Applications
2009 is
the International year of Astronomy (IYA 2009). Primary schools from
all over Scotland are being invited to participate in creating a
new constellation for IYA 2009 as part of an exciting project that
has already received
funding from the Royal Astronomical Society.
The project
is a collaboration between leading experts Professor John Brown,
the Astronomer Royal for Scotland (also a renowned magician!) and
astronomy-inspired artist Gill Russell. They will visit your school
together and run several exciting and inspiring workshops for P5-7
including choosing your school star, a mobile planetarium show, a cosmic
art workshop, and magic demonstrations of cosmic phenomena.
Pupils
from each school will choose a star and the stars will then be linked
to form a new constellation for IYA 2009. The stars will be chosen
to relate to a series of historic astronomical landmarks all over
Scotland.
The new constellation will not only create a legacy for IYA 2009 but
also connect schools participating
in the project with each other and with the powerful heritage of astronomy
in Scotland
Participating
schools will be charged approx £500-£650 which is 50%
of the cost of the project.
The RAS grant will cover the other 50%.
The costs could be also be shared between a consortium of local
schools, especially in the case of small classes.
The project will run late 2008 to early 2009 but dates will be
flexible and arranged to suit the participating schools.
