Tag Archives: planet hunters

News

Introducing the Planet Hunters Educators Guide

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Julie A. Feldt is one of the educators behind Zooniverse.org. She first came to us in Summer 2013 as an intern at the Adler Planetarium to develop and test out Skype in the Classroom lessons and ended up joining the team the following winter. Julie was the lead educator in the development of the Planet Hunters Educators Guide.  Here she shares some information on the development and contents of this resource.

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In collaboration with NASA JPL, we have developed the Planet Hunters Educators Guide, which is 9 lessons aimed for use in middle school classrooms. This guide was developed for each lesson to build upon each other while also providing all the information needed  to do them alone. Teacher can choose to do one lesson on its own or the entire collection. Each lesson was planned out using the 5E method and to be accomplishable in a single 45 to 60 minute class period with some Evaluate sections as take home assignments. In development we focused on the science behind Planet Hunters and utilized JPL’s Exoplanet Exploration program and tools from PlanetQuest in order to connect with our partners in this field.

Through this guide, we want to introduce teachers and their classrooms to citizen science, exoplanet discovery, and how the science behind the Planet Hunters project is conducted. Lesson 1 starts by acquainting the class with what citizen science is and looking at several  projects, mostly outside of the Zooniverse. This lesson is great for teachers who just want to talk about citizen science in general and therefore it encompassesmany different types of citizen science projects. The rest of the lessons go into the understanding of exoplanets and using Planet Hunters in a classroom setting.

We wanted to give teachers the lessons they may need to build student understanding of the research and science done in Planet Hunters. Therefore, Lessons 2 through 5 focus on developing knowledge of possible life outside our solar system, the methods used to discover new worlds, and what makes those worlds habitable. For instance, in Lesson 2 students explore our own solar system with consideration of where life as we know it, directing them to the idea that there may be a habitable zone in our solar system. The students are asked to break up into groups to discuss how each of the planets compare with consideration of their location . We provided solar system information cards, see an example below, for students to be able to determine the conditions necessary for life as we know it to develop and survive.

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Lesson 6 is purely about getting students acquainted with Planet Hunters, specifically how to use it and navigate the website for information. This lesson can be great for the teachers that just want to show their students how they can be a part of real scientific research. After, students use the project data to find their own results and visuals on exoplanets found in Planet Hunters. Something to note, lesson 7 and 8 are pretty similar, but Lesson 8 incorporates a higher level of math for the more adventurous or older classrooms. Lesson 9 either wraps up the guide nicely or can be a fun activity to add to your science class where the students creativity and imagination comes out through designing what they believe a real exoplanet looks like, see summary from first page below.

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We hope our teachers enjoy using this product! We would love you hear how you have used it and any feedback that could be used in any future development of teacher guides for other projects.

Education

Teens Designing Zooniverse-Themed Programs for Their Peer at the Adler Planetarium

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This summer high school juniors and seniors from the IIT Boeing Scholars Academy program joined Zooniverse educators at the Adler Planetarium for six days of program prototyping. The IIT Boeing Scholars Academy seeks to inspire high-achieving Chicago-area teens to lead and serve through STEM with an emphasis on pursuing higher education. One component of the summer portion of the program is to embark on a Service Through STEM project during which the scholars coordinate with Chicagoland organizations on projects benefitting the organization. That’s where the Zooniverse team based at the Adler Planetarium comes in.

The Problem:

It probably doesn’t come as a complete shock that the dedicated corps of Zooniverse volunteers is not largely comprised of teens. That’s something we’d like to change. What better way to figure out how to better get more teens involved in Zooniverse projects than by going straight to the source? Sixteen IIT Boeing Scholars worked with Zooniverse and Adler educators on strategies to engage more teens in Zooniverse citizen science projects at the Adler Planetarium.

The Goal:

In order to develop ideas of how to better engage young people in Zooniverse citizen science projects, the sixteen IIT Boeing Scholars stepped into the role of informal science educator to develop a series of museum programs to potentially implement at the Adler Planetarium based around Zooniverse projects.

Museum Program Development:

A huge component of any informal museum educator’s job is to develop programming. Programs come in an endless array of formats – perhaps a five-minute science demonstration, a series of workshops for teens, or an interactive activity within a museum exhibit. As the saying goes there’s more than one way to skin a cat, and that’s certainly true of program development. No matter which model of program development you follow, there is a set of common considerations to be made including

  1. Who is this program for?
  2. What is the content of this program?
  3. What is the best format or program model to use?
  4. What should the audience take away?

 

Answers to these questions formed the skeleton around which the programs would be built.

Who is this program for?

This was the easiest question for the IIT Being scholars to answer. Since we’re looking for ways to engage teens in Zooniverse projects, the audience for the scholars’ programs was their high-school aged peers.

What is the content of this program?

The content for the programs being designed by the scholars was limited to the science content behind active Zooniverse projects. While a constraint, with over 20 active Zooniverse projects the list needed to be considerably narrowed down. The teens began assessing Zooniverse projects to determine which would be of the most interest to their peers. After careful review they selected Radio Galaxy Zoo, Condor Watch, Cyclone Center, and Planet Hunters as the projects that would be most engaging to teens. The science case behind each of these projects would be used as the meat and potatoes behind the programs the scholars designed. 

What is the best format or program model to use?

There are endless possible formats for an informal science program at a museum. In order to explore the options the IIT Boeing Scholars spent time exploring different museum programming models at the Adler. The participated in a 45-minute field trip workshop designed for 7th-12 graders, watched science demonstrations facilitated in Adler’s exhibits, explored museum exhibitions, and watched a planetarium skyshow. After this exploration the group created a menu of museum program models and defined them so that we could develop a shared vocabulary of what program models they would be working with.

  • Structured Workshop – a longer facilitated hands-on program with a set start and finish time
  • Unstructured Workshop –a longer hands-on facilitated program where museum guests can come and go as they like
  • Demonstration – a short facilitated program on the museum floor
  • Exhibit – one small piece of an exhibition that (e.g. a model and accompanying text panel about Saturn)
  • Exhibition – a collection of exhibits that group together around a central theme (e.g. Our Solar System)
  • Planetarium Skyshow – a presentation including images, music, and narration presented in one of the museum theatres

What is the goal of this program?

Some informal science educators would call them learning goals; others might call them program objectives. Whatever they’re name, program developers should identify what they want their audience to take away from a program. These may be experiential goals like “Have fun” or more content driven goals like “ Program participants will be able identify lead poisoning as a threat to the endangered California condor population.”   The IIT Boing Scholars aimed to incorporate at least one experiential goal and one content goal in their programs.

The Programs:

Once they were able to answer the questions above, the scholars were ready to put some meat on skeleton the questions provided. The scholars broke into four small groups with each group working together to write a rough draft of a program outline that could be used by a person unfamiliar with their ideas to facilitate the program. Here are the program ideas they came up with…

Program Name: Save the Condors

Featured Zooniverse Project: Condor Watch

Program Model: Demonstration

Description: This 10 minute floor demonstration was designed to bring awareness to the problem of lead poisoning within the critically endangered California condor population and publicize how members of the public can assist scientists in their continuing efforts to save this species. The demonstration starts off with a video placing the viewer in the shoes of a condor suffering the effects of lead poisoning. Next the facilitator shows a hands-on activity showing how lead spreads throughout the condor’s body when it ingests a lead bullet embedded within the carcass on which it was feeding. The demonstrations ends by introducing Condor Watch as means to help research scientists better understand how to detect early warning signs of lead poisoning.

 

Program Name: Inside a Cyclone

Featured Zooniverse Project: Radio Galaxy Zoo

Program Model: Planetarium Skyshow & Demonstration

Description: This group created a storyboard and script for a short skyshow. Unfortunately time did not allow for the development of a prototype that could be projected in one of the museum theatres. This program delved into the science behind tropical cyclones, also called hurricanes or typhoons. It introduced the mechanics of how these storms work, safety precautions that should be taken in the event of such a storm, and the drastic impacts these weather events can have on people and property. Cyclone Center was introduced as a way for people interested in meteorology to participate in the important research behind tropical cyclones.

 

Program Name: Are We Alone?

Featured Zooniverse Project: Planet Hunters

Program Model: Demonstration

Description: This 5-10 minute floor demonstration was designed to take place on a small stage on the museum floor. Using the Drake Equation, the facilitator engages audience members in a conversation about the possibility of alien life in our galaxy. The program ends with an invitation to actively participate in the search for habitable worlds through Zooniverse’s Planet Hunters project.

 

Program Name: The Mystery of the Universe: Black Holes

Featured Zooniverse Project: Radio Galaxy Zoo

Program Model: Structured Workshop

 

Description:

This 30 minute workshop was designed to introduce teens to perhaps the most asked about of space phenomena – black holes. Through a video, hand-on demonstrations, and a small group activity the facilitator guides program participants through. Radio Galaxy Zoo is presented as a way for teens to continue their exploration by helping scientists locate supermassive black holes.

 

We really enjoyed working with these bright and motivated young people!

Education

Educator Opinions Needed on Planet Hunters Educational Resources

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The prospect of discovering a whole new planet in Planet Hunters is super amazing and awesome.  I sometimes refer to it as the “sexiest” outcome of any Zooniverse project (sorry lions and plankton). Here at the Zooniverse we’ve found that young people get pretty jazzed about the prospect of discovering a new world too. We want to deepen that excitement by helping students to understand the science behind the project.

Over the past year educators have been developing the Planet Hunters Educators Guide.  Specifically targeted at middle school students (11-14 year olds), this nine-lesson unit aims to help students gain an in-depth understanding of the science behind Planet Hunters. Topics addressed include the transit method of detecting exoplanets, habitable zones, working with Kepler data to determine features of the different exoplanets, and much more. Last spring we conducted a first round of teacher review of the initial set of lessons. Since then they’ve been updated and improved based on the incredibly valuable feedback provided by teachers from around the world.

We’re carrying out a second round of teacher evaluation on these the revised lessons. Care to lend us your opinion?  We need teachers to tell us what they think about these lessons and how to make them better!

The Details

  • If you’d like to help us create this educational resource please fill in this Google Form.  
  • We’ll email you directly with instructions on accessing the lessons and evaluation forms by Friday February 14th.
  • US-based teachers who complete either of the following options by 5pm CST on Wednesday March 10th will receive a $25 Amazon gift card via email. 

1.)  Pilot at least two lessons with students and complete a short feedback form for each lesson.

OR

2.)  Read at least four lessons and complete a short feedback form for each lesson.

We welcome the opinions from educators from any country, but are only able to offer the Amazon gift card to US-based teachers due to grant restrictions.  If you have any questions please comment below or email education@zooniverse.org.  

News, Science, Technical

Zoo Tools: A New Way to Analyze, View and Share Data

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Since the very first days of Galaxy Zoo, our projects have seen amazing contributions from volunteers who have gone beyond the main classification tasks. Many of these examples have led to scientific publications, including Hanny’s Voorwerp, the ‘green pea’ galaxies, and the circumbinary planet PH1b.

One common thread that runs through the many positive experiences we’ve had with the volunteers is the way in which they’ve interacted more deeply with the data. In Galaxy Zoo, much of this has been enabled by linking to the Sloan SkyServer website, where you can find huge amounts of additional information about galaxies on the site (redshift, spectra, magnitudes, etc). We’ve put in similar links on other projects now, linking to the Kepler database on Planet Hunters, or data on the location and water conditions in Seafloor Explorer.

The second part of this that we think is really important, however, is providing ways in which users can actually use and manipulate this data. Some users have been already been very resourceful in developing their own analysis tools for Zooniverse projects, or have done lots of offline work pulling data into Excel, IDL, Python, and lots of other programs (see examples here and here). We want to make using the data easier and available to more of our community, which has led to the development of Zoo Tools (http://tools.zooniverse.org). Zoo Tools is still undergoing some development, but we’d like to start by describing what it can do and what sort of data is available.

An Example

Zoo Tools works in an environment which we call the Dashboard – each Dashboard can be thought of as a separate project that you’re working on. You can create new Dashboards yourself, or work collaboratively with other people on the same Dashboard by sharing the URL.

Zoo Tools Main Page

Create a New Dashboard

Within the Dashboard, there are two main functions: selecting/importing data, and then using tools to analyze the data.

The first step for working with the Dashboard is to select the data you’d like to analyze. At the top left of the screen, there’s a tab named “Data”. If you click on this, you’ll see the different databases that Zoo Tools can query. For Galaxy Zoo, for example, it can query the Zooniverse database itself (galaxies that are currently being classified by the project), or you can also analyze other galaxies from the SDSS via their Sky Server website.

Import Data from Zooniverse

Clicking on the “Zooniverse” button, for example, you can select galaxies in one of four ways: a Collection (either your own or someone else’s), looking at your recently classified galaxies, galaxies that you’ve favorited, or specific galaxies via their Zooniverse IDs. Selecting any of these will import them as a dataset, which you can start to look at and analyze. In this example we’ll import 20 recent galaxies.

Import 20 Recents

After importing your dataset, you can use any of the tools in Dashboard (which you can select under “Tools” at the top of the page) on your data. After selecting a tool, you choose the dataset that you’d like to work with from a dropdown menu, and then you can begin using it. For example: if I want to look at the locations of my galaxies on the sky, I can select the “Map” tool. I then select the data source I’d like to plot (in this case, “Zooniverse–1”) and the tool plots the coordinates of each galaxy on a map of the sky. I can select different wavelength options for the background (visible light, infrared, radio, etc), and could potentially use this to analyze whether my galaxies are likely to have more stars nearby based on their position with respect to the Milky Way.

The other really useful part is that the tools can talk to each other, and can pass data back and forth. For example: you could import a collection of galaxies and look at their colour in a scatterplot. You could then select only certain galaxies in that tool, and then plot the positions of those galaxies on the map. This is what we do in the screenshots below:

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Making Data Analysis Social

You can also share Dashboards with other people. From the Zoo Tools home page you can access your existing dashboards as well as delete them and share them with others. You can share on Twitter and Facebook or just grab the URL directly. For example, the Dashboard above can be found here – with a few more tools added as a demonstration.

Sharing a Dashboard

This means that once you have a Dashboard set up and ready to use, you can send it to somebody else to use too. Doing this will mean that they see the same tools in the same configuration, but on their own account. They can then either replicate or verify your work – or branch off and use what you were doing as a springboard for something new.

What ‘Tools’ Are There?

Currently, there are eight tools available for both regular Galaxy Zoo and the Galaxy Zoo Quench projects:

  • Histogram: makes bar charts of a single data parameter
  • Scatterplot: plot any two data parameters against each other
  • Map: plot the position of objects on the sky, overplotted on maps of the sky at different wavelengths (radio, visible, X-ray, etc.)
  • Statistics: compute some of the most common statistics on your data (eg, mean, minimum, maximum, etc).
  • Subject viewer: examine individual objects, including both the image and all the metadata associated with that object
  • Spectra: for galaxies in the SDSS with a spectrum, download and examine the spectrum.
  • Table: List the metadata for all objects in a dataset. You can also use this tool to create new columns from the data that exists – for example, take the difference between magnitudes to define the color of a galaxy.
  • Color-magnitude: look at how the color and magnitude of galaxies compare to the total population of Galaxy Zoo. A really nice way of visualizing and analyzing how unusual a particular galaxy might be.

We have one tool up and running for Space Warps called Space Warp Viewer. This lets users adjust the color and scale parameters of image to examine potential gravitational lenses in more detail.

Snapshot Serengeti Dashboard

Finally, Snapshot Serengeti has several of the same tools that Galaxy Zoo does, including Statistics, Subject Viewer, Table, and Histogram (aka Bar Graph). There’s also Image Gallery, where you can examine the still images from your datasets, and we’re working on an Image Player. There’s a few very cool and advanced tools we started developing last week – they’re not yet deployed, but we’re really excited to let you follow the activity over many seasons or by focusing on particular cameras. Stay tuned. You can see an example Serengeti Dashboard, showing the distribution of Cheetahs, here (it’s also shown in the screenshot above).

We hope that Zoo Tools will be an important part of all Zooniverse projects in the future, and we’re looking forward to you trying them out. More to come soon!

Education

Teachers Wanted For Planet Hunters Educators Guide Piloting

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We need you and your students to help us craft a top-notch resource for teachers!  Educators at the Adler Planetarium have been hard at work creating an educators guide aimed at helping teachers bring the thrilling hunt for exoplanets into their classroom.  The first draft is nearly ready and we want to know what you think.

We’re looking for US-based 6th -8th grade teachers to try one or more lessons from the Planet Hunters Educators Guide this spring with their students.   Each lesson can be taught as a stand alone activity and takes approximately 45 – 60 minutes of class time.  We want to know what works, what needs to change, and any other feedback you can provide.

Besides, one of your students may just discover a new planet!  You can’t get that in gym class (although physical fitness is very important). 

If you’re interested, please email the following information to education@zooniverse.org. 

 

Name:

State:

Grades & Subjects Taught:

Number of Class Sections (if applicable):

Education

Zooniverse and Teens: 1,034 M&Ms In A Jar and a Pooping Sloth

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First a quick introduction, I’m Kelly, one of the educators on the Zooniverse development team based at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago.  Recently we’ve had some opportunities to speak with teens about the awesomeness of the Zooniverse and citizen science in general.

First-up were freshman from the Air Force Academy, a Chicago Public high school. For the last three years the Adler Planetarium has partnered with AFA to develop a series of field trip experiences for their freshman class. The first trip is billed as a “behind the scenes” look at the Adler where students attend sessions presented by different departments within the planetarium.  Web-developer extraordinaire Stuart and I spoke to 80 students in four 25 minutes sessions about all things Zooniverse.

We introduced students to citizen science, crowdsourcing, and multiple Zooniverse projects.  To demonstrate the power of the crowd, each student guessed the number of M&Ms in a jar (1,034 painstakingly counted by yours truly).  We averaged students’ guesses and, in most instances, this average was closer to the actual number than their individual guesses.  After a brief demonstration on the transit method of planet detection, students dove into Planet Hunters.  The program ended with students giving feedback about what they liked and what they would change about the website.  We’ll use their feedback as we develop educational resources for Planet Hunters.

Zooniverse student outreach isn’t limited to the walls of the Adler Planetarium.  On cold November Friday, Laura, Ed, and I headed out to Downers Grove South High School in the suburbs of Chicago.  Each year the school’s library teams up with an academic department to participate in the American Library Association’s Teen Read Week.  This year it was the science department, so Zooniverse joined organizations like Argonne National Laboratory to speak with freshman and sophomores about various sciencey things.

Ed presenting to students during Teen Read Week

Admittedly there was some stiff competition for student attention, namely live animals.  A sloth availing itself of the facilities proved quite fascinating to the students.  While not directly related to our outreach endeavors, we did learn that sloths only go number two once a week (file that away for your next bar trivia or Trivial Pursuit game). Overall our participation in Teen Read work at Downers Grove South High School was a huge success. All told over 600 students classified galaxies in Galaxy Zoo, searched for extrasolar planets in Planet Hunters, counted and measured seastars in Seafloor Explorer, and previewed Snapshot Serengeti.

We’re looking forward to more opportunities to work directly with students, just maybe sans sloth and with a smaller jar of M&Ms.