Galaxy Forum Hawai‘i 2010 - Kona

"21st Century Education – Get to Know Our Place in the Universe"

An exploratory forum to promote Galaxy Education in the 21st Century.

Spend a special morning with Hawaii Island's finest galaxy, space and astronomy educators and innovators.

When: Saturday, 30 January 2010, 10:30am - 12:30pm
Where: Onizuka Space Center, Kona International Airport, Hawaii Island
Cost: Free admission - donations to Onizuka Space Center gratefully accepted

Please join us for the first Galaxy Forum of 2010. The Galaxy Forum is a series of local community events to promote Galaxy Education in the 21st Century.

At this Forum, educators and education advocates, science teachers, students, cultural practitioners and astronomers of all kinds will discuss strategies to advance Hawaii education and science at all levels in our schools, both public and private.

The concept of "Galaxy awareness" is emphasized and integrated with the excellent space activities and resources throughout the state, with particular focus on the world-class astrophysical observatories on Hawaii Island. Galaxy Forum Educators work together to develop and promote classroom materials that highlight the Galaxy and our place in it in relation to the Solar System and Universe.

Through interactive, guided discussions, the Galaxy Forum Workshop will engage the expertise and passion of you--our local educators to design an ILOA-sponsored, Island-wide essay / poster contest, with a theme "Understanding Our Place in the Universe."

Featured Speaker: Dr. Kumiko Usuda, Outreach Scientist, Subaru Telescope: Dr. Usuda is a dynamic and accomplished Galaxy educator with experience in Hawaii's classrooms teaching students how to build their own scale models of the Milky Way. She presented at three Galaxy Forums in Hawaii in 2009. She will be speaking about how to integrate Galaxy awareness in preschool, elementary, secondary and college classroom curriculum.

Panel Discussion to follow on advancing general science education in Hawaii to follow. Discussions will include:

• How can "Getting to Know Our Place in the Universe" inspire, engage and influence the minds of keiki in our classrooms?
• How can we integrate Native Hawaiian culture into 21st Century Galaxy Education?
• How can Galaxy / Astronomy Science and Galaxy Education materials be integrated into the K-12 standards-based education system?
• How can Hawai’i Island educators utilize the world-class resources of science and astronomy on this island?
  

We'd like to invite you to join our Panel with the hope of including participants from West Hawaii Explorations Academy, Kealakehe and Konawaena High Schools and the public / private elementary and middle schools in the Kona area. Please contact us at the number or email below to confirm your participation.

Concluding brief comments will be provided by Galaxy Forum sponsors International Lunar Observatory, Galaxy Garden and Onizuka Space Center.

Please RSVP by Friday, 22 January at 808-885-3474.