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Paper Plate Education
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Title |
Description | Link Contents |
| Addition & Multiplication Tableware | Design a plate for practicing addition and multiplication tables. | Pix Text |
| Alien Platecraft | Decorate and fly a saucer-like Platecraft. | Ref. Pix Text |
| All-Sky Projectors for Portable Planetariums | Project all-sky images onto the inside of a Starlab dome for pennies apiece using clear plastic cups. | Ref. |
| Altitude Co-Altitude | Illustrate altitude and its complement co-altitude (or zenith distance) of a sighted star or the sun in celestial navigation. | Pix |
| Altitude Measurer | Make an astrolabe-like instrument to measure the altitude of celestial objects. | Refs. |
| Altitude of the Noon Sun | Demonstrate the relationships between the date, the altitude of the Sun at transit, the observer’s latitude, and the altitude of Polaris. | Ref. Pix |
| As the World Turns | For young participants, make a rotating window that segues from day to night drawings. | Ref. |
| Binary Stars | Create a model of an eclipsing binary star system or of any two objects in orbit around a common point. | |
| Calabash Cup | Make a model of the alleged Polynesian calabash, a water-bearing gourd supposedly used to confirm latitude. | |
| Capo Dial | Construct dial to determine on which fret to place a capo to transpose musical notes. | Pix |
| Circle of Fifths | Demonstrate the principle behind music's Circle of Fifths. | |
| Communicating With ISS | Demonstrate the basic principle behind communication systems between the International Space Station and ground control. | |
| Compass Rose | Design a compass rose showing the cardinal and inter-cardinal directions and label the traditional points in what is known as "boxing a compass." | |
| Congruence | Correlate
declination/right ascension with latitude/longitude using intersecting plates. |
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| Connect-the-Dot Constellations | Connect dots (on pre-drilled stack) to make own constellations, with no particular side being “up.” Write story on back. | |
| Core of the Matter | Illustrate sun, moon, or planet interiors by coloring and intersecting three plates. | Ref. Pix Text |
| Cosmic Hats | Decorate and wear Cosmic Hats. | Ref. Pix Text |
| Deep Field View | Create a telescopic view of a starfield using a tempera paint that reacts with a foam plate and compare a with Hubble Space Telescope image. | Ref. Pix Text |
| Defining the Zodiac | Make a model to demonstrate how the zodiac is defined by the stars seen in the plane of the sun. | Refs. |
| Dig This! | Simulate an archeological dig with a stack of plates and recreate a timeline as you peel away plates that each represent a given number of years. To scale intersperse pictures of "artifacts." | |
| Dip | Illustrate dip and the need to correct for it during C-Nav sight reduction. | |
| Directions-Earth & Sky | Establish multiple coordinate systems for determining directions from the Earth-bound perspective and when looking upward. | Refs. Pix |
| Directions at Sea | Demonstrate the system of directions relative to the vessel used by sailors. | Pix |
| Double Helix | Make DNA "ladder" by spiraling and intertwining two plates. | |
| Drinking Gourd | Use a Platisphere to depict the seasonal variations of the Big Dipper's aspect as seen by slaves traveling north on the Underground Railroad. | Pix |
| Dynamic Solar System | Create a solar system model, with students pacing off distances to scale. | Ref. Pix Text |
| Galaxy Models | Make models of galaxies. | Ref. |
| Gemini’s Signature | Model and predict the "signature photos" of the Gemini Observatories, both in Hawaii and in Chile. | Ref. Pix Text |
| GHA, SHA, LHA | Correlate Greenwich hour angle, sidereal hour angle, and local hour angle. | |
| Globular Clusters | Plot globular clusters or brightest stars and analyze the patterns to determine their galactic locations. | Ref. |
| GLPA Logo | Given either a date or an hour, determine what time or season is suggested by the star pattern of the GLPA logo. | Ref. Pix |
| Gno Problem Mon | Track the path of a shadow cast by a gnomon through the day. | Ref. |
| Hemisphere Maps | Place two plates side by side—akin to old charts—and make map of world as individual perceives it. | Pix Text |
| How Far The Planets? | Measure the varying distances of the planets in orbit to reveal their proximity to earth. | Ref. |
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H/R Wall |
Construct a large H-R diagram on a wall with colored plates of varying sizes. | |
| Impact Game | Play an asteroid impact game by flipping a rock on a string into planets orbiting the sun. | Text |
| Land & C-Nav | Demonstrate the relationships between the date, the altitude of the primary navigation stars at transit, the observer’s latitude, and the altitude of Polaris. | |
| Latitude by Polaris | Demonstrate how a navigator correlates the observed altitude of Polaris with her latitude. | Refs. Pix |
| Latitude Formula | Illustrate why latitude equals the great circle distance from an observer's zenith to the celestial equator (Latitude =90-Ho +/- same/contrary declination). | |
| Milky Way Galaxy | Ref. | |
| Mirror diameter | Demonstrate the correlation between mirror diameter and its light gathering ability. | |
| Mission Patch | Design a circular NASA mission patch. | Text |
| Moon Finder | Make a model to explain moon phases and create a moon dial akin to old volvelles to determine when and in which direction one can see any given phase. | Ref. Pix |
| Moon Masks | Decorate and wear Moon Masks, Sun Masks and Cosmic Hats. | Ref. Pix Text |
| Moon Meets the Football Field | Illustrate the concave tendency of the moon's orbit around the sun using a football field for scale. | Ref. |
| Moonthly Eclipse | Demonstrate why eclipses do not occur every month both at new moon and at full moon. | Pix |
| Music Shaker | Tape two plates together with beans between them to make a musical shaker. | Pix |
| Nocturnal | Make and use a nocturnal, an antique instrument that determined time from the position of the northern Guardian Stars. | |
| North at Noon | Find true north with two timed observations before and after noon. | |
| North and Scout | Use a scouting technique to determine cardinal (N, S, E, & W) directions. | |
| Orbit Basics | Draw a simple model of the solar system with planets in orbit around the central sun. | Pix |
| Orbit by Elongation | Derive orbits of Mercury and Venus from elongation tables, with Earth’s orbit on perimeter of plate. | Ref. Pix |
| Oreo® Moon Phases | Halve and scrape Oreo® cookies to illustrate moon phases. | Pix Text |
| P6 | Construct hand-held projectors to indicate the current planet and moon positions inside a portable planetarium for any given time. | Ref. Pix Text |
| Paper Moons I | Cut out portion of plates to depict moon phases. | Ref. |
| Paper Moons II | Cut out portion of plates to depict moon phases. | Ref. |
| Paper Moons III | Cut out portion of plates to depict moon phases. | Ref. |
| Photographic Plate | Model and predict photographic star trails of the circumpolar stars for a given exposure time. | Pix |
| Planet Pointer | Make a planet pointer akin to old volvelles to indicate the position of the planets in the sky for any given time. | Refs. Pix |
| Planetarium Planet Plotting | Track the motion of visible planets and correlate the plate view with both the planetarium sky and the real night sky. | Ref. |
| Plate-a-tarium | Build the ultimate plate model that depicts features of celestial sphere, indicates real time position of planets and zodiac, and illustrates rising and setting position of sun for any date. | Pix |
| Plateful of Planets | Demonstrate the scale of the planets with nuts and seeds relative to a plate-sized sun. | Ref. Pix Text |
| Plate Teachtonics | Teach plate tectonics by cutting paper plates into tectonic plates. | |
| Platisphere | Make an instrument akin to a planisphere that shows the position of the circumpolar stars for any given date and time. | Ref. Pix Text |
| Platisphere for Children | Construct a device to locate the Big and Little Dippers and Cassiopeia after sunset through the seasons. | Ref. Pix Text |
| Platisphere Tactile | Make a tactile model of circumpolar stars for visually impaired persons by drilling holes for stars on a stack of plates. | Ref. Pix Text |
| Polynesian Practices | Demonstrate techniques used by Polynesian wayfinders to determine their position, such as sighting on zenithal stars and interpreting wave patterns. | |
| Polynesian Star Pairs | Demonstrate how Polynesian wayfinders use star pairs to determine latitude and directions. | |
| Portable Sundial | Create a functional, portable sundial. | |
| Ptolemaic Polemic | Make Ptolemaic model with equants, epicycles, and deferents to explain retrograde motion. | |
| Rainbow Finder | Construct a rainbow finder to locate a potential rainbow and to predict its apparent size. | Ref. Pix Text |
| Rainbow Turntable | Make a freestanding rainbow using a phonographic record player. | Pix |
| Rainbow Wall | Build a rainbow model from suspended clear and colored plates representing water drops. | |
| Radar Plating | Simulate radar plotting and tracking multiple targets. Determine other vessels’ courses, speeds, and closest points of approach. | |
| Reflector Flex | Demonstrate how modern reflector telescopes use rapid actuators to compensate for gravity-induced distortions of the primary mirror. | Pix |
| Retrograde Motion | Ref. | |
| Revolving Star Chart | Make a simple plate to depict the circumpolar stars. | Ref. |
| Ricehenge | Model the Stonehenge site out of rice cereal treats--then eat it. | Ref. Pix Text |
| Salad Spinner Zoetrope | Make a zoetrope from a salad spinner to illustrate moon phases and persistence of vision. | Ref. Text |
| Satellite Tracking Bowl | Draw a local horizon and plot the paths and times of satellite passes inside a bowl prior to an observing session. | Ref. Pix Text |
| Saturn's Rings | Ref | |
| Seasons | Ref. | |
| Sine Waves | Construct a sine curve from two plate halves. |
Pix Text |
| Slide tray index | Make a useful index for slide trays that doubles as a dust shield. | Ref. Pix |
| Solar System Mobile | Create planet mobile with appropriate colors, sizes, and drawn features. | Ref. |
| Stargazing Plates | Build collection of observing notes, diagrams, images, or other information and suspend from telescope during observing sessions. | Ref. Text Pix |
| Star Life Models | Model the timeline of a star's existence. | Ref. |
| Stellar Bar Code | Show similarities between a bar code and spectroscopic lines. | Pix |
| Sub-Solar Cup | Track the sub-solar path of the sun across a globe in real time to highlight the boundaries of the tropics and to illustrate an analemma. | Ref. Pix Text |
| Sunrise/Sunset | Track the position of the sun at sunrise and sunset through the seasons. | |
| Syene Well | Reproduce Eratosthenes’ determination of the circumference of the earth with a Syene well simulation | |
| Telescope View | Imagine paper plate as a telescopic field of view. Draw what you see or draw telescopic views of celestial objects, as seen by Galileo or Hubble Space Telescope. | |
| Tracking Alt/Az of Sun | ||
| Tracking Sunspots | Project, trace, and track sunspots directly on a plate which defines the
outline of the sun. |
Ref. Pix |
| Transit of Venus | ||
| Vanishing Spacecraft | Demonstrate visual blind spots that cause satellites to disappear from vision. | Ref. Text |
| Variable Star Field | Compare a plate depicting a telescopic field of view containing variable stars with an AAVSO finder chart and estimate stellar magnitudes. | |
| Viking Directions | Make a solar stone, or bearing dial, to simulate the direction-finding technique of Norsemen. | |
| Voyager's Golden Record | Design a personal cover plate for the Voyager spacecraft’s mounted record and prioritize your own list of items for inclusion in the record. | |
| Wayfinding | Demonstrate the direction system used by Polynesian wayfinders who navigated the Pacific. | |
| Wind Rose | Design a wind rose on a paper plate. | Pix |
[Note: As we build this site we will be uploading much information that has already been published. The far right column indicates what you will find if you click the links that are highlighted under the Title column. "Ref" indicates that the material was previously published in the respective Proceedings of the Annual Great Lakes Planetarium Association Conference and the reference is cited. As a membership benefit, GLPA members may order back issues from GLPA while supplies last. "Pix" indicates that a picture or image(s) can be found at the Title's linked page. "Text" indicates that you can find text or a write-up on the activity at the linked page, though some instructions are admittedly sparse for now.]
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Copyright ©2012 Chuck Bueter. All rights reserved. |