The Manheim Township Astronomy Club's Little Dipper Program is organized to bring the exposure of astronomy to younger audiences. Elementary school students in different grades have the opportunity within this program to explore the skies above and learn the best ways to observe them. Through telescope workshops, starwatches, planetarium shows, and more activities, students will gain a better understanding of what is beyond the ground!
We are actively looking for interested parents, teachers, and administrators who can assist in the carrying out of the individual Little Dippers programs at each elementary school. This would involve helping with event planning, running a telescope at events(training on inquiry), etc.
If you are interested, please fill out the Google Form below. Whatever you can contribute to this program is well accepted and appreciated.
-High school student aligning one of the Little Dipper's scopes
Through the "Manheim Township Astronomy Club's Little Dippers: Creating Interest in STEM through Elementary Starwatches" grant that we received from the Manheim Township Education Foundation(MTEF), the MTAC can connect with students in the elementary level. This grant provided the club with 8 Orion Funscope Astro Dazzle 4.5 in. Reflecting Telescopes. These scopes are a super big step in the direction of where we want to go with the Little Dippers program. In October of 2017, high school students in the club aligned these 8 telescopes in preparation for sending them out to the other schools.
Every school in the district now has access to a scope like this one.