Today Division 5 and 6 walked over to visit the Trottier Observatory at Simon Fraser University. We were introduced to how researchers study space and each student received a star chart for use the next time they’re looking at the night sky.
Next we went outside to check out the telescope in the observatory. We learned about how the telescope is used and what it can see. We weren’t able to see anything through the telescope today, though, because there was some cloud cover.
In the courtyard around the observatory, there were some interesting features such as a sun dial, some of the basic elements of the universe, picnic tables with detailed moon phases, and big star charts. They pack a lot into this small area!
Here is a link to the SFU Starry Nights page if you’d like to visit again.
Division 5–what was your favourite part of our visit?
My favourite part was when he talked to us about when they put the universe in a year, it show us when thing happen like he said for the universe the dinosaur got extinct yesterday when for us it was thousands of years ago.
The field trip was really fun! 😀
I always enjoy examples or comparisons like that that give us perspective on how truly brief human history has been on this planet! There is a wonderful HUGE timeline of Earth out at the Beaty Museum of Biodiversity at UBC (they also have an amazing blue whale skeleton suspended from the ceiling!)–you should check it out if you ever have a chance!
i enjoyed the part when they told us about the telescope
Isn’t it amazing how it can help us see so far into space?