Astronomy Camp promotes an authentic understanding of science, research, and engineering amongst youth and adults through hands-on, interactive adventures at astronomical observatories. We inspire, prepare, and retain the next generation of leaders through access to embedded professional mentors and Camp alumni. Campers gain real experience with data, quantitative reasoning, and collaborations, cultivating a passion and understanding of STEM careers. We strive to grow outreach among under-resourced groups, to mentor Campers, and to nurture future leaders.
Our approach emphasizes a teaching philosophy described in Dr. Robert Yager’s essay “Never Playing the Game.” Participants are immersed in an authentic, scientific environment where they engage in hands-on exploration.
As revealed by testimonials and educational research, “Camp” is often “life changing” for these reasons:
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- Engaging active scientists as mentors before, during, and after Camp.
- Enrolling student peers with common interests in science and engineering.
- Treating youth as colleagues rather than children.
- Fostering a fun attitude toward learning, exploring ideas, and searching for answers.
- Investigating realistic, scientific projects involving modern equipment.
So, Astronomy Camp is much more than just appearances! We observe, measure, and seek to understand phenomena: What processes cause their colors, how/why do they move, what is their scale, do they have a lifespan, how do we know that …? Our Camp Team guides and teaches with a personal, interactive style covering a wide range of topics and activities.
At night, Campers explore a wide range of celestial objects. Astronomy is about exploration, and Astronomy Camp fosters that philosophy. We interact with leading scientists, control research-class telescopes and instruments, interpret our observations, and investigate personal questions about astronomy and our Universe. Everyone uses telescopes such as the 24″ Phillips, the 32″ Schulman, and the 61″ Kuiper telescopes. Advanced teen Campers also operate Arizona Radio Observatory’s 12m telescope as well as its 10m Submillimeter Radio Telescope on Mt. Graham.
We strive to improve the quality of Camp experiences by …
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- Engaging our alumni base to mentor Campers and to promote possible career paths.
- Consistently incorporating research-based, pedagogical best practices in science education.
- Incorporating the latest technical and scientific developments in astronomy into our base educational topics.
- Improving access to Astronomy Camp by increasing participation from underrepresented groups through recruiting, outreach, and scholarship opportunities with particular focus on our greater Arizona community and The University of Arizona student population.
- Providing long-term mentoring for research projects with highly motivated Campers at local, regional, state, national, and international levels.