Kids Capture Their Universe
What is KCU?
Kids Capture Their Universe (KCU) is an astronomy apprenticeship attended by middle school students across New England. Astronomy volunteers (typically amateur astronomers, undergrad/grad students and professional astronomers) spend 10 weeks helping apprentices learn to process and interpret images taken with MicroObservatory, an online telescope network. Apprentices create and share an astrophotography exhibit, complete with creative elements, such as poems and sculptures, inspired by their images. KCU was developed by the MIT Kavli Institute in collaboration with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and piloted with the Citizen Schools organization.
List of KCU sites for Fall 2009:
4H Rhode Island, Roger Williams Middle School - Providence, RI
4H Rhode Island, Nathanael Green Middle School - Providence, RI
4H Rhode Island, VIPS Community Center - Providence, RI
Citizen Schools, Salemwood Middle School - Malden, MA
Citizen Schools, Garfield Middle School - Revere, MA
Citizen Schools, Rogers Middle School - Boston, MA
Devotion School - Brookline, MA
Science Club for Girls - Cambridge, MA
Boys & Girls Club of North Central Massachusetts - Leominster, MA
Cambridge Community Center, Cambridge, MA
Yawkey Boys & Girls Club - Roxbury, MA
Vine Street Community Center - Roxbury, MA
IBA Technology Center - Roxbury, MA
Tobin/Mission Hill Community Center - Roxbury, MA
Gately Youth Center - Cambridge, MA
If you are interested in the KCU program, would like to volunteer to support current KCU programs, or would like to find out about KCU training opportunities, please contact Ross Barros-Smith.
Click here for access to our KCU Resources page.
How are astronomy volunteers involved?
We are looking for individuals or small teams to serve as “astronomy volunteers.” We will help them form partnerships with staff from after-school organizations across New England. Experience has shown that a small team may work best when facilitating KCU for the first time.
Implementation basics and models: KCU is a 15 contact hour after-school program, traditionally arranged into 10 weekly sessions of 1.5 hours each. However, specific implementation plans will be developed once partnerships are established. (For instance, one-week “camps” are already planned for Summer 2009.)
One possible addition to any model is another team member (high school or college student) to help with technology, and focus on helping youth become familiar with image processing.
Possible roles for astronomy volunteers in any model, or as additional support for an existing partnership:
- Offer a location for a field trip: amateur or professional observatory, planetarium, or working laboratory.
- Give professional input on youth astrophotography exhibits while they are developed during the program or at end-of-program community showcase, including Astronomy in the City event at MIT.
- Share current research interests by bringing images that youth can explore using the MicroObservatory Image software skills they have developed during the program.
- Offer invitations to amateur astronomy events and other science events in the local community.
Background
The first KCU program was offered at a Boston Citizen School campus in Spring 2006. Since then the KCU program has been implemented at dozens of after-school sites in New England, engaging a few hundreds students. Presentations by KCU students have been attended by hundreds of community members, parents and other children. We are always looking to expand our network of out-of-school time sites and astronomy volunteers.
A quote from an MIT grad student volunteer from Spring 2008:
"This is my favorite program for giving back to the community. I feel it is an ideal structure for community service. The program cross cuts cultural and age boundaries, builds a sense of community from disparate groups, provides positive role-models and expertise for children outside of their immediate family, and the time commitment is manageable for a busy person."
