Author Archives: davidvblack

About davidvblack

I teach courses in multimedia, 3D animation, Earth science, physics, biology, 8th grade science, chemistry, astronomy, engineering design, STEAM, and computer science in Utah schools. I've won numerous awards as an educator and am a frequent presenter at state and national educator conferences. I am part of the Teachers for Global Classrooms program through the U.S. Department of State and traveled to Indonesia in the summer of 2017 as an education ambassador. I am passionate about STEAM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics); science history; photography; graphic design; 3D animation; and video production. My Spaced-Out Classroom blog is for sharing lessons and activities my students have done in astronomy. The Elements Unearthed project (http://elementsunearthed.com) combines my interests to document the discovery, history, sources, uses, mining, refining, and hazards of the chemical elements. My third blog site, https://science-creativity.com is to provide resources for teaching creativity through student-created digital media projects in STEM classes.

Mastering the Dark Arts: BYU-RET Week 2

Posted on July 18, 2014 by davidvblack

With my prospectus completed and approved, I was ready to begin my actual research project at Brigham Young University. I am here on a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program funded through the National Science Foundation (Grant # PHY1157078). I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged argelander, astronomy, bonner durchmusterung, Brigham Young University, byu ret, CCD, data analysis, data bias, data reduction, experimental methodology, IRAF, master darks, master flats, National Science Foundation, photometry, preparing data, process of science, reducing data, research methodology, scientific method, SOFIA, Uintah and Ouray Reservation | Leave a comment

Prospectus: BYU-RET Week 1

Posted on July 8, 2014 by davidvblack

For the next ten or so posts, I will report on my experiences doing astronomical research at Brigham Young University this summer (2014). As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been selected to participate in a National Science … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged astronomy, be star, binary star, black hole, blue straggler, cassiopeia, cepheid, cmd, color magnitude diagram, delta scuti, evolution of stars, high mass x-ray binary, hmxb, hr diagram, hydrogen alpha, m 67, main sequence, neutron star, ngc 659, ngc 663, nucleosynthesis, open cluster, rr lyrae, supernova, turnoff point, variable stars | Leave a comment

An Article for The Science Teacher

Posted on June 24, 2014 by davidvblack

Over a year ago I wrote an article for The Science Teacher, the journal of the National Science Teachers Association geared for high school teachers. I’ve known two of the authors of a column for that magazine, called Science 2.0, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged astronomy lesson, brown dwarf, close stars, constellations, kevin luhman, light year, manuscript, models, nearby stars, newly discovered stars, ngss, nsta, rogue planet, science and math, stellar abundance, stellar classes, stellar neighborhood, super jupiter, types of stars, WISE mission | Leave a comment

Recent Developments: Spring, 2014

Posted on June 24, 2014 by davidvblack

I haven’t written any posts recently for this blog for several reasons: partly because I’m not actively teaching astronomy or astrobiology this semester (winter 2014) and partly because I’ve been so busy with so many things that I haven’t had … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged afa teacher of the year, air force association, astronomy education, astronomy research, byu ret, hungry giants, nitarp, nsta, red giant stars, research experiences for teachers, ret program, the science teacher | Leave a comment

The State of the Universe

Posted on March 29, 2014 by davidvblack

On January 9th, the last day of the American Astronomical Society conference in Washington, D.C., I had the opportunity to do something quite unusual. I attended a briefing on the State of the Universe presented by the President of AAS … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged american astronomical society, ari buchalter, blake bullock, david helfand, lamar smith, megan urry, nitarp, peggy piper, science and technology committee, SOFIA, united states congress, yerkes observatory | Leave a comment

AAS Day 3: Lots of Posters

Posted on January 25, 2014 by davidvblack

On Wednesday, Jan. 8 I spent the better part of the day in the Exhibit Hall looking at posters. I had intended to visit several of the breakout sessions, but the posters today were mostly on exoplanets, young stellar objects, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged aas, american astronomical society, astronomy poster, brc 38, bright rimmed clouds, count yorga, drake equation, dyson sphere, fermi paradox, galactic civilization, habitable zone, hz, maser, nasa origins, nearby stars, nitarp, nuclear engineering, panspermia, recons, SOFIA, spook alley, tau ceti, upper centaurus lupus, young stellar objects, yso | Leave a comment

At the AAS Conference, Day 2: Astrophysics

Posted on January 17, 2014 by davidvblack

I had fallen asleep while flipping through the channels on my hotel TV the night before, then when I finally woke up enough to take my contacts out and really go to bed, I couldn’t get back to sleep. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged airborne astronomy ambassadors, astronomy posters, astrophysics, exoplanet atmospheres, gravity waves, habitable zone, hz, kepler mission, ligo, nasa decadal survey, NASA epo, nitarp, quantum computer, SOFIA, tess, transiting exoplanet survey satellite, zerodur | Leave a comment

At the AAS Conference, Day 1

Posted on January 7, 2014 by davidvblack

Today was the opening day of the American Astronomical Society conference in Washington, D.C. I’m here to learn about NITARP, the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program. Seven teachers, including myself, have been selected as a new class to learn how … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged american astronomical society, arctic vortex, cosmos, exomoons, exoplanets, galactic halo, gaylord national resort, globular cluster, hayden planetarium, hot jupiters, k2 mission, kepler mission, meme, neil degrasse tyson, nitarp, SOFIA, stellar metallicity, subneptunes, super earths, thin disk, twitterverse | Leave a comment

The NITARP Workshop

Posted on January 6, 2014 by davidvblack

Today is Jan. 5, 2014. It’s been a fairly steep learning curve as I’ve attended the opening workshop for NITARP, the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program. As mentioned in yesterday’s post, NITARP provides opportunities for science teachers and their students … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 2mass, aas, american astronomical society, astronomy data, authentic science data, bright rimmed clouds, caltech, data archive, excess infrared, exoplanet, infrared, ipac, lithium, magfest, mentor teacher, nasa astrophysics division, NASA science mission directorate, nitarp, paul hertz, planet-eating stars, spitzer, stellar rotation, wise | Leave a comment

You Know You’re at the Wrong Conference When . . .

Posted on January 4, 2014 by davidvblack

I realize this will be out of order. I still have two days of my SOFIA trip last June to report on, and now it’s suddenly January and I’m in Washington, D.C. I want to describe my experiences here in … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged aas, alpha centauri, astronomy conference, authentic science data, brown coat, gaming conference, gaylord national resort, ghostbuster, gravity gun, magfest, nitarp, science education, southern cross, star trek into darkness | Leave a comment