![\"Isla](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/04\/170403_Astronomy_Night_0042.jpg\")
<\/a>Isla Shea, 6, of East Auburn School, uses a telescope to view the moon as Evan Goldberg ’19 looks on during the Astronomy Extravaganza on April 3. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)<\/p><\/div>\n
Bella, a first-grader from Martel Elementary in Lewiston, loved a constellation game presented in Carnegie Science Hall because she was able to figure out which groups of stars she could see on her birthday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have never thought about the stars before,\u201d Bella said. \u201cI loved being able to have fun and learn about them at the same time!\u201d<\/p>\n
Alexia, a second-grader from Farwell Elementary in Lewiston, was jumping with excitement before walking into a planetarium show. \u201cWow! I love science!\u201d<\/p>\n
The event was the brainchild of Assistant Professor of Physics Aleks Diamond-Stanic, who teamed up with one of the department’s assistants in instruction, Nicole Hastings, and with Ellen Alcorn and Brenna Callahan of the Harward Center for Community Partnerships.<\/p>\n
The event featured projects, posters, and demonstrations inside Carnegie and Chase Hall, as well as outside between the two buildings, and everything staffed by students in Diamond-Stanic\u2019s course \u201cIntroduction to Astronomy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The program was inspired by similar experiences that Diamond-Stanic, new to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ this year, had with middle-school students during his graduate studies at the University of Arizona. \u201cI find it rewarding to see children engage in the process of discovery,\u201d he said, \u201cand I feel compelled to find ways to encourage their scientific interest, capacity, and identity.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the same time, he wanted a venue for his own ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ students to \u201cshare their new knowledge of astronomy with grade-school students.\u201d<\/p>\n
Diamond-Stanic\u2019s three children \u2014 ages 8, 4, 1 \u2014 attended the extravaganza. The older two are in Lewiston public schools, and it was great, he said, to \u201csee ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ students actively facilitating the process of learning and discovery for so many young children, including my own.\u201d<\/p>\n