Carnegie Summer Program: this team of scientist/engineer educators designed and taught an inquiry lab activity through ISEE’s Professional Development Program

L-R: Alicia Lanz, Syed Uddin, and Alexander Ji

Venue: Carnegie Summer Program

Team Members: 

Alexander Ji (Design Team Lead): Postdoc, Carnegie Observatories

Syed Uddin: Postdoc, Carnegie Observatories

Alicia Lanz: Postdoc, Carnegie Observatories

Audience: 16 undergraduate

Activity name: Spectra; Physics of the Cosmos

Learning goal: 

Learners will identify the qualitative spectral shapes and features in an astronomical spectrum, and apply the physical concepts of thermal radiation and atomic physics to interpret those features. 

Astronomical spectra are made up of continuum, and emission/absorption lines. 

Atomic/quantum physics is responsible for lines. 

Thermal radiation is responsible for blackbody continuum. (Wien’s Law)

This team is funded by: NSF AST#1743117 & Carnegie Observatories