The AOVEF - A Progress Report

José L. Alonso and Daniel R. Altschuler

We are very pleased with the success of our Visitor Center, which has received a total of about 75,000 persons between it's inauguration on March 1 and the end of September. Figure 6 shows a monthly comparison of the average number of visitors over the last five years with the same numbers for the current year. About 25% of these visitors were children a large fraction belonging to school groups visiting AOVEF by appointment in the mornings.

Figure 6. Monthly attendance records for 1997 (back) as compared with themweans of those for the years 1990-1996 (front).

We have started a project to improve pedestrian access through the construction of a special walkway and the addition of two shelters for visitors to rest on their way up.

The Puerto Rico Community Foundation sponsored the position "Arecibo Observatory Teacher in Residence" for the 1997 summer period. Mrs. Rhonda Pérez, a high school physics teacher was selected for this position. Mrs. Pérez developed a "school visit guide" to the Visitor Center exhibits. It includes a set of key questions related to every exhibit, and the connections between the subject matter presented and the actual school curriculum. This information will help teachers organize more effectively their school group visit to the Observatory.

A proposal submitted to the "Dwight D. Eisenhower - Professional Development Program" of the Puerto Rico Department of Education was approved. This proposal will fund a series of science workshops next summer for 50 science teachers from the Arecibo school region. Participants will learn to use the available exhibits as teaching tools. The program will include hands-on activities about the moon, motion of the Earth, the solar system, the atmosphere, and the constellations among others. The main emphasis is to provide participants with a set of activities and the required background to allow them to incorporate them into their classrooms.

NAIC/AO Newsletter, November 1997

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