Journal News, The (Westchester, NY)
Journal News, The (Westchester County, NY)
August 21, 2008
Camp kids spend a night under the stars
Author: Janie Rosman
Students from Tuckahoe Challenge Camp's "Astronomy Delight!" workshop learned firsthand what a star is during a "star party" on the William E. Cottle School field.
More than 200 parents and children gathered to see the Earth's moon and to observe Jupiter on Aug. 13.
That morning on the last day of class, all 14 students made a promise.
"We want to be observers, not peekers!" they said in unison.
"A peeker looks at something for not a long time," Rohan Gharekhan, 9, of New Rochelle said. "And an observer stares at something for a long time."
Class instructor Ed Forrest, an amateur astronomer for more than 45 years, said star parties began as social gatherings.
"Back when man was in caves, everyone would come outside to look at the sky," Forrest said. "Anyone can look up and learn regardless of age."
At the star party, the students pointed their telescopes skyward to glimpse reddish-brown Jupiter shining just to the right of Earth's moon.
"Planets have different colors because of their temperatures," Sophie Wolf, 9, said.
Forrest asked his students what stops the wind on Earth.
"Mountains," Sophie answered. "If there are no mountains or valleys the wind keeps blowing."
Forrest said about 30 percent of the kids in that class would not be exposed to the material they covered until they reached college.
"We talked about the synchronized rotation of the planets and the moon," Nathaniel Rosenbloom, 8, said.
Forrest said anyone can think like (Albert) Einstein.
"What made Einstein different is that he thought like a kid," Forrest said. "Kids have pure thought, and their thinking is uncomplicated."
Forrest has a tool for helping students concentrate called "ROAI," a green alien he uses in class.
"Who can tell me what ROAI stands for?" Forrest asked.
A dozen hands flew into the air.
Robert Jackson, 11, of Harrison said, " 'R' is for relax."
"And the 'O' is for observe," Sophie added.
"You can't observe if you're jumping all over the place," Forrest said.
Hands went up again, and Forrest chose another student.
James Gibson, 11, of Eastchester volunteered. " 'A' is absorb."
Ascher Spector, 9, of Pelham finished with, " 'I' stands for imagination."
All vowed to study astronomy when they were older.
Copyright (c) The Journal News. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Co., Inc. by NewsBank, inc.
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