On Thursday morning, fifteen students from local schools enrolled in RIT's Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP) paid us a visit. The students ranged from grades 7 to 10, and were accompanied by three of their teachers.
The weather was, alas, completely cloudy, so we not able to show off the Sun and its sunspots through our telescopes (equipped with proper solar filters, of course). Instead, we gave them a chance to identify mystery elements by their spectra, using diffraction glasses. We also held a Q-and-A session to explain how students interested in astronomy and space might choose a path through college and beyond. Our graduate students took the lead on this part of the event, since they can still remember how it goes :-) Zoe created this presentation to describe the experience of being an astronomer:
Thanks very much to our observatory volunteers!