2007-04-02
AOSC Telcon

David, Emily, Mike, Patrick, Sarah, Steve

Agenda: reviewing starters/stations
	supplies

1. Announcements: 

David will not have time to be a facilitator for the
inquiry activity.  We will have up to 12 Akamai students, and possibly
some extra students (AI for David/Sarah).  For ~12 students, we can
manage fine with 3 facilitators, and one person to do facilitator
support/oversight.  

3 facilitators: Emily, Steve, (Mike)
- possible 4th person for support/oversight: Scott S., Patrick J.
- possible 3rd person to take Mike's place as facilitator:    
	 Cathy Ishida, some IfA Manoa Grad, someone from the Maui
	 short course?

Emily will be supporting an observing run on June 6/7, so will be less
available for AOSC activities.  She may be able to give the AOSC
students an overview of the observations she is doing and how they use
laser guide-star AO.  

2. Starters
  
  a. Steve presented the pinhole box starter
     Will it be enough to occupy students for a complete inquiry?
     Group consensus=Yes.
     Can use David's reflecting pinhole setup to develop
     investigation.
     
  b. Emily presented the Lenses & Mirrors starter
     Best light source is a brightly lit window into a dimmer room
     Using lens and spherical mirror to form image 
     Starter suggestions:
        what happens to the image if part of the lens/mirror is
	covered up?
	compare image size/brightness formed by two lenses/mirrors
	with same focal length but different diameter.
     Investigation options:
        add flat mirror(s) to move image position
	Angular resolution? (setup is complex, leads to investigating
	  diffraction)
	optical bench

  c. Mike presented Deformable mirrors and corner cubes
     couldn't find any commercially-made deformable mirrors
     requirements for a deformable mirror: must be able to mold it
     into a shape and have it stay in that shape.
     possible home-made deformable mirror options: 
        - reflective surface that is naturally flexible (i.e. mylar,
	  aluminum foil) on a semi-rigid substrate
	- lots of tiny flat mirrors pressed into a malleable substrate
	  (i.e. clay in a pie tin)
  
     Corner Cubes: make an excellent starter, opening investigation
     that leads to tier-1 content goals (light travels in straight
     lines, mirrors change the path of light, law of
     reflection). Concern is that there isn't room for the
     investigations to extend beyond the law of reflection (i.e. no
     way to tie it in to image formation)
     Proposal: keep corner cubes on hand for mirror-based
     investigations that are pursuing the law of reflection, but use a
     more general mirrors starter.

3. Supplies needed for starters and investigations:
   a. Pinholes:
        aluminum foil
	poky things (needles, thumbtacks, toothpicks)
	shoe-boxes
	whole-head boxes
	reflective surfaces (white paper, flat mirrors)
	black construction paper
	black tape
	black cloth
	
   b. Image Formations with Lenses:
        convex lenses of various focal length and diameter
        (esp. multiple lenses of different size with same focal
        length) 
	optical bench?
	optical bench lens mounts?
	ray boxes = tabletop lenses
	
   c. Image formation with (deformable) mirrors:
        concave mirrors of various size and shape
	flat mirrors, large and small
	home-made deformable mirrors
	   clay or play-dough
	   small and tiny flat mirrors
	   semi-stiff continuous reflective surface (??)
	corner cubes
	chocolate-polished coke cans??

   d. ALL
        notebooks
	pens
	markers
	question strips
	huge post-it pads
	butcher's block paper for tables (?)
	rulers
	protractors
	flashlights
	light sources
	
	

Action Items:
  Mike: 
    * coordinate next telcon meeting for c. Apr 12
    * timeline for inquiry activity
    * (with Emily) develop mirrors starter (using deformable mirrors?)

  David: 
    * talk to Lisa
       - find out if we have additional students coming
       - confirm if Scott/Patrick can be used for facilitator support 
    * improve the reflecting pinhole ppt. (add text)

  David and Sarah:
    * finalize AOSC schedule
    * tell Mike, Emily and Steve what days and times they are needed

  Steve:
    * put telcon notes on the Twiki (check)
    * experiment with pinhole box design (telescopic pinhole boxes,
  whole-head boxes, easily-interchangeable pinholes)

  Emily:
    * (with Mike) split up the lenses and mirrors starter into two
      separate "image formation" starters

  All: 
    * start cataloguing the materials you have and what you need,
      using the twiki so everyone can see