Mission Statement

MISSION STATEMENT
of
FRIENDS of PINE MOUNTAIN OBSERVATORY

Mission:
PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES TO EXPERIENCE AUTHENTIC SPACE SCIENCE
We plan to improve our capabilities to do this by
A. Constructing an EDUCATIONAL CENTER at Pine Mountain
B. Gaining Membership
C. Seeking Additional Funding for Educational Programs
D. Continuing to provide strong PUBLIC EDUCATION Programs in the following five venues:
1. OBSERVATORY TOURS
             for General Public & Students
    "What do Astronomers do,
               and how do They Do It?"
      Experience Modern Technology.
      Experience the Real Sky,
             See beautiful objects through
             large telescopes and learn
             how astronomers know what
             they know about the cosmos.
2. STUDENTS DO REAL SCIENCE:
         Formulate Inquiry-Based
               Investigations
         Perform Research using
               Authentic Digital Data
                   via remote imaging.
         Examples of Projects:
         1. Search for Asteroids.
         2. Monitor Variable Stars.
         3. Determine Age of Star Clusters.
3. CLASSROOM OUTREACH (K-14)
Investigate How to Measure the Sky:
    Introduction to Digital Astrometry
       and Photometry - How to use a
           CCD Camera and Telescope to
                perform scientific research.
Investigate ODE's Earth-in-Space
    Common Curriculum Goals
      and Benchmarks (Earth-Moon-Sun)
4. TEACHER TRAINING
        Workshops on basic and advanced
               concepts in benchmarks and
                     modern astrophysics.
        Workshops on digital technologies.
        Incorporation of inquiry-based
           pedagogies, teaching science
               by making observations and
                   measurements, not
                         collections of "factoids".
5. WEB-BASED DELIVERY
U of O Professor Greg Bothun's
"ELECTRONIC UNIVERSE" concept!
http://zebu.uoregon.edu
http://pmo-sun.uoregon.edu/~pmo/
Access to
     Latest discoveries
     Real data
     Subject matter experts
     Virtual (JAVA) physics labs

LONG RANGE PLAN:

Details of our Long Range Plan for our Educational Center:
We have been conducting tours at PMO the past decade in a facility designed for research, not for public education. To upgrade our facility to improve our delivery of education:
We envision a building that will seat 100 visitors in comfort, including heat and convenient washrooms, where we can present digital programs with LCD projection. There would also be a telescope dome that would house a completely remotely operable instrument for acquisition of data for students, and there would also be a gift shop area within the building. We would like to have display areas for posters and demonstrations, plus workstations for visitors to try their hand a digital imaging. We want to have a facility that can be readily accessed by the physically challenged. Currently we have drafted a wish-list plan that has been accepted for an Environmental Assessment study by the U.S. Forest Service. The U of O College of Arts and Sciences is completing the Fund Raising to provide the $31,000 for this study. The USFS study will take place later this year and in 2002, and if their recommendations indicate that we can proceed, we will then complete the architectural specifications and designs. You are encouraged to make donations to bring this vision to reality. Contact U of O Director of Development David Begun or DeNel Stoltz at the University of Oregon, dbegun@oregon.uoregon.edu, or denel@oregon.uoregon.edu