The Afterschool Astronomy Program (formerly called Beyond Einstein Explorers Program) is aimed at middle school-aged out-of-school groups to introduce participants to basic astronomical concepts and the Universe beyond the solar system. The goal of this program is to excite students about astronomy and science in general and have a positive effect on the attitudes of both the program leaders and the participants towards science.

The activities are fun, hands-on, and resource intensive. The program is designed to be led by non-experts (afterschool leaders, college students, teachers, or others). A training is strongly encouraged for at least one leader who will be offering the program. About 10 hours of (fun) training is needed to learn all of the activities.

The CRSR EPO program has developed a kit. We would like to offer a training for a few pilot groups who could then borrow the materials. Please contact Nancy Schaff, nancys@astro.cornell.edu, if you are interested.

The program includes 12 sessions that are each approximately 45-60 minutes long. The sessions follow a sequence that builds conceptual understanding about the Universe. Learning will be much richer if youth participate in the whole sequence of activities, but it is not absolutely necessary.

Sessions include:
1. Modeling the Universe (an introductory activity in which students are challenged to create a model of the Universe in small groups in three steps - discussion, modeling, and sharing models)
2. Cosmic Survey (a discussion and activity about how big, how far, and how old objects in the Universe are)
3. Telescopes (students assemble a simple telescope and experiment with it to investigate properties; a postcard activities models information traveling in the form of light from distant astronomical objects)
4. The Electromagnetic Spectrum and Spectroscopy (students build and calibrate a simple spectroscope and use it to examine light from different sources)
5. Invisible Light (Discussion and group experimentation with specialized instruments at different stations)
6. Our Cosmic Connection to the Elements (an interactive discussion of elements and compounds, the periodic table, common elements and compounds, the astronomical origin of the elements we are made of, and how astronomers determine the composition of distant objects)
7. Stars and Their Lives (Students learn our Sun is a star and are led through a kinesthetic modeling activity to learn how the life cycle of a star depends on its mass)
8. Stars and Their Lives continued (this session goes into more details of how stars generate energy by a process of fusion in their cores)
9. Black Holes (students learn how the collapsing core of a star forms a black hole and engage in activities about density and gravity, then do a group kinesthetic activity about black holes effects on other stars)
10. Galaxies (students learn what a galaxy is and that we live in the Milky Way Galaxy and work individually or in pairs to make a model of the Milky Way.
11. A Visit from a Scientist (this session gives the students an opportunity to visit with a scientist and ask questions that have built up)
12. Modeling the Universe (a repeat of the first activity to illustrate what students have learned)