So what is a normal work week like for someone like me? It is hard to say what is normal, but I can share some of the more interesting parts of the past few days.
Saturday: Harry Potter Day at the Museum! This was a lot of fun. The museum is currently showing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Prt. 2 in our IMAX Omni-theater so we decided to invite our guests to dress like wizards and witches and attend special Harry Potter planetarium shows, potions demonstrations, and a Herbology lesson. Setting the date for the two days before Halloween was pretty smart, too, as lots of kids had their costumes on. I wrote and performed the planetarium shows and the potions demonstrations. As a big fan or Harry Potter and of astronomy and the history of science, this is exactly the kind of thing I love to do. I spent the day in my wizard costume, calling myself Professor Merlon and talking about how science is used in the world of Harry Potter and pretending to make magical potions. One of our volunteers grows mandrake, monk's hood, and belladonna plants. He brought those in for the Herbology lesson, helping to flesh out the day with a station that parents could really get into. July 31st is Harry Potter's birthday, and I am thinking I might suggest we celebrate it each year with a Harry Potter Day at the museum.
Monday: TV Appearance: One of the coolest and scariest things about my job is making TV appearances. Every month or so I'm usually a guest on Channel 9's Bridge Street morning show for a 4 minute science segment. A couple times I've also been interviewed by other channels asking about things like "blue moons" or the "new zodiac." Bridge Street is broadcast live, which means that any mistake I make is seen by a whole lot of viewers as well as my colleagues and boss. This was probably my fifth time on, and like always it was a lot of fun. The staff there is friendly and likes to joke around, making a confortable atmosphere. Since it was Halloween I dressed up as Merlon again and did some science/magic demonstrations with pumpkins.
Tuesday Morning: Planetarium Shows for Syracuse City 6th Graders: This is the second year in a row we have brought all the 6th graders on special field trips to the museum. Within the course of a few months we end up bringing about 1,600 students to the museum and running them through a number of science activities. For my part I give a custom planetarium show related to their curriculum. Today's three shows went well, and in fact I was surprised by how well behaved the students were. I really like doing these shows, because it gives me a chance to talk about subjects we don't usually cover in our general audience weekend planetarium shows. This year I'm focusing a big portion of the presentation on human and robotic space exploration of asteroids and the planet Mars. If you've never heard of NASA's NEEMO or Desert RATS programs, check them out. They are so cool.
Tuesday Afternoon: Afterschool Program @ Local City School: This year our Education Department has started working with the federally funded Say Yes program in our school district. Every Tuesday and Thursday three of us go to one of the city schools and work for two hours with elementary students. This is only our second week, but we are starting to develop trust with the students and are figuring out what kinds of activities work best for them. This afterschool program is probably the hardest thing I have had to do so far with this job. My experience lies in performing science shows for students, not managing a classroom. Being in a city school adds a number of challenges too. I am working hard to try to understand the culture and needs of the students. Each day when they arrive at the classroom, even after a full day of school, almost every one of them is excited to learn about science and is curious about the day’s lessons. Whenever I'm feeling like I'm in over my head, I remind myself of the amazing opportunity I have to help these students explore that curiosity and love of science.
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