Earthworks 2006 Astro-Pamphlet
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The Earthworks link above is a 43-page (yikes!) full-meal-deal version of the brief sketch presented on this page.

Let's face it: Looking up into the sky at night is easy. As long as it's only for a few seconds. On the way to the car from the front door. As we anticipate seeing a new movie that just came out in the theatre. Sure enough, there are the stars. They are always there, they will always be there, and they are very pretty. At least the ones we can see are pretty. I was once out in the middle of the country by these farms and it was a clear night and I could see a lot more stars. That was incredible. Now let's go see that movie.

Let's face it: Spending more than a few seconds looking up into the night sky is hard. It's cold out there! It's dark which means that my principle means of gathering information is handicapped. There are giant boars waiting to come crashing down out of the pine trees to attack us. I forgot to bring my thermos. It's cloudy. It's going to rain in a few minutes and after that snow. There are mosquitos and probably bats that will give me rabies. Plus there is a good show on TV and I'm getting really tired.

This web page discusses briefly two subjects related to learning astronomy.
1. How to make some progress observing the night sky.
2. How to teach and/or learn some astronomy when it's cloudy outside.

Teaching Projects
Main Sequence
robfatland dot net home