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www.badastonomy.com is the site.

We used to have an activity within the Inquiring Minds program entitled
"Pick Apart a Sci-Fi Flick" - the grade 7+ age groups seemed to really enjoy
it, and it eventually blossomed out to other genres. The kids would report
on all of the bad science or any they future scenarios they thought might be
"iffy" based on our present understanding of the physical universe.

Another project we did was entitled "Imaginary Worlds" where we would
compare a fictitious world with our own reality and look for similarities
and differences. It was a great way to teach the difference between fantasy
and reality, reinforcing concepts of the latter but without ruining the
enjoyment of the former.

We hope to put those on the web eventually and they are being incorporated
into our extracurricular programming. They would make great traveling museum
exhibits though, too, I think.

The Very Large Array near Socorro, NM has an exhibit on the movie Contact
(based on a book written by Carl Sagan.) Along the tour they provide, they
talk about the filming of the movie and how the SETI program isn't actually
based there but instead in Berkeley, and a few other misconceptions
generated by Hollywood. They are able to use the movie to discuss the
physics behind space exploration though and I think the movie has done
wonders for their tourism and overall public awareness initiatives.

The biggest benefit, though, I think, is it gets kids interested in careers
in science. Who woulda thunk it could be so exciting?

Amanda Chesworth
www.inquiringminds.org

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