Gregory addresses astronomy at science conventions

Mrs.+Gregory+poses+in+front+of+her+spaceship+themed+door+cover+in+her+classroom.+%E2%80%9CMy+main+interest%2C+just+by+looking+around+the+room%2C+is+Astronomy%2C%E2%80%9D+said+Mrs.+Gregory.

Mrs. Gregory poses in front of her spaceship themed door cover in her classroom. “My main interest, just by looking around the room, is Astronomy,” said Mrs. Gregory.

Ashlynn Vrieze, Ranger Review Reporter

Along with her passion of teaching Earth Science, Astronomy, and Conceptual Chemistry at Lewis Palmer High School, Mrs. Gregory uses her free time to teach Astronomy at the Space Foundation and at the Colorado Association of Science Teachers (CAST). 

“My main interest is Astronomy because unlike all the other sciences there is something new always going on,” Gregory said. “Whether it’s finding new planets or finding new stars or finding black holes that collide or we’re figuring out the hubble constant may not be as constant as we thought and that there may be different values for it.” 

Mrs. Gregory’s favorite topic to teach about while at a convention is Astronomy and more specifically human auras.  

“Last year I taught about a human aura which is a human based model of the solar system so you can demonstrate constellations and periods of revolution and orbits,” said Gregory.

Mrs. Gregory believes in interactive learning and is more interested in teaching her students through hands on labs and projects rather than lectures and long pages of notes everyday. 

“I’ve also taught project-based learning,” Gregory said. “I have my astronomy students build rovers for a different planet or a habitat for a different planet. That’s pretty cool I make them think outside the box.” 

Mrs. Gregory wants the people who listen to her presentations at science conventions to leave understanding there are better ways to teach science that do not involve long lectures or notes.  

“There are different ways of doing it to not get stuck in the lecture and do a day to dump but have them actually apply what they are doing in class to different things and how it can relate to different things,” Gregory said. 

Through utilizing an innovative teaching method, Mrs. Gregory opens her students eyes to the world we live in and how the space industry has affected the way people live now. 

“Space industry has solved problems here on earth,” Gregory said. “Medical advances and technology advances, you would not have the cell phone you are recording this on without the space program because we had to build those electronics smaller and smaller and smaller because we have limited space, in space, in the capsule. So that’s how micro technology came about.”

Mrs. Gregory teaches that without space and the Astronomy program we would live in a completely different universe. She has taught twice at the Space Foundation Teacher Liaison and the Colorado Association of Science Teachers. Her next major conference will be on November 8th, in Denver at the Colorado Association of Science Teachers.