Full Moon Fun

Last night I spent some time outreaching. No, this is not a form of calisthenics. Outreach is the term people use to describe going out into the community and raising awareness about an issue or teaching people about something specific. I love astronomy outreach more than most things in life, so I was very excited to spend some time on the Hollywood Broadwalk during the Full Moon Concert talking to people about astronomy.
I was there as part of SFAAA, and most of the other members had telescopes. But since I don't own a telescope (and I prefer packing light anyway), I brought some outreach tools from the Night Sky Network toolkits. I was also packing some heat with a great activity from Astronomy From the Ground Up called "Sizing Up the Moon." I adapted it for this occasion and spent the better part of the night inviting people to take what I called the Moon Challenge. Instead of the more intensive classroom-based (or family-based) program, I did a simplified version that suits a drop-in audience quite well.
It was a hit with all ages. I'm pretty sure it's a combination of learning something interesting and enjoying the playdough used for the activity. People are always surprised to see how the moon and Earth size up to each other, and almost no one can accurately place their distance. I definitely recommend it. In fact, if you're interested in the activity, you can get it as well as a suite of others through the Astronomical Society of the Pacific's Family ASTRO.
This activity works well with older kids (younger if they are interested and you are ready to be very engaged with them) and adults quite well. And younger kids will have a good time just playing the dough, making spheres and perhaps even poking craters onto the moon ball.