[Nfb-science] Taking an Astronomy Class

[Jewel S.]

Thank you for the great idea! I'll definitely look into making a
screenboard. It sounds like a great way to do it. Do you know if
someone could use such to just trace an image or graphic> I'm sure
people would be more likely to draw things if they could just trace it
for me.

~Jewel

On 5/14/10, John Miller <j8miller at soe.ucsd.edu> wrote:
> Hello Jewel,
> I think your idea is a good one.
> Another method I have found quite successful for creating 2-dimensional
> tactile drawings quickly is to create a screen board.
> The screen board I created began with a letter writing guide purchased from
> the materials store. I removed the front plate that contains a set of
> strings with beads on them for keeping your position on a line while
> writing.
> What was left was a light board 8.5 X 11 with  lip around the edge that
> keeps the piece of braille paper from sliding while drawing.
> >From Home Depot I purchased nylon window screen material. Using masking
> tape I taped the window screen on to the front of the board.
> I place braille paper on the window screen and draw my own drawings or ask a
> sighted person to do so.
> The drawing is done with a ball point pen pushing somewhat harder than
> normal.
> The drawing can be felt particularly well on the reverse side of the piece
> of paper but can also be detected on the front side.
> What is so helpful about this kind of drawing is that a sighted person can
> draw a graphic with ink while simultaneously making a tactile line.
> The Sewell kit is available but I find it less desirable.  I have difficulty
> maintaining its drawings over a period of years and they crush extremely
> easily if you carry them in a backpack or ever put weight on them.
> The drawings I use are also more delicate than those made by a braille
> transcriber using a pattern drawing wheel or thermoform but hold up good
> enough.
> You can do astronomy.
> Most the assignments will be about scientific theorems and which physicist
> proposed what.
> Ability to take good notes and working with a sighted assistant and having
> the text in braille, electronic copy, or all three will also help.
> Very best,
> John Miller, president
> Science and Engineering Division of the NFB
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-science-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-science-bounces at nfbnet.org]
> On Behalf Of Jewel S.
> Sent: Thursday, May 13, 2010 6:23 PM
> To: nfb-science at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [Nfb-science] Taking an Astronomy Class
>
> Hi all,
>
> I love astronomy a huge amount. I read a lot of astronomy books, and am
> particularly interested in studies about black holes, super-earths, and the
> possibility of a mission to Centaurii Alpha. I am intending to take as many
> astronomy classes in college as are available. However, as a blind student,
> I am not sure the best accommodations to learn astronomy tactilely.
>
> I am considering using a Lite Brite, a pegboard that lights up, to imitate a
> planetarium set up. Basically, I would get images of constellations, solar
> systems, and the like blown up to the right size for the Lite Brite. Then, I
> would have a sighted person (probably a volunteer who enjoys Astronomy)
> place pegs in the board in positions that simulate the image best, making
> holes in the picture placed on the board. Once a picture is done once, I
> would be able to go back and place the pegs myself at a later date to study
> constellations, solar system types, planet size differences, planet
> distances, etc. What do you guys think of this idea as an accommodation for
> a student who has some residual vision (enough that I can see colours and
> lights, though not much else). Do you think this is a good way to study the
> stars'
> shapes and positions in space? If so, do you have any ideas of improvemnt;
> if not, do you have any suggestions of other ways of learning the shapes,
> sizes, and distances of constellations, solar systems, solar flares, varying
> ray types, and the like?
>
> I have read the NFB/NASA books, and loved them, but I know that creating
> images like the ones in those books is an expensive process and requires a
> Tiger embosser, which my school does not have, nor do they have any plans of
> getting one. Is ther a reasonably-priced way of creating tactile images
> without using a lot of a person's time (in other words, something that the
> college might be willing to provide as an accommodation?).
>
> Any other suggestions about making astronomy easier to study and more fun to
> learn tactilely would be much appreciated. I am very interested and quite
> excited about taking astronomy classes, but a bit concerned that it will be
> too visual. I took one astronomy class before, and it was very visual,
> taking place in a planetarium where we spent most of the class period
> staring up at the ceiling as the professor created the images. We rarely
> opened our books in that class, except to study what we had gone over in
> class, and much of what was on the test was based on constellatin and system
> projections in the planetarium. One test, the professor would point at a
> star, constellation, or planet, and we had to write down its name and
> classification, an entirely visual test...what would be an alternative to a
> test like this?
>
> Curious and hopeful to study astronomy,
> Jewel
>
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