Dr. Larry Krumenaker

    ...has been a research astronomer, planetarium, college and high school instructor, and science journalist. He has been credited as the original discoverer of the microquasar known as SS433, the odd object that sends out two jets of gas at 25% the speed of light, the fast objects in the Milky Way other than photons and cosmic rays. He is still referenced in the literature on the nomenclature history of Mercury. Current, if occasional, research includes long-term studies of cool and emission line stars, especially T-Tauri, carbon and S-type stars.

    As an astronomy education researcher he is best known for his recent work of a national survey of high school astronomy courses, how these courses come to be, are maintained, how they are run, and how they can be defended in the era of No Child Left Behind. His has taught astronomy and physics at various colleges in the South and Northeast. For 13 years he traveled around Texas and metro New York/New Jersey with a portable planetarium doing astronomy lessons at schools of all types and levels.

    Krumenaker has worked in New York for ABC News, CBS News (radio) and KingWorld television, most often as a science oriented research. As a writer, besides The Classroom Astronomer magazine, he has written or co-written three books, one in astronomy and a library reference book that went through 13 editions.   Articles by Krumenaker have appeared in magazines such as Odyssey, Science, New Scientist, Discover, and a variety of German and European newspapers and magazines.

Degrees

Ph.D. in Science Education 2008 University of Georgia. Dissertation: The Status and Makeup of the Modern US High School Astronomy Course in the Era of No Child Left Behind.

M.A.T. in Planetarium Education 1978 Michigan State University

M.S. in Astronomy 1976 Case Western Reserve University Thesis: A Computer Analysis of Visual Observations of Mercury.

B.S. in Astronomy 1974 Case Western Reserve University

Teaching Certificates: Secondary Science and ESOL, Georgia and Michigan

Instructor at various colleges in New York, New Jersey, Mississippi, and Georgia. Also taught physics and physical science in an urban, diverse high school in Atlanta, Georgia.

Member American Association of Physics Teachers and the National Science Teachers Association, School Science and Mathematics Association, the National Association of Science Writers and the International Science Writers Association.

Science Writer. I have written articles for Science, Sky and Telescope, Stardate, Odyssey Magazine, Popular Science, Discover, The Sciences, New Scientist, Discovery Channel Online, Internet World, Earth Magazine, 21stC, the German publications Der Spiegel, Die Zeit, Frankfurter Allgemeine SonntagsZeitung, FOCUS, and Hamburger Abendblatt, Russia’s science newspaper Poisk, and others.

Planetarium Educator. Have used both fixed dome and portable planetarium, the latter for 13 years as an independent educational contractor to schools, first in Texas then in New Jersey. Equipment and sites used include Zeiss units at Agnes Scott College, Jackson (MS) City Planetarium, various Spitz designs at Michigan State, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, school/museum partnership program at Yonkers (NY) Andrus Planetarium.

Scholary Publications

Krumenaker, L. (2009). What Would It Take to Increase the Number of High School Astronomy Courses: A Survey of Principals of Schools Without Astronomy and a Comparison to Teachers Views, And A Prescription for Change. Astronomy Education Review. (Accepted December 2009).

Krumenaker, L. (2009). The Modern U.S. High School Astronomy Course, Its Status and Makeup II Additional Findings, Astronomy Education Review, 8, 1, December 2009.

Krumenaker, L. (2009). No Child Left Behind and High School Astronomy. Science Educator,18,2,39. Fall 2009.

Krumenaker, L. (2009). BS Tauri—Evidence for Cyclic Activity in an Orion Irregular. Journal of the AAVSO (Accepted for preprint, Vol 37, Nr. 2, 2009)

Krumenaker, L. (2009). The Modern U.S. High School Astronomy Course, Its Status and Makeup and the Effects of No Child Left Behind. Astronomy Education Review. (December 2009, online at aer.aip.org).

Krumenaker, L. (2008). High School Planetariums – Results of a Survey. The Planetarian, 37, (4), p. 17 (December)

Krumenaker, L. (2008). Copyright concerns. Science Scope, January, p. 21.

Song, Y., Heo, M., Krumenaker, L. and Tippins, D. (2008). Cartoons as an alternative way to assess students' science learning. Science Scope, January, p. 16.

Wang, Y., Many, J., and Krumenaker, L. (2008). Understanding the experiences and needs of mainstream teachers of ESL students: reflections from a secondary social studies teacher. TESL Canada Journal, Spring, 25(2), p.66.

Krumenaker, L. (1978). Remarks on the Nomenclature of Mercury. Icarus, 34, p. 215.

Krumenaker, L. (1975). New Cool and Emission Line Objects, PASP, 87, P. 185. (Contains first published and recorded observations of the now-known-to-be microquasar SS433).

Bidelman, W and Krumenaker, L. (1972). An Unusual Emission Object and a New S Star. PASP, 84, p. 685.

Recent and Pending Non-Peer Review Articles in or related to Astronomy/Science/Science Journalism:

Krumenaker, L. (2009). How Dense Are Science Writers Anyway?. ScienceWriters, 58, 4, 10. Fall 2009. The geographic distribution of science journalists and a possible reason why.

Krumenaker, L. (2009). Russia’s Only High School Planetarium: A Visit and a Comparison of Astronomies. The Planetarian.,38,3,pp 10-16, September. With a sidebar on the home/museum of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.

Krumenaker, L. (2008). A Little Statistical Analysis, Please… ScienceWriters. Fall, 2008, P. 22.
What kinds of science writers are there in the USA.

Krumenaker, L. (Ed.). (2005). The Characteristics and the Life Cycle of Stars, An Anthology of Current Thought, Rosen Publishing, New York.

[Primarily non-peer review publications in popular trade magazines and international newspaper, and two non-science books published. [(1979-2005), see http://www.nasw.org/users/larryk/articles.htm.]

The Classroom Astronomer

Issue 1 Articles: What if Ptolemy and Copernicus Played Ping Pong?, The International Astronomy Olympiad-A Commentary and Call for Participants

Issue 2 Articles: Let's Bomb The Moon!

Regular Columns: Astronomical Teachniques, The RAP Sheet—Research Articles for Practitioners, Alternative Universes