It encroaches on scientific research and shows how low-cost solutions lead to long term problems. To show students that it is getting increasingly more difficult to escape urban centers of light pollution to be able to view a clear sky and its faint stars. To show students that a considerable amount of travel by car is needed for many of them to get far enough away into unpolluted sites to view the Milky Way. See also the article by Eric Sullivan and Diana Sullivan for a personal opinion about why light pollution is bad.
Materials Use the above map of the United States in the above article.
Other places you might want to visit to get nighttime images are Dark Sky Association satellite images . Procedure Identify from the landmarks in the above image, where your state is located, and the nearest large city to you. From a calculation of the scale of the map, determine what direction you have to travel to escape the bright-sky conditions of urban light pollution. Astronomical optical observatories require both high elevations above 4000 feet, and locations free of light pollution.