Highlighted STEAM Projects Portfolio
This page represents highlighted STEAM projects I developed and led as a physics and astronomy teacher at the high school and college level (2017-2024). The artwork on this STEAM Portfolio page is 100% student created, but the projects were conceived and led by me as the students’ teacher.
In the near future, I plan to develop and lead STEAM projects using music and songwriting as the main medium for artistic expression from participants to learn about astronomy, the search for life in the universe, and as a means to learn and share Indigenous sky knowledge and stories.
Student artwork from 2024 Napa Valley College ASTR110 - Descriptive Astronomy “Cultural Celestial Stories” STEAM project. This student’s art depicts the Aztec culture and their patron god who was a personification of the sun and a warrior god, named "Huizilopochtli" or "Uizilopochtli", also called"Xiuhpilli" (Turquoise Prince) or "Totec" (Our Lord).
Drake Equation Mural in a High School Physics Class, a STEAM project by Dr. Peluso’s 2019-2020 physics class at Mare Island Technology Academy High School in Vallejo, CA.
Student art from Peluso’s 2023-2024 astronomy class at Griffin Academy High School for the STEAM project, “Cultural Celestial Stories”.
STEAM Video, Out of the Gloom - ISS Moon Transit (2019)
An artistic video I created that blends science outreach, artistic filmmaking, and pop music. Out of the Gloom - ISS Moon Transit captures the International Space Station (ISS) transiting the Moon, accompanied by the haunting sound of "The Void" by Muse. This self-produced video, filmed using one of my Unistellar eVscopes, combines stunning visuals with a powerful pop soundtrack, showcasing the beauty of space exploration and citizen science efforts. Originally posted on Twitter, the video was featured on Muse's account, reaching over 2.6 million fans worldwide and highlighting the intersection of art and astronomy in engaging audiences with science. I also personally acquired the rights to use Muse’s song in this video.
Drake Equation Mural in a High School Physics Class
In a transformative high school physics project at Mare Island Technology Academy High School (Vallejo, CA) in 2019-2020, I combined art and science to engage students with the Drake Equation, which explores the potential for extraterrestrial civilizations in our galaxy. While collaborating with SETI Institute scientists, I inspired my tenth-grade class at MIT Academy to collaboratively create a mural on our campus representing each variable of the equation. This project fostered teamwork, creativity, and a deeper understanding of our universe and humanity’s place within it. This hands-on approach not only invigorated their learning experience, but also allowed them to connect with science uniquely to engage and strengthen their creativity and social skills. In the project, students connected with leading SETI scientists through live videoconferences, which made the exploration of this subject-matter more memorable, engaging, and meaningful.
Years after this project finished, students from the cohort that created the mural messaged me online to let me know that the campus was under a remodel and that they were worried that our mural would be lost and that we should find a way to save it. This speaks to the power of STEAM projects like this in making a lasting and meaningful impression on student learning and development.
Please click on one of the links below to read more about this project, look at more detailed pictures of the mural, and to see a video walkthrough of the installation.
Cultural Celestial Stories STEAM Projects
The “Cultural Celestial Stories” STEAM project was developed to help students fill and appreciate their cultural backpacks, engage their creativity, and help them to develop a cosmic perspective and appreciation for astronomy. The idea for this project was first conceived during early parts of my PhD, but was not fully developed and deployed until the 2023-2024 academic year when I was teaching astronomy at Griffin Academy High School (Vallejo, CA) and Napa Valley College (Napa, CA).
In the project, students are first asked to use either their own knowledge, family knowledge (by asking family members and relatives), or research online to describe culturally held sky knowledge, stories, or tales related to the sky above (e.g., the night sky, the Sun, stars, the Moon, etc.) from their cultural background. Students are provided with a help guide to assist them in their research, if needed (see button link below).
After their research, students then write a short summary of what they learned and begin to draft sketches of art to depict their learned cultural knowledge and stories. Three versions of this project were realized in the 2023-2024 academic year at Griffin Academy High School and Napa Valley College:
Cultural Celestial Stories Trading Cards & Sharing Wall: In this version, students draw and color their cultural celestial stories on one side of a 3x5 notecard. On the other side, they write a few sentences to describe their cultural sky story related to their heritage and its meaning to them. The cards are traded and shared with classmates and then posted on a hanging wall for the duration of the course, so the astronomy class is always reminded of our shared cosmic heritage under the stars. See image gallery one below for examples.
Collaborative Cultural Celestial Stories Art Boards: When more time is available, an extension of this project can be realized in an engaging relationship building project for the teacher and students by working on a more involved art project to visualize their shared cosmic stories. In this version, students in groups of 3-4 must create a painted art board displaying each group member’s cultural celestial story, but they must also find ways collaboratively to tie each other’s images together into some cohesive visual story of the sky. Through this project, students gain a deeper appreciation of each other’s cultural background, but are also challenged to stretch their creativity by exploring visual depictions of their unique cultural stories connecting with each other in their own original way. The artwork is then displayed on the classroom wall for the remainder of the course. Students are also encouraged later to find ways that the cultural stories tie to our modern understanding of astronomy. See image gallery two below for examples.
Digital Cultural Celestial Stories for Online Classes: The final version of this project was developed for my online asynchronous astronomy class at Napa Valley College. This version was identical to version one above, however, completed online. In this online format, students are allowed to use traditional print media to create their artwork and simply upload a photo of their work, but they are also encouraged to use digital media, which resulted in some more diverse and interesting outcomes from student projects. Further, since this type of class had no physical meetings, the work was shared in online discussion posts on the online management system, Canvas. Sharing platforms like “Padlet” may also be beneficial for such online versions of this project. See image gallery three below for examples.
Cultural Celestial Stories Trading Cards & Sharing Wall
From student work from the course, Modern Astronomy and Exoplanets, at Griffin Academy High School (Vallejo, CA) in the fall and spring of 2023-2024.
This "sharing wall" displayed students cultural story trading cards. It was designed using simple bulletin board paper as a backing and used strings and small distributed wooden clothespins to hang each student's card.
In this image see students hanging their cultural story trading cards.
Aztec cosmic cultural card visualizing the story of a flood that destroyed the world where the gods were tasked with holding up the sky and need to add stars to it.
Muslim inspired cosmic cultural card.
Student cultural card. Description is unknown.
Student cultural card depicting ancient Philippines where it was believed that there was a moon eating fish or serpent monster called Bakunawa that caused eclipses.
Student cultural card depicting the legend of the Karanga people, which held that the stars were the eyes of the dead. This student added here own creative element with a strong-willed girl who was robbed of food who sought revenge and her eyes turned into stars.
Korean triplet stars: The triplets lived by a swamp of the Black Dragon Lake and learned of dragons that threatened the sky. A dragon swallowed the Sun and the triplets tracked down the dragon and ordered her to release the Sun and then had to ascend to the sky to continue guarding the Sun.
Student celestial cultural card depicting how the stars were utilized by her Mexican culture to act as a compass, map, calendar, and agricultural planner.
Student celestial cultural card of Hera, the Queen of Heaven and goddess of air and starry constellations.
2. Collaborative Celestial Stories Art Boards
From student work from the course, Modern Astronomy and Exoplanets, at Griffin Academy High School (Vallejo, CA) in the fall of 2023.
Picture of all the students work from the Collaborative Celestial Stories Art Boards STEAM project at Griffin Academy High School (fall 2023).
Students combined cultural stories from Mexican (Mayan calendar) and Egyptian (Osiris, an Egyptian deity) cultures.
These students had their group's cultural symbols swirling around a black hole's event horizon to merge ancient star knowledge with modern knowledge.
Students actively working on their art boards.
Students mix celestial star knowledge in art from their African, Filipino, and Latin cultures.
Students portray Asian and Mexican cultural stories around a painting of a spiral galaxy.
Students actively working on their art boards.
Students were creative in this work in creating their own sky story, which was inspired by their shared cultural backgrounds.
Students share Filipino and Asian celestial cultural knowledge in this artwork.
Students included strong visual representation of their shared ancestors from the Mayan civilization.
In "Star Galaxy", students merge cultural stories from Hungarian, Filipino, Mexican, and African cultures all in one art piece!
Students depict their shared cultural background from Mesoamerica in this created art.
Students represent their cultural background from Mexico in this work.
3. Digital Cultural Celestial Stories for Online Classes
From student work from the course, ASTR110 - Descriptive Astronomy, at Napa Valley College (Napa, CA) in the spring of 2024.
Huizilopochtli, the Aztec patron god of the sun and war, is depicted as a hummingbird or eagle, wielding a turquoise serpent and known as the Turquoise Prince."
This student’s work, inspired by Mexican astronomy tales, depicts the story of Quetzalcoatl and the rabbit on the moon, where the rabbit sacrifices himself to satisfy the god's hunger, resulting in his silhouette being planted on the moon in recognition of his generosity.
In the Philippines, ancient Filipinos viewed the night sky as a reflection of their souls, with stars symbolizing hope and unity, especially through the goddess Tala, the morning and evening star, who introduced wet rice to Pampanga, where this student spent her childhood.
This student illustrates Celtic mythology through the constellation of Perseus, linked to the sun god Lugh Llaw Gyffes, whose feast is celebrated on Lughnasadh, or 'Lammas' day, in August, marking his seasonal decline after the summer solstice.
This student’s Mesoamerican roots reflect the Aztec belief that celestial bodies like the sun, moon, and Venus were deities, with comets influencing fate and the Pleiades linked to the goddess of fertility.
This student honors her parents from Guanajuato, Mexico, through her work inspired by the 'Cielo de Guanajuato' myth, which describes how the gods created day and night to protect humans from the Sun's forbidden love for a beautiful human.
This student's Filipino folk tale explains how the moon and stars were created when a woman, while pounding rice, hung her beads and comb in the sky, and accidentally struck the sky with her pestle, causing it to rise and leaving her items as the moon and stars.
This student’s tale and visual portray Selene, the Greek goddess of the moon, who deeply loved the shepherd prince Endymion, granted eternal youth and immortality by Zeus, and placed in eternal slumber, allowing Selene to visit him each night.
This student explores her Latin@/Mexican heritage through a Mayan story from the Popol Vuh, where the Hero Twins Junajpu and Ixb’alanke defeat the Lords of Xib’alb’a and rise to the sky as the sun and moon, ushering in a new age for the Mayans.
This student’s roots in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, inspire her work depicting the legend of Quetzalcoatl, a celestial serpent weaving through the constellations under the Tequila Volcano, creating a cosmic tapestry that links earthly stories with the celestial realms.