Implementation of “Astro do Sistema solar – no passado e no presente” (SοI-GR-574)
Author: Anastasia Kagka
Introduction
My name is Anastasia Kagka and I am a primary school teacher in a small village, on the island of Kythera, in Southern Greece. This year, with my 22 fourth – grade students, we did several activities about the stars and the constellations. We also learnt a lot about our solar system. For the reasons mentioned above, I was looking for a learning scenario relevant to our interests. Finally, I discovered Rita Seguro’s learning scenario and I was inspired by the introductory video to implement it in my class.
1. Stages of implementation
Organization and planning
As my students had already basic knowledge about the stars, the constellations and the solar system, I decided to refresh them and focus on some details that we had not discussed much before, such as the controversies between astronomy and astrology. Having this in mind, I chose to use just the second and the third activity of the learning scenario.
Before the implementation in my class, I made a plan of activities suitable to the specific characteristics of my students (age, previous knowledge, interests and abilities). I have also added context and implemented the kind of activities to the technological equipment of my class.
At the beginning of the implementation, I informed my students about the “Europeana” platform and its importance.
Introductory activity
First, my students watched the introductory video of the learning scenario and tried to figure out what the story was about. Then we discussed about the basic roles. The children understood easily the two roles of the king and his jester but for the third role, they assumed at first place that he was a wizard, because of his appearance. They were called to look more closely and finally, they noticed the telescope and they said that the old man was an astronomist. This misconception became the reason to talk about the difference between astronomy and astrology.
Watching the introductory video 2
Watching the introductory video 3
Drawing the scale from the earth to the planets, inspiration from the video.
Building knowledge
Then the students were divided into groups of three or four, looked up the definition of the two concepts in the dictionary and noted them on their worksheet. They searched for further information on the Greek Wikipedia and they discovered that astronomy and astrology had the same roots and were units of the same chapter for many centuries. To better understand the issue, they watched together a short excerpt of a video created by a Greek physicist who, in a simple way, explains why astrology is a pseudoscience.
Using Europeana collection
The next step was to search for relevant images in Europeana collections. Every group chose one of them and the students made a small presentation to their schoolmates. The description of the images, the previous information and the accompanying comments helped the children understand that astronomy became a science, especially after the discovery of the telescope and the new planets. The new data helped astronomers make more accurate observations of the universe and its function. On the contrary, astrology has remained stagnant and to this day cannot provide convincing explanations for how certain celestial bodies affect the life and future of each person.
Looking at Europeana collection 1
Looking at Europeana collection 2
Looking at Europeana collection 3
Presenting Europeana’s material 1
Presenting Europeana’s material 2
Presenting Europeana’s material 3
Presenting Europeana’s material 4
Presenting Europeana’s material 5
Observation and conclusions
At this point, the class had the opportunity to realize the achievements of astronomy through the application “Solar system scope”. Students were impressed and they did not stop asking questions. On the other hand we had the potential to make a little experiment about astrology, using the pair of twins that we have in class. The conclusion was that although they were born at the same time and same place their characters is absolutely different. The next activity was about taking notes on stickers writing thoughts, ideas, and conclusions in “Linoit.”
Looking at solar system scope.
Creativity and Imagination
Moreover, the students tried to create comics, inspired from the introductory video. The poor king is trying to learn about his future. He is seeking for answers everywhere but they all deny, except for his jester. But the funny servant is joking.
In the end, we decided to recreate through an improvised event the movement of the planets. To distinguish them, each student was encouraged to hold something characteristic with emphasis on its mythological name. If we had had a little more time, we would have done much better, but what is certain is that we had fun learning.
2. Outcomes
All the students loved the introductory video of the learning scenario and they showed great enthusiasm and curiosity about the activities. They had a very constructive discussion asking a lot of questions and each of them, in their own simplistic way, tried to put forward logical arguments to support their point of view. They co-operated peacefully and they tried to help each other in every step of the activities, but at the same time, they had a lot of fun, especially with the last activity.
As a teacher, Ι am impressed by the Europeana’s resources, because they allowed me to find interesting material to approach with my students a subject quite difficult for their age. Through the variety of activities, however, they were able to develop even more their imagination, creativity and critical thinking.
Did you find this story of implementation interesting? Why don’t you read about the related learning scenario? Link to the learning scenario implemented: Astros do Sistema solar – no passado e no presente (PT-CUR-171)
Do you want to discover more stories of implementation? Click here.
CC BY 4.0: the featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana and has been provided by the Wellcome Collection.