How to Teach Astronomy to Children

Have you been thinking to teach astronomy for your children? Why not? Astronomy can be a very good hobby for the whole family. It can be a great way to spend time together and share interesting knowledge. Astronomy can also teach children the basics of how to think and analyze abstract issues. Now the question is how to teach astronomy to children? When the children are young, they easily get unmotivated if the information is too difficult. Teenagers can keep themselves motivated longer, but again, it should not be too difficult or boring. So, how to teach them? How to motivate and inspire your children to learn astronomy? This article provides some basic tips for teaching astronomy to children.

Children are fascinated of space and can easily get interested in astronomy. For example, if children see a BBC space document in television, they easily get hooked because the BBC documents are usually so well done and the “space stuff is cool”. Now, most probably you cannot provide a similar experience. What would be a good strategy for your children to get interested to learn more about astronomy?

Let’s think about the process first. What should be thought and in which order? It could go like this:
1.    Start from the solar system and planets. Find out what the planets look like and how they are formed.
2.    Extend the scope and discuss about the universe. Start by describing the Milky Way in which our solar system belongs to. Next continue to galaxies and nebulae, as well as black holes.
3.    Continue to discuss more about stars, such as the Sun. Extend the topic to cover the evolution of a star, temperature, size, etc.
4.    Cover even more topics such as constellations, groups of galaxies, groups of black holes
5.    Discuss about astronomy research. Talk about the history of astronomy, telescopes, astronomy photographing, space flights, etc

Now that was one process, but which would be good tactics and techniques? First of all, discussing (teaching) with pictures is a great start, but some other tactics could help to learn faster. There are various books for children to learn astronomy. There are also various DVD’s and computer software, as well as games to help learning astronomy. You can even buy astronomy stickers for your children.

One good tactic in teaching astronomy to children is to concentrate into one object, such as the Moon, at the time and look at a picture of the object together. At the same time you describe the details of the object and answer those millions of questions. As soon as the basics are done, take your child with you and go skywatching together. Let your child view the objects such as the Moon with binoculars and low magnification telescope. After viewing the target, ask your child which he/she would like to see next. Let your child spot new objects because they get a huge motivation burst every time they succeed in finding a target.

So don’t continue alone anymore. Take your child together with you and start a new different way to spent time together. Any questions or ideas in your mind? Please drop a comment, I am eager to hear. If you liked this post, you might consider subscribing to my RSS feed or email newsletter in the top right corner of this blog. By that you can get the updates to your favourite RSS reader of directly to your email.

Tips on Teaching Astronomy

It is sometimes said that astronomy is so exciting that it teaches itself. But that's not true. You will have to call on your full range of professional skills to teach it effectively. Much is known about effective teaching and learning of astronomy, but much of it is hidden away in education research journals, not widely accessible to teachers.

One thing to remember is that you are expected to be "the guide on the side, not the sage on the stage". Here are a few collected words of wisdom which may help.

1. According to constructivism, students form new concepts by building on old ones. But their minds are not empty slates; they have deeply-rooted misconceptions. Some are based on fundamental concepts such as light and gravity. Others come from popular culture, and a variety of other places.

2. Teachers hold most of the same misconceptions. You can try an on-line misconceptions test at: http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/~ewoodruff, and also learn more about "co-investigation". There are also some excellent activities at: http://www.learner.org/teacherslab/pup/ -- the Private Universe Project.

3. Students have special problems with three-dimensional concepts like eclipses and moon phases -- especially as textbooks show these phenomena from two different frames of reference: the observer's frame, and the external frame. And many conceptual problems are based on the enormous scales of distance and time. It's difficult to understand moon phases unless you realize that the moon is relatively far from the earth.

4. Piaget was right when he said that concepts must be introduced at the appropriate stage of intellectual development. It's difficult for the average grade 5 student to understand the cause of moon phases.

5. Terminology! Are you surprised that students confuse eclipse, ecliptic, and elliptic? And that they think that a light year is a unit of time?

6. Teachers at all levels overestimate what their students know and learn. Monitor students' understanding. And avoid curriculum overload. Teaching more astronomy should come second to teaching it better.

7. Inquiry-based teaching is the most effective. Hands-on is good; minds-on is better. Have students discuss patterns, devise possible explanations, make and test predictions.

8. Expertise in astronomy does not guarantee expertise in teaching it; again, we university professors are a good example. By the same token: you can teach astronomy effectively, even if you are not an expert. Take advantage of this web site to get a bit of background; then take advantage of your professional training.

9. All of education is subject to research, assessment, and improvement. That goes for this website. Please give us your feedback!

How to Teach Astronomy to High School Students

High school is an exciting time to study astronomy. Students have reached an age where you can teach them about sophisticated concepts like relativity and dark matter that are beyond the understanding of younger kids. By educating and dazzling them with the wonders of the universe, you can help to mold the scientists of tomorrow!