Bridging the Gap Between Subjects and Educational Levels Using Space Educational Activities

Bridging the Gap Between Subjects and Educational Levels Using Space Educational Activities

Presenter: Danijela Takač and Ana-Marija Kukuruzović, Pantovčak Elementary School, Zagreb, Croatia

This was a poster presented at the 4th Shaw-IAU Workshop on Astronomy for Education, organised by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE, http//astro4edu.org).

In the Croatian educational system there is a big gap in science curriculum between middle school and the start of high school. This gap results in insufficient student knowledge of STEM subjects. Students that have attended astronomy as an extracurricular subject have been more successful in bridging that gap. We will showcase educational activities that help bridge this gap by exploring astronomy using scientific concepts summarised in a project called “Exploration of Mars”. We will show activities that explore the connection between gravity, terraforming and atmospheric structure of the planet, hydroponics, assembling, programming and “driving” a rover on Mars, space tourism. These activities allow us to explore scientific concepts beyond the construct of the national curriculum.

About the 4th Shaw-IAU Workshop:

The topic for this year’s Shaw-IAU Workshop on Astronomy for Education is ‘Leveraging the potential of astronomy in formal education’ and is scheduled to run 15 to 17 November 2022 as a fully virtual event on Hopin as in previous years. This year’s Shaw-IAU Workshop focuses on the role of astronomy in the core regions of formal, primary and secondary, education: How do we teach astronomy as its own subject? What is the role of astronomy in teaching physics or chemistry – or in communicating such a central future topic as climate change? In sessions marked with a * we aim to hear specifically from teachers. We also address the question of how to approach those who set the framework for teaching: How can you get your administration, or at a much higher level: your education ministry, to listen to you? Last but not least we look at how to bridge the divide between the fundamentals that are commonly taught in school and results from cutting-edge research, which tend to be fascinating to students and the general public alike. he workshop was organised by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (http://astro4edu.org). More details can be found on: https://astro4edu.org/shaw-iau/4th-shaw-iau-workshop/

Keep up to date with future Shaw-IAU Workshops and other opportunities at the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education by joining our mailing list https://astro4edu.org/mailing-list/ Follow the IAU OAE on Twitter and Facebook under @astro4edu