Space Awareness trainings in collaboration with a number of educational organizations took place in Romania, Wales, Italy, Portugal, Greece and France.
3.02.2017 – “Earth and Space Workshop” organized by Las Cumbres Observatory in Cardiff University, Wales (UK)
It was the first training, as official partners, for the LCO team and Space Awareness. Thirty-five (35) teachers from across Wales were very enthusiastic about using the projects’ resources in their classroom. In particular, space role model videos and measuring the diameter of the Sun activity aroused participants’ interest in the topic. During the workshop, the resources were presented from a perspective that they can be used not only to teach astronomy, but also other subjects (e.g. history, geography, literacy and numeracy).
Related links: Article about the training and photos
4.02.2017 - “Project as an inspiration for the study of sciences” organized by NUCLIO in Ponte de Lima, Portugal
During this workshop, elementary and secondary math teachers, twenty-five (25) in total, learnt how they could use astronomy to teach some parts of the curricula. Teachers got acquainted with the Space Awareness website looking for materials they could use in their classrooms.
7-9.02.2017 - Workshop for Primary School Teachers Dedicated to the Teaching of Space Themes organized by ESERO Romania in Giroc, Timis County, Romania
This training focused on the activities for primary school teachers who came from all across Romania. Thirty (30) participants found out about resources related to the Solar System and space exploration and how to implement them using inquiry-based learning concepts. Several activities from “Our Fragile Planet” featuring an experiment about CO2 were presented to the audience. Finally, participants enjoyed making “balloon rockets”.
Related links: Pictures and blog article (in Romanian) about the training.
10.02.2017 – “Happy, little, creative scientists” workshop organized by Ellinogermaniki Agogi in Chania, Crete, Greece
In the Greek educational system children are introduced young to the space topic – there are some space related chapters already in the kindergarten curriculum. Consequently, the workshop was organized to present Space Awareness resources to 21 kindergarten teachers. They learnt about a number of activities that involve teaching of the Sun-Earth-Moon system and Earth’s motions. Hands-on activities were of particular interest to them.
13-16.02.2017 – “Winter school Observatoire de Paris - Space Awareness” organized by Observatoire de Paris in the Nancay campus of the Paris Observatory, France
The winter school at the Paris Observatory is an annual event and is of particular interest due to its location. Nançay station is among the biggest radio astronomy observatories in the world, tuned to radio signals coming from all across the Universe.
This year a full day on 15 February was dedicated to the presentation of the Space Awareness activities. Presentations alternated with practical classroom work and observations. After an introduction featuring the celestial mechanics of stars and galaxies and the Solar System model, the participants worked on hands-on activities with the focus on “Our fragile planet” and “Navigation through the ages” topics and had a telescope practice in the evening.
Related links: Winter school page (in French)
This list of national trainings will not be exhaustive if we don’t mention trainings which took place in Italy and Wales.
There will be even more teacher trainings organized in the following months, which will provide educators with information on the newest developments of the project’s educational resources and activities, such as MOOCs and educational kits.
