ACTIvITY BASED ASTRONOMY FOR PRIMARY SCIENCE PROGRAMS

Print materials in astronomy such as books, journals, charts, and posters are typically the sources of information for teachers and children about the moon, the sun, lunar and solar eclipses, planetary sizes, distances of planets from the sun, planetary atmospheres, and so on. This paper describes and analyzes a number of activities designed to develop primary school children's observation skills and relevant understandings in astronomy. The activities are based on data contained in a 1995 astronomy yearbook, Astronomy-1995 (Eastern Australian Edition). The key concepts of position, time, and motion are embedded into each activity with the underlying objective that children should acquire the skills to become competent naked-eye astronomers. Activities described include: monthly viewing programs, sunrise and sunset problems, the sun-geocentric position, and planetary motion. (Author/JRH) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document