SUMMARY
The main objective of this project, in particular by using the science of astronomy, increase the interest in science and math lessons and to prevent the escape of these courses. In this project, many activities take places in order to create awareness on issues related to astronomy and space, especially for primary education programmes at the level of scientific literacy in everyday life. In the first year of the project, mostly fun activities are organized for the students to endear astronomy. In the second year, more in scientific observation, research and computer-aided working with real data are planned. In the scope of the project, types of activities (based on hands on method) that allow students from different countries to compare to the results of making observations and measurements, to share information, , to learn while having fun at the same time are prepared. In the scope of the project, an interactive project website (www.diveinthesky.net) that allows students to register observing the results of the activities, the data collected about activities, to share and discuss them with students from different countries has been created. In this way, students and teachers from different countries will be active during the project work. Also as part of the project, students’ creativity and motivation for the project will be kept alive by the various prize competitions. In the project visits, the students will given the opportunity to present their works on the subject, and discussion platforms will be created. The project will continue with the approach of process evaluation. After each activity, and work within the scope of the project, the project partners complete related sub-projects evaluation forms, and related scales.
Rationale
Science begins with curiosity. Since ancient times, people have wondered about the movements of celestial bodies and made efforts to understand the position of man in the universe. Astronomy, considered as an integral part of basic science education, has been constantly at the center of human-nature relationship from 4000 BC to the present day. When looking for basic research in the historical process, astronomy has leading role in each stage.
Nowadays astronomy, thanks to the the visual richness and a wide range of applications, It can be thought of as a tool to be used to increase the interest in basic sciences such as mathematics and prevent the escape of these courses. By the help of the astronomy education programs supported by the information technologies (ICT) that will be used in the project and monitoring / data collection is enabled for the students to learn by doing and experiencing events / projects, it is considered that it popularizes science and mathematics courses, and more importantly, These courses can be effective on the scientific side. Astronomy is not a mandatory course in primary education; moreover, scattered astronomy topics to the science books is not enough both quantity and quality issues. These issues to convey more information, reduce attention of the students in these courses due to the fact that there are no active participations the students. For example, if we sample from a study within the scope of the project, Erastoshenes’s method of measuring the circumference of the earth which the sun’s rays is carried out by measuring the lengths of shadows in Egypt’s cities Alexandria and Syene in 276 BC is planned to be performed by primary school students from different countries. With the information obtained in these measurements, they will compute, the numerical terms which previously, they always have learned as memorization,the diameter, the volume and intensity of the world and will have the opportunity to predict the shape of the world which they have difficulty in understanding by their own experiences.
Various issues dealt with the case of astronomy provide a rich environment to discuss the historical development of modern science, to observe the manufacturing process of scientific knowledge, to influence society’s viewpoint about science in a positive way, to develop people’s scientific thinking skills and arouse their curiosity to research. It is necessary for students to understand what science means and how it works at an early age and gain experience in this field. Planned activities in this project, has the potential to resolve these needs of students. Astronomy with its issues to be discussed aims to deepen students’ basic astronomy knowledge and to develop their understanding about the nature of science.
Astronomy is one of the most popular subjects for students of all ages and a good way of teaching the basic principles of scientific knowledge, since understandable laws govern nature. Astronomy, a science that easily captures the interest and curiosity of students, and may also be a tool for learning other sciences, such as mathematics and natural sciences. In the case of this project’s realization, interaction with students from different countries will be provided and joint scientific thinking and working environments will be created. In addition, students will share the information they had obtained from their observations and measurements and understand the importance of information sharing to get the basic science concepts. Briefly, gaining a different perspective on science , encouraging students to have an interest in science, and even heartening to work in the field of science are the main objectives of the project.
Project Objectives
Subjects or problems intended to address ;
The researches show that science and math courses do not draw students ‘ attention too much, especially the younger kids find quite abstract these lessons . Topics such as celestial objects, telescope, extraterrestrial life awake the curiosity and motivation in children. For this reason, the project topic , astronomy and its covering the issues , was selected due to covering all the sciences and more interesting visual materials. If science is explained the correct way to children and is offered with fun projects and activities, science and scientific studies draw children’s interest and allow them to create positive attitudes towards mathematics and science. Therefore, the aim is to increase their interest to nature and the universe and to minimize the learning difficulties in basic science and math concepts through the project by developing the knowledge of primary school students in the field of astronomy.
Concrete Objectives;
• To find the opportunity to apply abstract basic science and math concepts they learned before in primary/sec. programs and to comprehend the importance of these concepts in their lives.
• To develop knowledge, understanding and respect for other European languages, cultures, ethnological and geographical features.
• To develop the international teamwork and improve the learning skills and promote students’ creative thinking in science.
• Facilitate the autonomous and collaborative learning through the use of ICT and to improve the ICT skills.
Approach;
The project consists of two phases. In the first year of the project, mostly fun activities for the students to endear astronomy and activities that students can work effectively are organized. In the second year, more in scientific observation, research and computer-aided real data activities for working on are planned.
The fun and interactive activities allow them to increase collaboration with students from different countries and to keep their motivation high during the project by interesting issues. Events calendar, materials and documents on how to perform these activities are in Project Web site. In addition, communication on the web site will provide to communicate more effectively with each other with interactive tools. Moreover, the project will be continued without a hitch for two years with monthly evaluation reports prepared by the project with partner schools at the end of each month.