Next to dinosaurs kids love space the best. Just ask any teacher. There are very few children who don’t love to talk about stars, planets, moons, comets, and asteroids. And their questions put adults to shame.
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It is science week and our attention turns skyward once more. What better way to launch it than to have a star party? Yep, get the kids out and show them our night skies. Explain the light from most stars they see left there thousands, even millions, of years ago and it’s just arriving now!
Kids have amazing memories and are fantastic at learning patterns and associating names with them. Perfect for constellations, writes Dave Reneke, astronomy writer from Australasian Science Magazine.
When teaching kids about stars, astronomy book courses aren’t enough. Make your lessons as interactive as possible because everything in their world now is animated.
Teaching astronomy has received a boost with internet and Smartphone technology. Some apps I use will help.
Designed for ages 4-8, ‘Star Walk Kids’ introduces them to the wonders of our Universe. Selected objects are explained in short animated films. Now Google ‘Nasa Kids Club’. Then try www.kidsastronomy.com. Afterwards check out an amazing website I’ve spent many hours on, www.enchantedlearning.com. Teachers just love this one, and you will too.
For a broader choice of astronomical resources see the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Click on the ‘education’ section.
You can also be clever about your first night-sky adventure by going out when there are likely to be meteor showers. This is exciting and you can compete to see who can count the most.
Spotting planets is a fine game, and right now all five major planets are stretched out in a line in the Western sky at sunset. Another gob-smacker is to wait until the space station passes over. Go to www.spotthestation.nasa.gov/sightings for times. It’s a guaranteed jaw dropper!
Ways to teach are limited only by your imagination and when your kids have grasped the basics, you can think about a telescope and mastering that. The universe will then really open up for parent and child. So, what are you waiting for?