Teaching Astronomy to Years 7 – 10

VSSEC and the Melbourne Planetarium have joined with CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science to offer a Teacher Professional Learning program which explores resources for teaching astronomy in junior and middle secondary school, and programs offered by the participating organizations. The program will be conducted at Scienceworks museum.

Date: Thursday May 3rd, 2012 Time: 9.30am – 4.30pm Venue: Scienceworks Museum, 2 Booker St, Spotswood, Victoria Cost: $100 plus GST (Total Cost :$110) (this includes cost of materials, and catering) Maximum participants: 25 RSVP: April 5th, 2012

 The program includes:

- An overview of astronomy in Australia
– Ideas for teaching astronomy effectively in the classroom
– FREE resources for teaching astronomy and astrophysics
– An overview of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project and an introduction to the SKA teacher resources (every participant will receive a copy of the SKA teacher resource book)
– An introduction to some Authentic Investigation tasks in Astronomy including CSIRO’s PULSE@Parkes program and Galaxy Zoo
– An introduction to the VSSEC science and astronomy projects Star Search and Time Search.
– An introduction to Reach for the Stars and The Stars in Your Life: VSSEC junior astrophysics (!) programs.
– A taste of the famous VSSEC Mission to Mars.
– A Melbourne Planetarium show. An introduction to the night sky from Melbourne and a journey through the Universe to discover where we sit in the cosmos.

Australia has a leading place in world astronomy. Data is beginning to flow from the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), the Gemini telescopes in Hawaii and Chile are providing opportunities for Australian school students and the avenues for both study and employment in the field are expanding dramatically.

The program will be conducted by CSIRO Astronony and Space Science (CASS) Education Officer, Robert Hollow, in conjunction with staff from VSSEC and the Melbourne Planetarium at Scienceworks.

This Professional Learning Program complies with the following Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) Standards of Professional Practice for Renewal of Registration: