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September 2010
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Always Be Prepared!
Teaching Astronomy to Guides and Scouts

Heather R. Theijsmeijer
CASCA Education Coordinator
Email: cascaed@astro.utoronto.ca

Quick links:

Sparks & Beavers
Brownies & Cubs
Guides & Scouts

As summer turns to fall, we again turn our thoughts toward school – either attending or teaching. Most of us are used to teaching university students aged 17 and greater. However, as experts in our field, we are often called upon by friends or neighbours, (or sometimes even complete strangers!) to help the local Guide or Scout troupe attain their astronomy badge. Teaching young children is not at all like teaching adults; here you’ll find some strategies for effectively teaching the younger generation

The requirements for the astronomy badges for Canadian Boy Scouts and Girl Guides can be found on the this website at:

http://www.cascaeducation.ca/files/guidesScouts.html

On that same page (and linked pages) you’ll find ideas for activities suitable for all levels of groups of students, as well as a recent addition: an Astronomy Workbook designed specifically for the Girl Guide program, which directly addresses the requirements for the astronomy badge and presents ideas on how to attain them.

Ideally, bringing along a telescope with plans to bedazzle everyone with heavenly delights would result in a successful presentation. But this is not always the case! Before you start, find out the age range and the background of the children. Be sure to always have a back-up plan prepared! At an observatory, this might mean demonstrating how the telescope works and then showing a movie in case of clouds, or by doing extra crafts or hands-on activities. I am always sure to bring a big box of pencil crayons and photocopies of a colouring sheet with space-stuff on it in case a child needs time to himself or herself or if he/she is too young to participate in the other activities.

Sparks (girls aged 5 – 6), Beavers (boys aged 5 – 7)

Children of these ages are able to think operations through logically in one direction, but have difficulty seeing things from a different point of view.

  • I noticed this first-hand when the Beavers to whom I was presenting spent 5 minutes asking questions about the cloud-tops surrounding some of the Mauna Kea telescopes in my first slide – would they fall if they tried to walk on them? Could birds walk on them? How fast would they fall through them? Having never seen “cloud-tops” before, they found it difficult to treat them as upside-down cloud-bottoms!

Be sure to use concrete props and visual aids where possible, and give them lots of hands-on activities. Keep instructions short, and use actions and words to portray what you mean.

Be careful! These children are still at an easily-frightened stage. Topics such as extra-terrestrials can be scary. Also, expect LOTS of questions throughout your presentation. Plan an extra 10-15 minutes for “interruptions” in your talk. Don’t underestimate them, though – many are like sponges, ready to soak up whatever you say!

Presentation ideas:

  • “A trip through the solar system” – pictures and neat facts about the Sun and the planets in our neighbourhood;
  • “A tour of the night sky,” including easy to find constellations and the stories behind them. Visit http://www.cascaeducation.ca/files/tour_nightsky.html for the tour and associated skycharts. Children of this age enjoy neat-looking things although they might not understand them. Planets like Saturn and Jupiter are good targets, as well as Vega, which is like a real diamond in the sky, is good as well.

Activity ideas:

  • “Crazy Craters” – it’s got the messy factor!
  • “Make a comet” – bring Styrofoam balls, rolls of paper streamers, markers, colourful/sparkly pipe cleaners and masking tape and have them build their own comets. I control handing out the tape – I tell them that in order to get a big piece of tape, they have to tell me something cool about astronomy. If you’re feeling adventurous (and it’s safe!) you can let them throw the comets, which makes the paper streamer tails fly behind them!

Brownies (girls aged 7 – 9), Cubs (boys aged 8 – 11)

Older children are able to solve hands-on problems in a logical fashion. Continue using concrete props and visual aids with them (particularly with sophisticated material). Keep presentations and brief and well organized – if you prefer longer presentations, break up the talk with an activity. Use analogies and familiar examples to explain more complex ideas.

Presentation Ideas:

  • “Strange Tales from the Sky” - Myths and folklore; multicultural views of the sky, history (and stories) behind the major constellations, and then find the constellations in the sky using skycharts. Use some of the students to act out heavenly figures – Cassiopeia, Perseus, Hercules etc.
  • “From ‘Large’ to REALLY Large!” – a pictoral tour of the components of the galaxy or universe, starting “small” with planets and asteroids, to stars (of all shapes and sizes), stellar systems, galaxies (of all shapes and sizes) and the concept of the universe. Powers of Ten can be nicely added to this, although they will not be familiar with the math of exponents (http://www.powersoften.com)

Activity Ideas:

  • Toilet Paper Solar System – http://www.nthelp.com/eer/HOAtpss.html (basic version).
  • Invent-an-alien – Given a planet in the solar system (or elsewhere!), invent an alien species that could live there. Factors to keep in mind include temperature, terrain, light, how they breathe etc. The Guides/Scouts could either draw and colour the aliens or “build” them using Styrofoam balls, balloons, potatoes, straws, pipe cleaners, tape, paper clips (really, using anything you can find!), and then present them to the rest of the group.

Guides (girls aged 9-12), Scouts (boys aged 11 – 14) and older

Pre-adolescents and adolescents are able to solve abstract problems in a logical fashion, and are more scientific in thinking. Give them a chance to explore hypothetical questions, solve problems and reason scientifically. Introduce broad concepts that connect astronomical concepts with other areas of science.

Presentation Ideas:

  • “Life on other worlds” – present how life might have originated on Earth, and then explore the possibilities of life on other worlds, highlighting the recent discovery of extra-solar planets. Lots of opportunity for humour and food for thought!
  • “Made in Canada” – focus on Canadian achievements and research in astronomy, being sure to mention women in the field (see badge requirements for the Guides). Space exploration technology can also be included here! There are many resources on this topic on our website:

Activity Ideas:

  • Observing the Sun – using a telescope and proper filter, or the pinhole projection method, observe the sun and locate any sunspots, make sketches etc. Of course, this is a daytime activity! For tips on how to observe the sun safely, visit: http://www.cascaeducation.ca/files/solar_observing.html
  • Treasures in the sky: Double stars of different colours, clusters, the Pleiades, nebulae or galaxies (depending the telescope at your disposal).
  • The Expanding Universe (advanced!) – visit http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/Universe/uni1.html for a great activity about measuring an expanding balloon universe, delving into the Hubble Law and evidence supporting the Big Bang.

Finally, don’t forget that a trip to a local planetarium or observatory is always a good idea if feasible. For more information, including contact information on the Girl Guides and Boy Scouts of Canada, visit the following links:

Other Guide and Scout Astronomy Resources

created by the CASCA education Webteam, (2009)

  
       

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