A question for science teachers during the pandemic is: how do we actively engage students in science, given that in-person instruction will be limited at best? One lesson I use for my solar system course involves naked-eye observations of positions of celestial objects. Such activities train students to take careful measurements, keep detailed records, and comprehend three-dimensional coordinates.
References
1.
K.
Bouffard
, “Seeing the Moon
,” Phys. Teach.
38
, 526
(Dec.
2000
).2.
See also
P.
Sadler
and C.
Night
, “Daytime celestial navigation for the novice
,” Phys. Teach.
48
, 197
(2010
).3.
M.
LoPresto
, “How big is the Moon
,” Phys. Teach.
38
, 179
(March
2000
).4.
Such as “Observing the Moon,” JPL/NASA, https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/teach/activity/observing-the-moon/ or “Launch Your Class to the Moon and Back,” PBS, https://www.pbs.org/education/blog/launch-your-class-to-the-moon-and-back.
5.
“
Observing the Moon,” Stardate.org /The University of Texas at Austin
, https://stardate.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/teachers/ObservingTheMoon.pdf. (This is particularly useful for teachers as it specifies National Science standards for K-8.)6.
For example,
Benjamin
Oostra
, “Introducing the Moon’s orbital eccentricity
,” Phys. Teach.
52
, 460
(Nov.
2014
).7.
W. P.
Lovegrove
, “Moon watching: An experiment in scientific observation
,” Phys. Teach.
32
, 126
(Feb.
1994
).8.
View the Activities at TPT Online under the Supplemental tab, http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/10.0006471.
© 2021 Author(s). Published under an exclusive license by American Association of Physics Teachers.
2021
Author(s)
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