Making Young Children Aware of the Universe

EDUCATION & PUBLIC OUTREACH ODMAN: UNIVERSE AWARENESS

Making young children Carolina Ödman makes the case for UNAWE, a means to share the inspiration and wonder of the universe and modern science with the very young. Some of them will become the talented scientists of the future; all of them should have wider horizons as adults.

F

rom the dawn of history, the beauty of the sky and its intimate connection with the development of human civilization has inspired countless generations with a sense of wonderment. Universe Awareness (UNAWE) is a new international astronomy outreach programme that makes use of the natural appeal of astronomy and the striking images produced by the latest facilities to reach out to young underprivileged children. Astronomy plays a unique role in conveying the excitement of science to the general public. In recent years considerable resources have been devoted to astronomical outreach in developed countries, aided by the spectacular images produced by modern astronomical facilities. Astronomy is also one of the oldest human activities, with cultural roots in many ancient civilizations. The sky and its wonders is a unique topic for motivating and forming young children and imbuing them with an appreciation of both science and culture.

UNAWE Universe Awareness is an international programme that will expose economically disadvantaged children aged 4–10 years to the inspirational aspects of modern astronomy (Miley et al. 2005). By conveying a feeling for the scale and beauty of the universe, the main goal of UNAWE is to give young children a broader perspective on our place in the universe than they acquire from their immediate environment. Hopefully this will help form tolerant and internationally minded adults. Additional goals of UNAWE are to enhance the children’s understanding of the world and to demonstrate the power of rational thought.

Astronomy outreach programmes are numerous and diverse both in scope and in targets.

Nowadays most major astrophysical research projects invest time and resources in the communication of research. Most astronomy outreach programmes focus on science education and reach the general public or children in possession of a certain background and education.

While the interface with other disciplines such as the arts has often been used to enliven astronomy courses (e.g. Fraknoi 2002), the opposite is rarely the case. Astronomy has not often been explored as a tool for peace education, although the sky is common to us all and outstandingly 4.20

suited for that purpose (UNESCO 1985).

As a science, astronomy stimulates children’s curiosity. Astronomy involves several scientific subjects such as physics, chemistry or biology.

Astronomical research drives the development of new technologies that deliver stunningly beautiful images of the universe.

Our ambition is mainly to inspire with the beauty and scale of the universe, rather than delivering dry scientific facts. The concept of Earth awareness is also key in the process of highlighting the multicultural aspects of astronomy. This is also likely to stimulate children’s perception of the planet as a limited resource to use parsimoniously.

All our cultural heritage Astronomy plays an important role in our heritage. All cultures carry with them myths and stories about the sky, the Moon, the Sun and the stars. The inclusion of ethnic origins of modern astronomy in the UNAWE programme places astronomy in the context of human development and history. This will ensure that the UNAWE programme is culturally relevant. UNAWE hopes to stimulate ownership of astronomical knowledge, self-confidence among marginalized communities, awareness of and tolerance for different cultures, and illustrate the evolution of human thinking.

Astronomers are the ultimate historians, seeking to understand the origins of our universe.

Simply by looking at the night sky we are seeing things that happened many thousands of years ago, when humans did not exist, when dinosaurs were alive or even before the planet existed. The sensation of travelling through time and seeing the past is very exciting for children.

Perhaps most importantly, astronomy is fun.

The exotic objects and the extreme conditions found in space are the perfect backdrop for thrilling adventure stories. Astronomical images are great food for children’s imagination.

In view of this, UNAWE will not limit itself to science outreach. The realization of our place in the universe can broaden children’s minds beyond the boundaries of our familiar environment and show how astronomy can be instrumental in the development of human values.

We have to produce compelling materials to entertain children. It is important that profes-

An UNAWE collaborator helps a Tunisian child to observe the Sun. (UNAWE)

sionals both from the children’s entertainment industry and early childhood development community develop these. Universe Awareness collaborators in each of the participating countries will play a crucial role in this process.

The development of cognitive skills will be taken into account in the design of the UNAWE material which will adopt a complete set of didactic approaches adapted to various cultural and educational environments. Where possible, children will take part in experimental and investigative activities. They will learn about their surroundings beyond what they would normally be able to explore.

Training is at the heart of Universe Awareness for several reasons. People who spend a lot of time with children have to be involved in the development of the programme. Generally speaking the people we believe will implement the programme will rarely have any expertise in astronomy, folkloric or otherwise. There is a need to train coordinators who will be able to answer the questions of teachers, parents and the community at large and to help them in the implementation phase of the programme.

We expect that questions will be of a broad nature, beyond the scope of UNAWE. One example is the relationship between scientific astronomy and traditional beliefs. It is important to provide a propitious environment for a dialogue on these matters. Training will need to constitute a feedback channel for the development of the materials and the evaluation of the programme.

Since the beginning of the Universe Awareness initiative many outreach and education volunteers and professionals have contacted UNAWE A&G • August 2007 • Vol. 48

ODMAN: UNIVERSE AWARENESS EDUCATION & PUBLIC OUTREACH

aware of the universe wanting to join the programme. These people come from diverse backgrounds but have in common a passion for exposing children to the wonders of the universe. Professionals and amateurs involved in astronomy outreach activities to children worldwide often seem to be working in relative isolation. The UNAWE International Network stimulates international exchange in the area of astronomical outreach to young children.

UNAWE in the UK The United Kingdom is a country rich in cultures and religions. There is a correlation between certain religions and certain ethnic groups (shown in the 2001 National Census, http://www.statistics. gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=395) and a tendency for communities to stay among themselves rather than mix. It is recognized that cultural, educational and religious divides split communities across the country (Community Cohesion 2007).

There is also the general concern that not enough children choose to study scientific disciplines; there is an ongoing and future shortage of qualified science and engineering graduates.

In terms of astronomy and space science the UK can be seen as a land of opportunity. There is a very strong astronomy community with a long history of academic achievement. There is a wealth of cutting-edge research for inspiration, several role models and a global visibility that offers British children worldwide opportunities.

In this rich environment there is also a strong potential for funding, as outreach and education are recognized as an important ingredient of a healthy scientific community by the STFC, RAS, Royal Society, Institute of Physics and other organizations. The novelty of UNAWE is that it is not a performance-based curriculum and targets a very young population that is often

not approached by outreach policies.

At the National Astronomy Meeting in April 2007 at the University of Central Lancashire, Preston, the UK astronomy education and outreach community got together. This was the opportunity to hold a meeting to discuss UNAWE in the British context. The project received an enthusiastic response. Now is the chance to set it up ahead of the 2009 International Year of Astronomy.

A possible form of implementation of the UNAWE programme that was envisaged would be to have teenagers deliver it to younger children from underprivileged communities as part of the links between secondary schools and their feeder schools. This would also enable the STFC outreach funding (targeted at 11–16 year olds) to be made available for UNAWE in the UK. The NAM was also the opportunity to organize an exchange between Harris Primary School in Preston and learners from several primary schools in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. Children talked to each other over the Internet. They compared seasons and times of year. They learnt about each other’s regions and environments. They enjoyed hearing each other’s accents. Such an experience makes the children instantly picture themselves as citizens of the world. More events like this can be organized with very little effort using the excellent facilities found in most UK schools and the UNAWE international network to put young children in touch across the planet.

In conclusion, UNAWE is a different outreach programme with a strong social agenda in terms of community cohesion and peace that fits well with a number of social and educational priorities in the UK. The international dimension of UNAWE offers exchange possibilities such as the one that took place between a primary school in

Lancashire and a group of learners from a few primary schools in South Africa.

The hope is now that a group of active outreach professionals in the UK will take this concept further and develop it nationally as an activity for the 2009 International Year of Astronomy. !

Carolina Ödman is Project Manager of the International UNAWE programme.

Acknowledgments. We would like to thank the NAM organizers and the Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Central Lancashire for the opportunity to present UNAWE and to have an extraordinary meeting on the premises of the meeting. We would also like to thank meeting participants and look forward to following it up.

We are grateful to the Harris Primary School in Preston, the schools in Sutherland, North Cape, South Africa and to the staff of the Southern African Large Telescope for organizing and taking part in the exchange between the children.

The Universe Awareness International Office is supported by a grant from the Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.

References Community Cohesion: A Report of the Independent Review Team (UK Home Office) 2007.

Fraknoi A 2002 The Astronomy Education Review 1, 114–116.

Miley G et al. 2005 ESO Messenger 121 66 September.

UNESCO 1985 Seeds for peace, the role of pre-school education in international understanding and education for peace (UNESCO, Paris, France) reprinted 1989.

MORE INFORMATION ! Universe Awareness

http://www.unawe.org ! UNAWE UK Email Carolina Ödman at

odman@strw.leidenuniv.nl

The Northern Ireland Space Office

T

he Northern Ireland Space Office (NISO) was launched in October 2006 by the Armagh Planetarium. It is jointly funded by the Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) in N. Ireland and the Yorkshire Forward based Space Connections group. NISO aims to build on the interest and enthusiasm of teachers already involved in space science projects by developing resources to support all teachers in aligning the potential offered by

A&G • August 2007 • Vol. 48

developing technologies to the requirements of the revised Northern Ireland curriculum.

The resulting resources and support materials will use the context of astronomy and space to relate science, technology and mathematics to real life. The Space Office mission is to create a learning environment that encourages school children to recognize the importance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in modern industry and society.

There are already many astronomy and

space-related resources available to teachers and pupils throughout Europe and the Space Office is aligning these resources and learning journeys to the new Northern Ireland curriculum. The planetarium has already had tremendous success with schools using resources such as the Faulkes Telescopes, and this new integrated curriculum approach should allow teachers and pupils to use these resources to their full capacity.

Robert Hill, Northern Ireland Space Office

4.21