Astronomy in Timor Leste: Celebrating the Transit of Venus 2012

Astronomy in Timor LesteCelebrating the Transit of Venus 2012

Project description June 6th, 2012:

The last transit of our lifetime Only visible in some parts of the globe, Timor Leste is

one of them Universe Awareness is using this opportunity to

organize several educational activities in the capital of Timor Leste: Dili

The activities range from teacher training workshops to science exhibition and public observing event

Goals Inspire children with the wonders of the Universe,

making it a great stepping-stone that will trace their interest in science, help them broad their mind and stimulate a sense of global citizenship

Motivate children to become scientists and technologists of the future

Invite a new country to be a part of the UNAWE-community

Use this project as the kick off event to a series of astronomy events in this new country

Team

PhD Astronomy

Ainil Abdullah

• UNAWE Science Writing Assistance

• MSc Research in Astronomy

Carla Natario

BA Dutch Studies

Cindy Gunawan

• MSc Astronomy and Science-Based Business

• UNAWE Internship in Business

Jaya Ramchandani

Supervisor: Pedro Russo

Where is Timor Leste?

Why Timor Leste?

Why Timor Leste? Recent independence: one of world’s

youngest country New to educational practices in science in

general and astronomy in particular We are hoping to open new horizons for

young and bright children of Timor Leste to pursue scientific knowledge for their country

Timeline

Activities Children Day need your ideas! Teacher training: introducing local teachers to

astronomical concepts, with a focus to the Transit of Venus

School visits: engaging children into science through fun activities and games.

Talk at the National University of Timor Leste Science exhibition and transit observation Follow up meetings

ActivitiesScience exhibition: The Transit of Venus Our Solar System The Stars The Milky Way Galaxies

Supports

• Leiden Observatory• LKBF grant • Media coverage

• Portuguese school • Portuguese Embassy

in East Timor• East Timor Ministry of

Education • Alola Foundation• Timor Newsline

• Portuguese Ministry of

Education and Science• Media coverage

• ASEAN Education section

• Astronomy Department of ITB 

• Monash Science Centre Australia

• CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science

Others:• AstroBookDrive • Baader Planetarium • EurAstro • PCs4Kids• Astronomy Without Borders• IAU Office of Astronomy for

Development• NASA Sun-Earth day• Global Painting Project• Individual contributors

Contributions so far Local accommodation (Portuguese Embassy) Local logistics (Portuguese Embassy, TL government, ITB) Telescope (ITB) Solar goggles (EurAstro, crowd funding) Solar filters (Baader Planetarium) Educational books (Astrobookdrive, Gradiva) Laptops (PCs4Kids) Earthballs (UNAWE) Galileoscopes (IAU) Global Painting Project (Eric Chisholm) Sun-earth day NASA Universe in a Box (UNAWE)

We Need Your Inputs!Especially on: Activities with children Activities with adults

Thank you!Visit us at:

http://www.unawe.org/network/national/tl/

Email us:

info@unawe.org