ASTRONOMY IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL*

JOHN STERNIGGlencoe Public Schools, Glencoe, Illinois

Of all the sciences, none has more appeal for children thanastronomy. It has been my experience that children seem to havea universal interest in the heavens. They want to know aboutthe things in the sky; what the moon, sun and stars are. Theywant to know about the planets and what they are like. Theyhave an insatiable curiosity about the possibility of life on otherplanets and trips through space. In the past few years I have col-lected hundreds of questions on this subject from children ofall ages. There is a remarkable consistency in the type of ques-tions, which leads me to believe that astronomy offers somethingvery basic, something most children want to know about. Ido not know why this is so, for few parents or teachers do any-thing to actively stimulate the interest.

Perhaps it has its roots in the history of the race. Astronomyis one of the most ancient of the sciences. We are all aware ofthe fact that early man looked at the stars with curiosity longbefore he looked at the things of earth with anything more thanpractical interest in what they could do for him or to him. Theearth sciences had to wait long ages after a study of the heavensbegan.

There is a mingling of reverence, wonder and a sort of fearwhich is still felt by all thoughtful humans who take the timeto stand alone in the stillness of the night and look with unhur-ried contemplation at the stars. Something deep within us allresponds to their call across the endless empty void of space, ifwe let it. Yet in these days of hurried living in cities with theirtowering buildings and bright lights shutting off the sky, howmany of us ever think to raise our eyes up to the stars? It seemsto me that men lost something most significant when theireyes and hearts became so glued to earthly things that they nolonger saw the sky. It is a rare person who can call the stars byname or who knows the constellations and their positions ineach season of the year.But children still show interest and wish to know about these

things. The way they listen when such things are talked aboutis an experience to bring a teacher joy. In the past it had too

* Delivered before the Elementary Science section of the Central Association of Science and Mathe-

matics Teachers, November 26.

36

ASTRONOMY IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 37

often been assumed that children were not ready for astronomybefore the junior high school. That is no longer true in allplaces, for many schools are aware of the vital interest whichchildren have in this area and are doing something about iteven in the lower grades. I feel that if we wait until junior highschool with this, or any other science, we will be too late. Thatmagic spark of curiosity is often gone if it has not been kindledinto flame long before.We talk about a science-centered world in which the things of

science assume increasing importance. No one will deny thatchildren need to be more science minded if they are to live insuch a world intelligently; but we are still too often content tolet their experiences come incidentally, which in many casesmeans accidentally or not at allAstronomy may be more poetic than practical in some re-

spects, though the war has brought its contributions to naviga-tion before the public. But poetic or practical, it is a treat toteach if properly presented. All I have ever needed to do is toget children^ comments or questions started and the study wason its way. The rest is a matter of organization which offersgrand opportunities for teacher-pupil planning. It ought neverto be a teacher-planned unit of work based only on cut and driedfacts gathered from books, with no consideration of the chil-dren^s special needs and interests. Such an approach mighteasily kill an interest.The same principles apply in this as in all teaching. I have

used the following as guides for myself. 1. An experience shouldbe well planned with the pupils. 2. It should provide for chil-dren^ special needs and interests. 3. It should provide muchactivity where children can engage in more than mental exer-cise. 4. It should be dramatic. 5. It should be rich in content. Ishall try to show how I attempt to follow these points in teach-ing astronomy.

First�planning. I sometimes start by leading a discussionon some observed phenomena; a bright meteor, a display ofNorthern Lights, some bright planets in the sky, or even thecurrent phase of the moon. Any of these may offer a startingpoint. The group can usually be depended on to add commentsand questions so that the whole field is opened up. Then theteacher as a member of the group can add things which offerother interesting possibilities. Many times I have found thatsuch discussions start without any suggestion from me for

38 SCHOOL SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS

children are anxious to discuss things they have seen andwonder about.Once the group has decided that they wish to know more

about astronomy, our serious planning begins. Children feel amore personal interest in a study if they originate it and havea hand in deciding what is to be learned and how it is to be done.Together we work out a list of all the things they wish to knowabout astronomy. These things are then grouped under largerheadings and those are arranged into sections in what seemsto be the proper order. There is no substitute for this kind ofteacher-pupil planning and it is a major source of unity andwholehearted cooperation in the group. The extra time it takesis well worth while in terms of concomitant learnings.A typical outline of study which results from planning of this

sort might be like the following:1. The Solar System c. Nebulae.

a. The Sun, our star. d. Our Galactic Universe.b. The Planets and Plan- e. Other Universes.

etoids. f. Constellations.c. The Earth, our home. 3. Astronomical Toolsd. Moons, a. Observatories.e. Comets, b. Telescopes.f. Meteors, c. Other Things Astron-g. The Aurora, omers Use.h. Where pll these came 4. What Use is Astronomy?

from. a. Navigation.2. The Stellar System b. Time.

a. Space, c. Adding to Man^sb. Stars. Knowledge.

The precise organization will vary from group to group, butusually the contents will be quite complete if enough time isgiven to the planning. The list can then be checked againstbooks on astronomy to insure completeness.With these preliminaries out of the way we are ready to begin.

I try to see that personal interests are cared for. One way ofdoing this is to get activities started at once. Individuals canthen concentrate on their special interests without waiting forthe class discussions to catch up with them. Group discussionsare carried on along with the activities and we try to cover theentire outline in them. Books, teacher information, children^contributions, all are used.

ASTRONOMY IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 39

The activity work is usually the thing that keeps interesthigh. It gives children an opportunity to use references and artsand crafts material. The following is a partial list of thingswhich children have done during their activity periods in myclasses.

1. Written projects on special areas of their own choosing.2. Charts of the solar system, drawn or cut out of colored

paper.3. Solar system models.4. Charts of the phases of the moon.5. Phases of Venus and Mercury.6. Charts and models of eclipses.7. Earth-moon models.8. Maps of the moon.9. Models of the moon^s surface.

10. Drawings and models of planets.11. Drawings of imaginary trips through space and to planets.12. Model rocket ships.13. Drawings and diagrams of various types of telescopes.14. Drawings of observatories.15. Making experimental telescopes.16. Charts to show distances to planets and time needed to

reach them.17. Handmade slides drawn on ground glass.18. Star maps.

Space will not allow a detailed description of all these, but inmost cases their nature is probably indicated by the title, andmost astronomy books will offer the facts needed for their con-struction. The rest is up to the ingenuity and originality ofpupils and teacher.The construction of a solar system model has proved so popu-

lar in all my groups that I shall go into some detail on it. Themodels are made of wood, wire and a mixture of asbestos flouror fine paper pulp with wheat paste and water to make a clay-like substance. We first plan a scale in class and generallyarrive at about the figures on the following page.The sun and planets are made of the asbestos mixture. The

planets are mounted on fairly stiff wires which have been curvedaround a grooved dowel rod so that they revolve freely aroundthe sun which is mounted on top of the rod. The dowel rod isset in a wood base. When dry the planets and sun are painted

40SCHOOL SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS

NameSizeSun3 inches (this is too small

but would require a ten-inchglobe to be correct)

Mercury-j^ in.Venus-j- in.Earth-| in.Mars-g^- in.Jupiterl^ in.Saturnly^ in.Uranus^ in.Neptune’ ^ in.Pluto^ in.

Distance from the Sun

-h in.A in.i in.l^in.2|-in.

4J in.in.

in.in.

71012

in oil or water colors. The sun is yellow, Mercury and Venus arewhite, Earth is green, Mars is red, Jupiter is orange with stripesfor the cloud bands, Saturn is yellow with stripes for its cloudbands (Saturn is also provided with a ring made of cardboardwith an opening to slip over the planet), Uranus is blue, Neptuneblue-green, and Pluto is yellow. When completed the modellooks like this.

With so small a model it is not possible to add the moons.Models such as these require considerable discussion so thatchildren recognize their limitations. Otherwise misconceptionsare apt to arise. All they can do is show comparative sizes forthe planets. The distance scale merely shows proportional spac-

ASTRONOMY IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 41

ing since the size scale applied to real distances would requirethe wires to be hundreds of feet long.Another type of project which children enjoy is a chart to

show planets5 distances and the time required to reach them atvarious speeds. It offers good arithmetic correlation to get theright figures. We first get the real distances from books and thenfigure the time needed to cover them in a train going at 100miles an hour, a plane going 400 and a rocket ship going 25,000miles an hour. (This is the speed of release from the gravity ofthe earth.) These figures are then made graphic by drawing theearth in one corner of the paper, the selected planet in another,and pictures of a train, plane and rocket ship headed for itwith the statistics along the routes.

Still another activity is a group plan for an assembly programat the end of the study in which they display all their projectsand give an illustrated slide program. Each child makes a slideon some phase of the work and gives a short talk as it is shown.These slides are drawn on frosted glass and projected by a regu-lar slide projector. This type of activity offers a fine motivationall through the study.

Besides being centered around real and interesting activitiesthe teaching itself needs to be dramatic. Instead of stating plainfacts teachers need to be original enough to turn figures andfacts into things which children can visualize. Much of the fas-cinating material of astronomy can be told in story form. Inclass discussions facts can be presented in ways which childrenwill find meaningful. For instance, instead of saying that Plutois nearly four billion miles from the sun, a number which meansnothing even to adults, I try to have children visualize the com-parative distance by showing them on their Solar System modelsthat Pluto would really be almost 4000 feet from their sunmodel. Then we discuss where the 4000 foot circle would go inour city. The mental image that results is real. The unusual, thenovel, always appeals and it is well worth the teacher^s effortto find new ways of saying things.

Children like to act things out and we sometimes go outdoorsto dramatize the solar system. We measure our school groundsto find what limits ouj- scale needs to have. Then we figure outthe distances for the various planets and put children in thoseplaces. They then try to move around a ^sun^ child in orbitsat the relative speeds of the planets they represent. Each planetis accompanied by the correct number of ^moon" children. Ob-

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viously this type of dramatics requires a knowledge of the basicfacts about the Solar System and helps to make them im-pressive. There are many possible variations on this theme.

Children should have the experience of seeing the things theystudy about. A night meeting under the stars with the teacherto show them the constellations and planets is a rare treat. Ifa telescope, opera or field glasses are available so much thebetter. Often there are persons in the community who own suchthings and who are willing to lend or bring them for the childrento use. In some areas it may be possible to visit a real observa-tory or planetarium. Such visits are highlights of school ex-perience which children never forget.

Besides being presented dramatically the study should berich in content. Astronomy is a major science and needs tobe considered as such. It is not enough to do a bit of work onsome small phase of it and then stop. Content should be com-plete enough so that children begin to grasp the deeper signifi-cance of the work of astronomers. The outline given above willgive an idea of the scope of the subject. There are scores of finebooks for pupils and teachers in every library to supply theneeded information.

It takes more than a week or two of astronomy to make agood impression. My thought in teaching astronomy goes be-yond the facts involved. I am more concerned with the attitudewhich children have toward their world and the universe ofwhich it is a tiny part. I hope to have them grasp the majesticgreatness of the space which surrounds us, the universal lawswhich govern everything in space, the insignificance of man asan individual organism, together with the added significanceand greatness of man^s soul and mind which can understandsuch things. I hope to have children feel something great andgood when they raise their eyes to God^s heaven; somethingthat goes far deeper than facts or figures ever can, a conscious-ness of God.

GYRO TRACK RECORDER CARS

Gyro track recorder cars, attached to a railroad train, make a continu-ous record of the track condition. Eight pens record on a moving tapeirregularities in curvature, alignment, surface variations and other faultsin the tracks. The rate at which the tape moves is in direct ratio to thespeed of the train.