11:15 AM - 11:30 AM
[G01-09] Outreach programs for elementary school students by astronomy outreach student group "Asu-chika"
★Invited Papers
Keywords:outreach, elementary school students, space science
In the current curriculum guidelines, elementary school students have limited opportunities to study space science in their science classes. In order to encourage interest in space science within the brief amount of class time available, creative efforts in lesson planning are essential. However, according to the "2010 Report on Elementary School Science Education" by the Japan Science and Technology Agency, it has been found that many elementary school teachers considered teaching science difficult. One of the solutions suggested is the deployment of specialized science teachers, but such teachers are not necessarily available in every school. Consequently, it is required to dispatch external experts, such as retired teachers, to elementary schools as support staff to provide suggestions and advice for science lessons.
One possible solution to this issue is for researchers and university students to conduct outreach activities for elementary school students. targeted at elementary school students. "Asu-chika", established in April 2023 by students from the Faculty of Science, Kyoto University, has been conducting astronomy outreach activities for elementary school students. We have conducted activities at various locations, most frequently in elementary schools, including a childcare facility and a temple.
We introduce an overview and outcomes of our outreach programs at elementary schools in Kyoto Prefecture and Kagawa Prefecture. They were implemented through direct requests to elementary schools or negotiations with the board of education. On the day of the program, we utilized multiple existing excellent teaching materials such as Mitaka, developed by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan's 4D2U project, and Space Fight, developed by the cosmology laboratory of Kumamoto University, to provide high-quality lessons even within a short class time. Furthermore, in collaboration with the Kyoto University Kwasan Observatory or Telescope Museum in Kagawa Prefecture, nighttime astronomical observations for students who got interested in astronomy were implemented after the outreach programs. We conducted a questionnaire among the participating students to investigate how many of them became interested in space through the outreach program. As a result, approximately 90% of them answered that they were "more interested," which suggests the high effectiveness of astronomical outreach activities by university students. Moreover, interviews were conducted with teachers to investigate their evaluations and opinions on outreach activities for university students, and many positive responses were gathered.
One possible solution to this issue is for researchers and university students to conduct outreach activities for elementary school students. targeted at elementary school students. "Asu-chika", established in April 2023 by students from the Faculty of Science, Kyoto University, has been conducting astronomy outreach activities for elementary school students. We have conducted activities at various locations, most frequently in elementary schools, including a childcare facility and a temple.
We introduce an overview and outcomes of our outreach programs at elementary schools in Kyoto Prefecture and Kagawa Prefecture. They were implemented through direct requests to elementary schools or negotiations with the board of education. On the day of the program, we utilized multiple existing excellent teaching materials such as Mitaka, developed by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan's 4D2U project, and Space Fight, developed by the cosmology laboratory of Kumamoto University, to provide high-quality lessons even within a short class time. Furthermore, in collaboration with the Kyoto University Kwasan Observatory or Telescope Museum in Kagawa Prefecture, nighttime astronomical observations for students who got interested in astronomy were implemented after the outreach programs. We conducted a questionnaire among the participating students to investigate how many of them became interested in space through the outreach program. As a result, approximately 90% of them answered that they were "more interested," which suggests the high effectiveness of astronomical outreach activities by university students. Moreover, interviews were conducted with teachers to investigate their evaluations and opinions on outreach activities for university students, and many positive responses were gathered.