Author: Emilia Vasconcelos
Origin: PORTUGAL
Implemented in: Czech Republic, Italy and Lithuania
The aim of this GP is that the students learn to recognize the organization of the universe, by being able to characterize the different heavenly bodies of the solar system and knowing some of the instruments that are used to explore the universe. The students have to discover the universe by using the software “Stellarium”, which the teacher introduces to them at the beginning of the lesson. After that, the students are asked to do some Internet research in groups. Each group has to cover a different planet and at the end of the lessons the groups have to prepare an illustrated text about what there is to be found in a trip to the solar system and present their findings to the rest of the class. During this GP it is important that the students learn to work autonomously, to be organized and to use scientific terms correctly.
Success stories
A Lithuanian teacher stated that this GP was the one that the students preferred, as they enjoyed discovering our universe with the software “Stellarium”. During the implementation of the GP “most of the students downloaded the program onto their home computers.” The teacher also noticed “how some students taught others to use this program”. Further, the Lithuanian teacher says: “I had some unmotivated students in my class. Nothing interested them. But these students downloaded Stellarium and taught others. I watched and could not believe it.” The Italian teacher gave similar feedback; she said that she used “Stellarium” on the IWB and the students were impressed as it “looked as if they could touch the sky with their hands and could travel through the Universe. Going to the Moon and looking at the Earth from there is a useful change of perspective.” The fact that students had to produce a final product after their research, namely a report of their trip in the Universe, gave her students more motivation to discover the unknown. This also gave the teacher the opportunity to evaluate her students in a different way.
