Astronomy Workshops: Implementation in Greek Primary School

Astronomy workshops were implemented in the 9^th Primary School of Komotini which is an urban school located in the north-eastern part of Greece. The challenge that the school has to tackle is irregular attendance and school dropout. About half of the students come from families that face socioeconomic hardship, live in marginalised settlements in the city and belong to the Muslim minority of Thrace. Their school attendance is characterized by absenteeism that negatively affects the continuity of learning and the development of cognitive and social skills. These are followed by the loss of their self confidence, their alienation in the classroom and the school community. Thus the aim of the school is to be inclusive by accepting and attending to student diversity. Hence, the School administration and teacher staff has decided to implement interdisciplinary various workshops during the whole school year that include Storytelling, Drama, STEAM, Arts, Athletics, Pottery and Gardening. The Astronomy workshops were implemented collaboratively by a teacher, the Arts Teacher and the Music Teacher and in specifically included:     

1. Planetarium workshop:

The School has a Planetarium which is a Geodesic Dome made out of white plastic film and a wooden skeleton. It consists of six pentagons, five hexagons and five half hexagons and has a diameter of 5m and height of 3m.  It was made in 2018 by children to inspire other children about astronomy. Presentations were given to the whole school, six grades, eight classes, (132 students). The presentations which were focused on the solar system and famous missions were adjusted to their age. Free online videos, Stellarium and NASA’s Eyes were used for the presentations.

2. Music and movement workshop:

Next to the Planetarium is the School’s dance room. After the planetarium presentations the students participated in a music and movement workshop. They listened to sounds of the planets in our solar system and were enhanced by the teacher to kinetically express themselves and guided tο recreate in teams the orbits and rotations of the planets.   

3. 3D Printing workshop:

In the ICT Lab students were introduced to 3D printing using Tinkercad a free web app. The School is an eTwinning STEM 3.0 School and was granted a 3D Printer in March. In teams students designed and 3D printed rockets, robotic spacecrafts and space suits.

4. Art workshop:

In the Art room and under the guidance of the Art teacher the students created a collective artwork inspired by the solar system and what they had learnt. Each class contributed by working on a specific part of the synthesis. The artwork is a 3D installation in the space of the corridor of the school that leads to the Planetarium. Polystyrene spheres balls were used for the 3D models of the Sun and planets and were painted with Fluorescent paints that can shine under UV black light. For the scale of the solar system of the artwork the sizes of the planets were taken in consideration in comparison with the Sun.

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge the teachers and students of the 9^th Primary School of Komotini.