205
comet. The beach at Puertito de Güímar in Tenerife chalked up the highest
attendance with 5000 visitors.
Also relating to Hyakutake, the IAC organized a nationwide contest with
the title ‘The Cometake: Catch it if you Can!’ There were three categories
dedicated to astronomical photography, children’s drawings, and written articles. The contest winners in each category would get a diploma and their work
would be published in IAC Noticias. The first prize for each category consisted
of a three-day visit to the IAC and its Observatories in Tenerife and La Palma.
Also included was a night’s observing to coincide with the date of closest
approach of Comet Hale-Bopp in April 1997.
In 1999, on the occasion of the Leonid meteor shower, the IAC created a
project to involve high school pupils from all over the country in observations
of the shower. The projects revolved around a ‘teaching unit’ aimed at teachers
of the secondary-level subjects Natural Sciences and Astronomy Workshop.
Our main objective was to introduce young students to real scientific research
through observation. Meteor storms offer a unique opportunity to bring this
kind of experience to fruition: they are spectacular phenomena that require
no special observing instruments. This project was the first initiative involving
direct cooperation between students and researchers ever to take place in
Spain. A total of 1500 students from 76 secondary education centres from all
over the country participated.
Building on this experience, the IAC has produced further teaching units.
There is a general one on ‘Meteor showers’ and another on ‘Eclipses’, which
provides instructions for determining the apparent size of the Moon and measuring transit times for the Earth’s shadow over lunar craters. Yet another unit,
‘Occultations and transits’, explains the phenomenology of these astronomical events, and suggests activities and practical work based on these phenomena. I am told the units are very popular.
Primary and secondary school teachers are our best allies in spreading science as an essential part of our culture, and astronomy is a beautiful and effective way of doing this. That is why the IAC maintains permanent links with
the educational community, and not merely through teaching material. We
give talks at educational centres, and develop teaching projects and specific
courses for the training of teachers. In 1990 the IAC, together with the Santa
María Foundation, organized an annual course with the award of prizes called
‘The Universe and I’ for European teachers from educational centres. During
the course those attending would receive astronomical training, pedagogical
advice, and suggestions for astronomical practical work. The ‘Cosmoeduca’
project was also set up to help teaching staff develop themes with a scientific,
20 Bringing Astronomy to the Public (1986–Present)
comet. The beach at Puertito de Güímar in Tenerife chalked up the highest
attendance with 5000 visitors.
Also relating to Hyakutake, the IAC organized a nationwide contest with
the title ‘The Cometake: Catch it if you Can!’ There were three categories
dedicated to astronomical photography, children’s drawings, and written articles. The contest winners in each category would get a diploma and their work
would be published in IAC Noticias. The first prize for each category consisted
of a three-day visit to the IAC and its Observatories in Tenerife and La Palma.
Also included was a night’s observing to coincide with the date of closest
approach of Comet Hale-Bopp in April 1997.
In 1999, on the occasion of the Leonid meteor shower, the IAC created a
project to involve high school pupils from all over the country in observations
of the shower. The projects revolved around a ‘teaching unit’ aimed at teachers
of the secondary-level subjects Natural Sciences and Astronomy Workshop.
Our main objective was to introduce young students to real scientific research
through observation. Meteor storms offer a unique opportunity to bring this
kind of experience to fruition: they are spectacular phenomena that require
no special observing instruments. This project was the first initiative involving
direct cooperation between students and researchers ever to take place in
Spain. A total of 1500 students from 76 secondary education centres from all
over the country participated.
Building on this experience, the IAC has produced further teaching units.
There is a general one on ‘Meteor showers’ and another on ‘Eclipses’, which
provides instructions for determining the apparent size of the Moon and measuring transit times for the Earth’s shadow over lunar craters. Yet another unit,
‘Occultations and transits’, explains the phenomenology of these astronomical events, and suggests activities and practical work based on these phenomena. I am told the units are very popular.
Primary and secondary school teachers are our best allies in spreading science as an essential part of our culture, and astronomy is a beautiful and effective way of doing this. That is why the IAC maintains permanent links with
the educational community, and not merely through teaching material. We
give talks at educational centres, and develop teaching projects and specific
courses for the training of teachers. In 1990 the IAC, together with the Santa
María Foundation, organized an annual course with the award of prizes called
‘The Universe and I’ for European teachers from educational centres. During
the course those attending would receive astronomical training, pedagogical
advice, and suggestions for astronomical practical work. The ‘Cosmoeduca’
project was also set up to help teaching staff develop themes with a scientific,
20 Bringing Astronomy to the Public (1986–Present)