Solar System and Beyond
Improve your knowledge of space science to help you deliver primary science lessons with this free online teaching course from the Royal Observatory Greenwich.
Who is the course for?
This course is designed for primary school teachers and home educators, who have an interest in expanding their knowledge of space, the Solar System and science more broadly, and improving their primary science lessons.
What topics will you cover?
Week 1 – Tackling scary science
Communicating space science and astronomy
Perceptions of science
Explain astronomical concepts
Reflect on your teaching
Common misconceptions
Week 2 – Teaching primary science and beyond
Teaching astronomy
Going off-curriculum
Week 3 – New science – taking it beyond the classroom
Real science, real scientists, real data
Science outside the classroom
What next? Incorporating new ideas in the classroom
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to…
Explain the scientific concepts behind the Sun, Earth, Moon system, the seasons, eclipses and the Solar System and interpret them in an appropriate, accurate and understandable way for your students
Apply your knowledge and experiment with new methods of teaching space science
Openly discuss challenging topics within the field of astronomy and space science with your class
Reflect on your perceptions of science and scientists so that you can self-modify any perceptions that could potentially discourage students from exploring the subject further
Identify reliable sources of information relating to cutting edge astronomy and space science and lead a discussion with your students about how real science, real people and real data relates to the world around us
