Seasons Without Borders on The Big Island of Hawai’i

• Print
• Email

Sep 23

2010

by Christopher A Phillips

Equinox at Hilo Intermediate School

The autumnal equinox is upon us and presents an excellent opportunity for Astronomers Without Borders to once again collaborate with ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai’i to bring the wonders of the universe to the people of the Big Island.

September 21st  2010, one day before the autumnal equinox occurs here in Hawai’i. ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center’s Education associate, Craig Mitchell and Astronomers Without Borders Coordinator, Christopher Phillips teamed up to conduct an equinox outreach activity at an Intermediate school in Downtown Hilo.

The aim of the outreach was to help students understand the reasons for the seasons, the science behind the equinox, solstice, the movement of celestial bodies in the solar system and the impact here on planet Earth.

The students in question are 8th graders from a variety of social, economic and ethnic backgrounds. Within the class were students from Hawai’i, Micronesia, Asia and wider Polynesia. The challenge was to engage these students in such a way that all of them could grasp the concepts we were presenting. The way we did this was through Kinaesthetic Astronomy!

Kinaesthetic astronomy encourages the students to use their bodies to represent the movements and orientations of celestial bodies such as the Earth, Moon and Sun. It is a wonderfully intuitive method of conveying concepts that confuse even highly educated adults. A brilliant example of this is when a group of Harvard graduates were asked ‘what the reasons for the seasons?’ The overwhelming response from the group (even the astronomy graduates!) was that the seasons depend on the changing distance between the Earth and the Sun during an orbit! This is a common misconception; one that most people believe is true.

We set out to dispel this horrible misconception and to get our students to blow the Harvard grads out of the water with their knowledge of astronomy!

The activity was a success for many reasons the beauty of it is that it is completely practical. Students are engaged and become an integral part of the learning process, not just recipients of information passed via lecturer to their brains, pens and papers. The students become the information, they become the Earth! They emulate its tilt as it orbits the Sun (a helium balloon in the center of the room), their front face is the day side of the Earth, their backs the night side. Their heads become the North Pole, their legs the South Pole. They animate the seasons with their bodies, day and night with a pirouette.

The learning potential of Kinaesthetic astronomy cannot be over looked, it is a wonderfully simple, yet elegant way to convey the confusing concepts of seasons.

We followed up the Kinaesthetic astronomy with the Equatorial sundial activity provided by Peggy Walker at AWB. This proved to be a perfect complement as it too is practical, keeping the students engaged from one activity to another. It wasn’t long before the students were heads down constructing their sundials. The questions were now starting to come thick and fast and the students were now taking pride in the fact that they could out think Harvard graduates, that they could observe the movements of celestial bodies and apply reason thus drawing an educated conclusion, they could understand!

Our outreach drew to a close on a beautiful lawn in the school yard, drenched in Hawaiian sunshine. It was here that the students put their sundials to the test and it was here that they were blown away by the fact that, wow! They actually work!

It was a wonderful moment seeing all their hard work pay off and to see the satisfaction on their faces.

Overall a great success and another great collaboration between AWB and ‘Imiloa.

On a concluding note we were asked to return. This time with the possibility of a regular Friday outreach session. Great stuff!