Engaging Students Using Storybook Style Lessons: Paul Sirstins at the OAE’s 6th Shaw-IAU Workshop
0This is a talk given at the 6th Shaw-IAU Workshop on Astronomy for Education, organised by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE, http//astro4edu.org).
Title: Engaging preK - 2nd Grade Students Using Storybook Style Lessons to "See What's Out There!"
For pre-K through 2nd grade students, distance and size are concepts that are often beyond their experience. Using something that all kids enjoy, having a book to share and read together, we introduce these concepts along with imagery and tactile objects to involve students in their own learning. Students explore the natural world around them, learning how the Sun gives light and heat to help things grow and live. This includes how the Sun is essential to the plants and animals that the Earth supports, and the ways the Sun and sky move water around to help things thrive. We designed our Storybook lesson to be presented using NOAA's Science on a Sphere at our venue. In this session, we will explore ways that it can be easily adapted to the classroom and available technology.
About Paul Sirstins:
Paul Sirstins is a retired teacher of 35 years, currently engaged as an Education Presenter at Clark Planetarium. His responsibilities include presenting a variety of programs on the Science on a Sphere and in the Planetarium dome to preK through 12th grade students, as well as creating lessons and programs. During his teaching career, he mentored 18 student teachers from 7 universities and was BTSA coordinator for 21 teachers in San Diego. Paul has an education background, degrees and credentials from the University of Utah, UCLA, UC Riverside and UC San Diego. This also includes related work experience as a Disney Imagineer. The most notable achievement is the success of the kids he has worked with.
Collaboartors:
Jason Trump - Clark Planetarium Education Programs Supervisor
Thomas Quayle - Clark Planetarium Education Program
Specialist"
About the 6th Shaw-IAU Workshop:
The 6th Shaw-IAU Workshop took place: 12 - 15 November 2024. The Shaw-IAU workshops focus on astronomy education for primary and secondary school students and teacher training both in universities and in service. This year's workshop featured two special topics: an exploration of the first two years of the James Webb Space Telescope for the scientific topic, and the crucial aspect of evaluation in educational contexts as the non-scientific topic.
More details can be found on: https://astro4edu.org/shaw-iau/
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