Other Astronomical News

Universe Awareness for Young Children

George Miley1 verse in later years. Secondly, the educa- introduce the concept of the Sun, the Claus Madsen2 tional disparities between advantaged Solar System, stars and galaxies. Through Cecilia Scorza de Appl 3 and disadvantaged children are smallest excitement, adventure and wonder, for the youngest children. children will be stimulated to appreciate 1 Leiden University the beauty and enormity of the Universe. 2 ESO 3 University of Heidelberg ESO workshop Young disadvantaged children live in diverse environments. For example, the Following the setting up of an ad-hoc educational infrastructure for disadvan- Universe Awareness (UNA) is an inter- UNA steering committee in 2004, a work- taged children in the inner cities of Euro- national programme that will expose shop was held at ESO Headquarters on pean countries is qualitatively different economically-disadvantaged young chil- May 27 and 28, 2005 to discuss the from the situation for disadvantaged chil- dren, between ages 4 and 10 years, in feasibility of the Universe Awareness idea. dren in an agricultural African village. developed and developing countries to The 16 participants from 14 countries in UNA will therefore initially develop, imple- the inspirational aspects of modern as- 5 continents included professional astron- ment and evaluate a pilot project in a tronomy. omers, educators, scientific outreach pro- small number of countries representative fessionals and a social anthropologist. of the following three different educational The participants were unanimously enthu- environments: Introduction siastic about Universe Awareness as (i) Environment 1: an idea and about the feasibility of devel- – School starting at age 7–8 or non-exis- From the dawn of history, the beauty of oping it into a useful programme. At tent; the sky and its intimate connection with the workshop two sub-committees were – Television scarce. the development of human civilisation formed to follow up on detailed aspects (ii) Environment 2: have inspired countless generations with of the project. The first is studying educa- – School starting at age 6–7; a sense of wonder. Modern astronomy tional aspects of Universe Awareness, – Sporadic access to Internet; continues to play a unique role in convey- including the content of the programme – Television at home and at school; ing the excitement of science to the and the optimum didactic methods for – Poorly trained teachers. general public. In recent years consider- delivering it. The second sub-committee is (iii) Environment 3: able resources have been devoted to focusing on questions of organisation and – School starting at age 4–5; astronomical outreach in developed coun- funding. – Access to Internet at school and often tries, aided by the spectacular images at home; produced by modern astronomical facili- – Well-trained teachers; ties and the continuing list of major as- The project – UNA accepted as in-school curriculum. tronomical discoveries that have changed our views of the Universe. Universe UNA is intended to be a programme that For each environment a phased, coordi- Awareness is a new programme intended is inspirational and entertaining rather nated modular programme will be pre- to reach a target group that has so far than to impart facts or develop specific pared and training courses will be devel- been neglected by such outreach pro- cognitive skills. The minimum goal will oped, all specifically tailored to fit the grammes, namely children between four be to make young children aware of the culture and language of the target group. and ten years of age. beauty and scale of the Universe. It also carries the implicit message that Nature The programme is motivated by the can be interrogated by rational means. Tools and methods premise that access to simple knowledge The tools and methods of UNA will be about the Universe is a basic birthright developed with the aim of eventually Where very young children do not attend of everybody. The formative ages of four reaching as large a number of children as school (Environment 1), creative appeal- to ten years are crucial in the develop- possible. The development and imple- ing materials will be developed for distri- ment of a human value system. This is mentation of UNA will be driven by the bution by any available delivery method also the age range in which children can needs and wishes of active educators in (e.g. national television or travelling UNA readily appreciate and enjoy the beauty the target countries, combining the in- buses). For Environments 2 and 3, the of astronomical objects and can learn to novative use of professionally developed programme will provide teachers with ma- develop a “feeling” for the vastness of tools, including songs, games, toys and terials that involve children more actively. the Universe. Exposing young children to animation films in a coordinated modular such material is likely to broaden their programme. Several short films will be developed to minds and stimulate their world-view. illustrate the two aspects of Universe The UNA programme will begin with Awareness, beauty and scale and gradu- The programme concentrates on disad- “Earth Awareness”, emphasising that the ally make children aware of the Earth, vantaged young children for two reasons. child is a member of a diverse human the Solar System and the Universe. The Firstly, most other children will be ex- family of children living on a particu- films will be designed to appeal to young posed to some knowledge about the Uni- lar planet. Universe Awareness will then children by entertaining them. They will

66 The Messenger 121 – September 2005 From the UNA workshop at ESO Headquarters.

O Present Organisation of Universe Awareness S E , r e y e H .

H Universe Awareness International .

H Steering Committee : o t o h

P Co-Chairpersons: Mr. Claus Madsen, Head of the Public Affairs Department, ESO, Garching, Germany Prof. George K. Miley, Royal Netherlands Academy Professor, Leiden University, the Netherlands

Dr. Cecilia Scorza de Appl, Landessternwarte Heidelberg, Germany Prof. Alec Boksenberg, Chairman, UK National Commission for UNESCO, Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, United Kingdom Ms. Alexa Joyce, International Programme Coor- dinator, European Schoolnet, Brussels Belgium

UNA Project Manager Coordinator make use of cartoon characters, anima- example, children would learn from each (from September 15, 2005): Dr. Carolina Ödman, Leiden University, tion and exciting adventure stories. These other that developing countries are often the Netherlands films will be made by experienced makers “richer” in sources of UNA wonderment of children’s entertainment films and than developed ones. For example, skies creative educators, with advice provided in agricultural regions are generally darker Universe Awareness Education Sub-Committee by astronomers. The adventures, featur- and less polluted by light, so that children Chairperson: ing some of the most beautiful images can count much larger numbers of stars. Dr. Cecilia Scorza de Appl, Astronomer/Education- made by modern telescopes, will be set in alist, Landessternwarte Heidelberg, Germany a variety of exotic environments known Special attention will be devoted to opti- Mr. Gonzalo Argandona, Astronomical Outreach, to exist in the Universe. They will attempt mum methods for delivering the pro- ESO, Santiago, Chile to cultivate the sense of imagination that gramme in less developed environments. Ms. Chandra Fernando, Primary School Teacher/ is widespread in young children. Tailoring films to local needs so that they Teacher training, Northeast Montessori Institute, can be transmitted on national or local Baltimore, USA Ms. Birthe Kirknæs, Primary School Headmaster (rtd.), Additional coordinated material tailored television is one option. Another option is Copenhagen,Denmark for each country will be developed with to equip travelling UNA buses with inter- Mr. Jesper Kirknæs, Social Anthropologist, Copen- the aid of talented educators, scientists active games and exciting exhibits. Such hagen, Denmark and artists from these countries. These buses are already frequently used for Dr. Naoufel Ben Maaouia, Educator/Astronomer/Plan- etarium Director, Tunis, Tunisia will include games and songs. They educational purposes in Tunisia, travelling Mr. Bernat Martinez, CEFIRE (In-service Teacher Train- will often focus on the cartoon characters, between widely dispersed villages, stop- ing Centre), Benidorm, Spain feature UNA images and emphasise rele- ping as appropriate. Dr. Premana W. Premadi, Astronomer, Institut vant aspects of Universe Awareness. Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia Dr. Rosa M. Ros, Educator/Teacher training, Technical Where appropriate, involvement of ancient To coordinate the programme and main- University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain local cultures with astronomy will be tain links with the schools, teachers, par- Dr. Karl Sarnow, Educator, European Schoolnet, woven into the material. A goal will be to ents and children in the target countries, Brussels, Belgium stimulate active group participation by several Universe Awareness Coordinators Dr. Henri Boffin, Astronomical Outreach, ESO, Garching, Germany the children, where possible, but will also will be trained for each target country. Dr. R. West, Outreach Astronomer (rtd.), ESO, include simple board games that chil- Garching, Germany dren can play on a one-to-one basis. By including a uniform set of characters, Pilot project Universe Awareness Organisation Sub-Committee images and environments over a range of material, the UNA message will be re- We propose to commence Universe Chairperson: inforced. Awareness with a pilot project that will Prof. Alec Boksenberg, Astronomer, Chairman, target a limited number of developing UK National Commission for UNESCO, Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, United Kingdom Internet will be used to creatively enhance countries and disadvantaged groups in up the programme for disadvantaged to four European countries. There are Ms. Marina Joubert, Scientific Outreach, children in advanced educational environ- two reasons for combining these two tar- South African Agency for Science and Technology ments (Environment 3). Special material get groups. First, the concept of “earth Advancement, Pretoria, South Africa Mr. Claus Madsen, Head of the Public Affairs Depart- will be developed to enable UNA “twin- awareness” provides a good reason for ment, ESO, Garching, Germany ning” activities, for class collaborations linking these two geographically sepa- Prof. George K. Miley, Astronomer, Royal Netherlands between young children in deprived rated target groups. Secondly, a well-de- Academy Professor, Leiden University, the Nether- regions of advanced countries and young fined European involvement in such a lands children in developing countries. For one-world educational programme fits

The Messenger 121 – September 2005 67 Other Astronomical News

well with the aspirations of the European University and the Royal Netherlands Aca- Preliminary Timeline Union and several individual European demy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). Three stages in the pilot project are envisaged: countries. During the next year we will seek further endorsements. September 2005–December 2006 An “announcement of opportunity” will Preparation be disseminated at the end of 2005, re- The development of the UNA project is – Contacting suitable funding organisations – Refinement of educational goals and needed questing expressions of interest by na- presently being overseen by a 5-member material tional groups that are interested in partici- Universe Awareness International Steering – Preparation of funding proposals pating in UNA. Although the pilot proj- Committee (UNAISC) and two sub-com- ect will concentrate on the selected target mittees devoted to education and organi- 2007–2008 Development countries, UNA material will be made sation/funding respectively. Dr. Carolina – Production of actual animation films, games, toys, available generally. Ödman has been appointed as UNA inter- and internet tools national project manager/coordinator at – Development and organisation of coordinator Leiden from September 15, 2005. training courses Organisations 2009 It is planned to hold a second larger inter- Implementation At present the following organisations disciplinary workshop to discuss pro- – Start of pilot project with evaluation support the Universe Awareness Pro- gress in the project in the late summer of Note that the expected implementation date for the gramme: ESO, the European Schoolnet 2006. All those who are interested in UNA pilot project coincides with the International Year of (ESN), the European Association for and wish to be kept informed of devel- Astronomy planned for 2009. Astronomy Education, (EAAE), the Inter- opments should contact Carolina Ödman national Astronomical Union, Leiden ([email protected]).

Catherine Cesarsky Elected Member of Academies of Sciences y t

On April 20, 2004, the US National Academy of On April 30, 2005, at the Annual Meeting of the e i c o

Sciences selected 72 new members and US National Academy of Sciences, Catherine S l a y

18 foreign associates from 13 countries, includ- Cesarsky, was officially inducted into this highly o R e

ing Dr. Catherine Cesarsky, ESO’s Director prestigious society. h T / s General. This brought the total number of ac- i t a l u

tive members to 1949, including 351 foreign At about the same time, Catherine Cesarsky B . L associates. became a Foreign Member of the Royal : o t o

Swedish Academy of Sciences. Founded in h P Among its distinguished members, the National 1739, this Academy was modelled on the Academy includes 83 astronomers. Catherine pattern of the Royal Society of London and of Cesarsky was elected in recognition of her role l’Académie Royale des Sciences in Paris. It as a pioneer of space infrared astronomy and is an independent organisation whose overall a leader of European physics and astronomy, objective is to foster the sciences, particularly and more particularly, for her seminal contribu- mathematics and the natural sciences. And, tions to the study of star formation in near of course, every year the Academy awards the and distant galaxies, the cosmic infrared back- Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry, the ground, and the confinement and acceleration Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in of cosmic rays. Memory of Alfred Nobel, the Crafoord Prize and a number of other large prizes. It might be Catherine Cesarsky is The US National Academy of Sciences is a pri- worth mentioning that this year’s laureates inducted into the vate, non-profit, self-perpetuating society of the Crafoord Prize are three astronomers: British Royal Society. of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific James Gunn and James Peebles from and engineering research, dedicated to the Princeton University, USA, and Sir Martin Rees furtherance of science and technology and to from the University of Cambridge, UK. their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the On May 27, 2005, Dr. Cesarsky was also elect- has, throughout its history, promoted ex- Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate ed Foreign Member of the British Royal So- cellence in science through its Fellowship and that requires it to advise the federal govern- ciety, thereby joining the 1292 Fellows and Foreign Membership, which has included ment on scientific and technical matters. 132 Foreign Members of the world’s oldest sci- Newton, Montesquieu, Darwin, Rutherford, entific academy in continuous existence. Einstein, Hodgkin, Crick, Watson and Hawking. The Royal Society was founded in 1660 and

68 The Messenger 121 – September 2005