Yesterday saw the start of the 10th International School Astronomy Education Adventure in the Canary Islands (AEACI 2024) which will be celebrated during the full week in the IACTEC building in La Laguna (Tenerife), and which 65 teachers from 23 countries are attending. This school, organized by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) together with other scientific and educational institutions, has reached its tenth anniversary, and has given training in the teaching of astronomy to 600 teachers from all over the world.
With the title “Explore the Universe with us” the AEACI 2024 has invited educators at all levels and disciplines to attend, from 22nd to 26th July 2024 a unique educational experience which integrates astronomy into the fields of science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics (STEAM).
This commemorative edition will make a revision of the subjects which have been central to the previous editions, and will also present new perspectives and resources linked to the curricula of Primary and Secondary education, with the aim of enhancing educational practice, and building interest among the students in the STEAM subjects.
The school was inaugurated by Valentín Martinez Pillet director of the IAC, who stressed the importance of collaboration between scientific and educational institutions. ”Fort he IAC this type of events is fundamental because they connect us with the educational community, in particular, at international level. By reaching out to schools with research we are sewing the seeds of curiosity and knowledge. Events such as this are essential to inspire the new generations to explore the exciting world of research, and to build a more scientifically informed society."
During the 32 hours of training the participants will be able to learn the use of robotic telescopes to carry out research project with their students, to gain access to resources and laboratories on-ine in order to practice with real astronomical data, and to visit the installations of the IAC and the Canary observatories where they will be able to observe the stars under one of the best skies in the world. In addition they will learn directly from IAC personnel about the most recent advances in research on asteroids, binary systems containing black holes, and neutron stars, supernovae, and exoplanets.
“Our objective is that those attending the course will be able to take their knowledge and their acquired tools, and also methodology of active leaning, and appply these to their teaching. This will allow them to bring research and exploration of the universe to their students in a practical and stimulating way” explains Nayra Rodríguez Eugenio, Director of the AEACI.
The international character of the school, which is taught in English, aims at giving the participants an excellent opportunity to set up links with teachers in other countries, which will favour future collaborations for developing educational projects together, and exchange schemes.
The school is partly funded by the IAC's Scientific Communication and Culture Unit (UC3) and is part of its Proyecto Educativo con Telescopios Robóticos (PETeR) and the European project Galileo Teacher Training Program. It is carried out in collaboration with the Núcleo Interactivo de Astronomia (NUCLIO; Portugal), the Faulkes Telescope Project (United Kingdom), The Schools’ Observatory (United Kingdom), the educational initiative Cooperation through Education in Science and Astronomy Research (ESA, ISDEFE e INTA; España) and the projects New Robotic Telescope (IAC), CosmoLAB (IAC, Cabildo de Tenerife) y Planet Change (IAC, Comisión Europea), all of them designed to promote interest in STEAM subjects, and scientific/technological careers via Astronomy and relate dareas.
More information:
Contacts: Nayra Rodríguez Eugenio y Alejandra Goded Merino (peter [at] iac.es (peter[at]iac[dot]es))
