We will present an innovative way of teaching about Earth and the Universe in compulsory school, based on a phenomenological approach and on the development of transversal and intertwisted pathways between Physics, Astronomy and Earth Sciences. The main aim is to familiarize the students with the idea of a systemic and a dynamic planet interacting with the other celestial bodies. Depending on age, the history of interacting systems is described and interpreted in terms of stories, models, variables and correlations among variables. Students are stimulated to participate through active cooperative work to field observations, data analysis, construction of interpretative models and theories at different levels of formalization. Results of first testing of this teaching proposal in some selected classes (students 6-11 and 11-14 years old) will be discussed

Giordano Martinelli, E.

Onida, M.

Rossi, S.

Enseñanza de las Ciencias Revista de investigación y experiencias didácticas

Revistes Catalanes amb Accés Obert

FROM THE EARTH TO THE UNIVERSE: A TEACHING 
PROPOSAL ABOUT BASIC CONCEPTS IN EARTH SCIENCES
AND ASTRONOMY FOR COMPULSORY SCHOOL.
GIORDANO MARTINELLI, E. (1); ONIDA, M. (2) y ROSSI, S. (3)
(1) Dipartimento di scienze umane per la formazione Riccardo Massa. Università degli studi di
Milano-Bicocca enrica.giordano@unimib.it
(2) Università degli studi di Milano-Bicocca. monica.onida@unimib.it
(3) University of Milano. enrica.giordano@unimib.it
Resumen
We will present an innovative way of teaching about Earth and the Universe in compulsory school, based on
a phenomenological approach and on the development of transversal and intertwisted pathways between
Physics, Astronomy and Earth Sciences. 
The main aim is to familiarize the students with the idea of a systemic and a dynamic planet interacting with
the other celestial bodies. Depending on age, the history of interacting systems is described and interpreted
in terms of stories, models, variables and correlations among variables. Students are stimulated to
participate through active cooperative work to field observations, data analysis, construction of interpretative
models and theories at different levels of  formalization. Results of first testing of this teaching proposal in
some selected classes (students 6-11 and 11-14 years old) will be discussed.
    
The research: framework and main aims
  
The main assumption of our research[1] is that it is possible and necessary to guide the process of
knowledge construction about basic concepts and procedures of science, starting in kindergarten and
VIII CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL SOBRE INVESTIGACIÓN EN LA DIDÁCTICA DE LAS CIENCIAS (ISSN 0212-4521)
http://ensciencias.uab.es
pág 2889
continuing through the all school years. Teachers of different school levels have to guide students along a
coherent longitudinal and transverse path from their initial knowledge toward the scientific one. According to
the “design studies” methodology (Confrey, 2006) the researchers of our group construct “conceptual
corridors”: we re-think the topic to teach, then design pathways about a selected topic pointing out basic
ideas and attitudes (Balzano et al, 2005; Duschl et al, 2007). Researcher -teachers construct “teaching
trajectories” inside the conceptual corridor, so in different classes a variational testing of the initial proposal is
made. Based on data collected in these laboratory-classes a revision of the proposal is made.
  
We present here the results of our rethinking about astronomy and earth sciences for compulsory school
(students 4-14 years old) and the basic steps of the teaching proposal.
  
The fundamental idea that we think has to be constructed, at the appropriate level since kindergarten, is that
the Universe and the Earth planet are unitary dynamics systems composed by various subsystems
characterized by their own properties and their own kinematics / behaviors but at the same time
interdependent and closely interconnected. 
  
We have designed a set of landmarks that can help to guide the student through this conceptual corridor
(Confrey, 2006), starting from learners' prior knowledge and arriving:
  
-         to imagine the Earth interior, different from the outside, determining the nature and disposition of the
geologic bodies and to reconstruct the processes (mainly occurred in the inner of the Earth) that have
formed the geological body that we can see at the surface; 
  
-         to place the events inside a temporal framework (geological/astronomical time); 
  
-         to understand some common geological and celestial phenomena (volcanoes, earthquakes, mountain
formation; night-day cycle, seasons, lunar phases, eclipses) and describe them in terms of the relative
motions, positions and orientations of the Earth, the Moon and the Sun;
  
-         To describe the kinematics of the Solar System in different reference frames;
  
-         To understand the properties of the Solar System Planets and other celestial bodies 
  
-         To introduce first scientific ideas about Universe history and evolution.
  
 
  
Basic approaches and methodology
  
We propose an observation-data collection approach side by side with different forms of
description/representation/interpretation, where students are stimulated to participate through active
cooperative works to the development of ideas and interpretative models, starting from the everyday
experience and from our location on the Earth. (Catalani, Giordano, Rossi, 2008).  
VIII CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL SOBRE INVESTIGACIÓN EN LA DIDÁCTICA DE LAS CIENCIAS (ISSN 0212-4521)
http://ensciencias.uab.es
pág 2890
  
Under a careful mediation by teachers, during the data collection on “near” and “far” objects and the
construction of interpretative models, students can learn to recognize the systems, to describe them in terms
of the main variables (shape, dimension, mass, composition, orbital motion, rotation and revolution periods,
etc) and to find the dynamical relations in time and space between them.  
  
As the celestial and geological events, cause of their complexity, are not directly governable from the man
neither reproducible in laboratory, the observation acquires a fundamental role. The observation needs of
long times (necessary  to recognize the cyclic nature of  the astronomical phenomena), spaces at various
dimensions and instruments that allow to extend our sight and perception in space (inside and outside the
Earth) and in time.
  
 
  
Observations on our planet
  
Working in the environment students are invited to collect, handle and study soil, minerals, rocks and fossils,
recognizing composition, structure and disposition of the components to interpret the way in which the
materials record and conserve trace of the events (the history of the rocks).
  
The construction of three-dimensional static and dynamic models becomes fundamental in order to help to
reproduce not perceptible structures or phenomena. In this way it is possible to lead students towards the
scientific interpretation, on the base of personal "concrete experience", not forcing them to move exclusively
on a abstract plan. The study of rocks or volcanoes, for example, can be proposed to students giving them
geological samples to manipulate and analyze, arranging experiments (like crystallisation) and constructing
dynamic models of eruption, melting, solidification, etc. (Onida & Segalini, 2006). Understanding the volcano
eruption mechanism (or the rocks' formation) should carry students to wonder about the deep origin of the
melted material and of inner energy, motivating them to discover the Earth interior and stimulating them to
put the different parts in a dynamics and causal relationship. 
  
Looking at the sky
  
The astronomical path starts by the naked-eye observations of Sun (with eye protection, Moon and
Stars above the local horizon at different hours of a day and at different days in the year. Then a
geocentric point of view is constructed using models like the “parallel globe[2]” or comparing the
local data with those acquired by students living in other places on the Earth. To pass from the
observational plan to the interpretive one from the geocentric as well as the heliocentric point of
view we suggest to use body-plays, real models and digital supports. 
  
To introduce the idea of formation and evolution of the Universe the narrative style is used.
Assuming  the physical study going on parallel to the astronomical one, the observations of spectra
can be introduced to speak about the Sun and stars composition, the distance-luminosity relation,
the idea of an expanding universe in more and more deep and scientific sense.
  
Conclusions
  
VIII CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL SOBRE INVESTIGACIÓN EN LA DIDÁCTICA DE LAS CIENCIAS (ISSN 0212-4521)
http://ensciencias.uab.es
pág 2891
Both section of the path (astronomical and geological) were designed, then tested in
laboratory-situations as classrooms, stages on the field, courses for teachers’ preparation. The
variational procedure of the design study allowed to construct a conceptual corridor and to suggest
teaching  trajectories with particular attention to longitudinal and transversal coherence among
school years and disciplines. Examples from the teaching trajectories will be presented  to share
methodology and results of our teaching proposal with the international community, to discuss and
to get suggestions for further revisions . 
  
 
  
References
  
Balzano E., De Ambrosis A., Gagliardi M., Giordano E., Guidoni P., Mendella G., Rinaudo G.,
Stefanel L., Tarsitani C., 2005 - A Research on the Conceptual Organisation of Physics’
Curriculum and Standards. Proceedings of Durban Conference July 2004 (edited by D.J.
Grayson), 107-115. 
  
Catalani, Giordano, Rossi – The lunar phases in the middle school – Nuovo Cimento B, Vol. 122,
Issue 06-07 pp. 813-822 , Published on-line April 2008
  
Confrey, J., 2006 – The evolution of design studies as methodology. In: The Cambridge Handbook
of The learning Sciences, edited by R. Keith Sawyer, Cambridge University Press. 
  
R. A. Duschl, H. A. Schweingruber,and A.W. Shouse, Editors, Taking Science to School: Learning
and Teaching Science in Grades K-8. The National Academies  Press, Washington,  DC 2007
  
Onida, Segalini, Investigación didàctica en la escuela primaria: una experiencia sobre los fenó
menos volcanicos Enseñanza de las Ciencias de la Tierra, 14.3, 247-258, 2006
  
  
      
[1]      national project Fis21 funded by the Italian Ministry of Education 2006-2007
      
[2]      a globe with the rotation axis oriented toward the North celestial pole seen from the
observation location, so to be parallel to the axis of the celestial sphere around the observer.
      
CITACIÓN
GIORDANO, E.; ONIDA, M. y ROSSI, S. (2009). From the earth to the universe: a teaching  proposal about basic
concepts in earth sciences and astronomy for compulsory school.. Enseñanza de las Ciencias, Número Extra VIII
Congreso Internacional sobre Investigación en Didáctica de las Ciencias, Barcelona, pp. 2889-2892
http://ensciencias.uab.es/congreso09/numeroextra/art-2889-2892.pdf
VIII CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL SOBRE INVESTIGACIÓN EN LA DIDÁCTICA DE LAS CIENCIAS (ISSN 0212-4521)
http://ensciencias.uab.es
pág 2892


From the earth to the universe : a teaching proposal about basic concepts in Earth Sciences and Astronomy for Compulsory School

Diposit Digital de Documents de la UAB

FROM THE EARTH TO THE UNIVERSE: A TEACHING PROPOSAL ABOUT BASIC CONCEPTS IN EARTH SCIENCESAND ASTRONOMY FOR COMPULSORY SCHOOL.GIORDANO MARTINELLI, E. (1); ONIDA, M. (2) y ROSSI, S. (3)(1) Dipartimento di scienze umane per la formazione Riccardo Massa. Università degli studi diMilano-Bicocca enrica.giordano@unimib.it(2) Università degli studi di Milano-Bicocca. monica.onida@unimib.it(3) University of Milano. enrica.giordano@unimib.itResumenWe will present an innovative way of teaching about Earth and the Universe in compulsory school, based ona phenomenological approach and on the development of transversal and intertwisted pathways betweenPhysics, Astronomy and Earth Sciences. The main aim is to familiarize the students with the idea of a systemic and a dynamic planet interacting withthe other celestial bodies. Depending on age, the history of interacting systems is described and interpretedin terms of stories, models, variables and correlations among variables. Students are stimulated toparticipate through active cooperative work to field observations, data analysis, construction of interpretativemodels and theories at different levels of  formalization. Results of first testing of this teaching proposal insome selected classes (students 6-11 and 11-14 years old) will be discussed.    The research: framework and main aims  The main assumption of our research[1] is that it is possible and necessary to guide the process ofknowledge construction about basic concepts and procedures of science, starting in kindergarten andVIII CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL SOBRE INVESTIGACIÓN EN LA DIDÁCTICA DE LAS CIENCIAS (ISSN 0212-4521)http://ensciencias.uab.espág 2889continuing through the all school years. Teachers of different school levels have to guide students along acoherent longitudinal and transverse path from their initial knowledge toward the scientific one. According tothe “design studies” methodology (Confrey, 2006) the researchers of our group construct “conceptualcorridors”: we re-think the topic to teach, then design pathways about a selected topic pointing out basicideas and attitudes (Balzano et al, 2005; Duschl et al, 2007). Researcher -teachers construct “teachingtrajectories” inside the conceptual corridor, so in different classes a variational testing of the initial proposal ismade. Based on data collected in these laboratory-classes a revision of the proposal is made.  We present here the results of our rethinking about astronomy and earth sciences for compulsory school(students 4-14 years old) and the basic steps of the teaching proposal.  The fundamental idea that we think has to be constructed, at the appropriate level since kindergarten, is thatthe Universe and the Earth planet are unitary dynamics systems composed by various subsystemscharacterized by their own properties and their own kinematics / behaviors but at the same timeinterdependent and closely interconnected.   We have designed a set of landmarks that can help to guide the student through this conceptual corridor(Confrey, 2006), starting from learners' prior knowledge and arriving:  -         to imagine the Earth interior, different from the outside, determining the nature and disposition of thegeologic bodies and to reconstruct the processes (mainly occurred in the inner of the Earth) that haveformed the geological body that we can see at the surface;   -         to place the events inside a temporal framework (geological/astronomical time);   -         to understand some common geological and celestial phenomena (volcanoes, earthquakes, mountainformation; night-day cycle, seasons, lunar phases, eclipses) and describe them in terms of the relativemotions, positions and orientations of the Earth, the Moon and the Sun;  -         To describe the kinematics of the Solar System in different reference frames;  -         To understand the properties of the Solar System Planets and other celestial bodies   -         To introduce first scientific ideas about Universe history and evolution.     Basic approaches and methodology  We propose an observation-data collection approach side by side with different forms ofdescription/representation/interpretation, where students are stimulated to participate through activecooperative works to the development of ideas and interpretative models, starting from the everydayexperience and from our location on the Earth. (Catalani, Giordano, Rossi, 2008).  VIII CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL SOBRE INVESTIGACIÓN EN LA DIDÁCTICA DE LAS CIENCIAS (ISSN 0212-4521)http://ensciencias.uab.espág 2890  Under a careful mediation by teachers, during the data collection on “near” and “far” objects and theconstruction of interpretative models, students can learn to recognize the systems, to describe them in termsof the main variables (shape, dimension, mass, composition, orbital motion, rotation and revolution periods,etc) and to find the dynamical relations in time and space between them.    As the celestial and geological events, cause of their complexity, are not directly governable from the manneither reproducible in laboratory, the observation acquires a fundamental role. The observation needs oflong times (necessary  to recognize the cyclic nature of  the astronomical phenomena), spaces at variousdimensions and instruments that allow to extend our sight and perception in space (inside and outside theEarth) and in time.     Observations on our planet  Working in the environment students are invited to collect, handle and study soil, minerals, rocks and fossils,recognizing composition, structure and disposition of the components to interpret the way in which thematerials record and conserve trace of the events (the history of the rocks).  The construction of three-dimensional static and dynamic models becomes fundamental in order to help toreproduce not perceptible structures or phenomena. In this way it is possible to lead students towards thescientific interpretation, on the base of personal "concrete experience", not forcing them to move exclusivelyon a abstract plan. The study of rocks or volcanoes, for example, can be proposed to students giving themgeological samples to manipulate and analyze, arranging experiments (like crystallisation) and constructingdynamic models of eruption, melting, solidification, etc. (Onida & Segalini, 2006). Understanding the volcanoeruption mechanism (or the rocks' formation) should carry students to wonder about the deep origin of themelted material and of inner energy, motivating them to discover the Earth interior and stimulating them toput the different parts in a dynamics and causal relationship.   Looking at the sky  The astronomical path starts by the naked-eye observations of Sun (with eye protection, Moon andStars above the local horizon at different hours of a day and at different days in the year. Then ageocentric point of view is constructed using models like the “parallel globe[2]” or comparing thelocal data with those acquired by students living in other places on the Earth. To pass from theobservational plan to the interpretive one from the geocentric as well as the heliocentric point ofview we suggest to use body-plays, real models and digital supports.   To introduce the idea of formation and evolution of the Universe the narrative style is used.Assuming  the physical study going on parallel to the astronomical one, the observations of spectracan be introduced to speak about the Sun and stars composition, the distance-luminosity relation,the idea of an expanding universe in more and more deep and scientific sense.  Conclusions  VIII CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL SOBRE INVESTIGACIÓN EN LA DIDÁCTICA DE LAS CIENCIAS (ISSN 0212-4521)http://ensciencias.uab.espág 2891Both section of the path (astronomical and geological) were designed, then tested inlaboratory-situations as classrooms, stages on the field, courses for teachers’ preparation. Thevariational procedure of the design study allowed to construct a conceptual corridor and to suggestteaching  trajectories with particular attention to longitudinal and transversal coherence amongschool years and disciplines. Examples from the teaching trajectories will be presented  to sharemethodology and results of our teaching proposal with the international community, to discuss andto get suggestions for further revisions .      References  Balzano E., De Ambrosis A., Gagliardi M., Giordano E., Guidoni P., Mendella G., Rinaudo G.,Stefanel L., Tarsitani C., 2005 - A Research on the Conceptual Organisation of Physics’Curriculum and Standards. Proceedings of Durban Conference July 2004 (edited by D.J.Grayson), 107-115.   Catalani, Giordano, Rossi – The lunar phases in the middle school – Nuovo Cimento B, Vol. 122,Issue 06-07 pp. 813-822 , Published on-line April 2008  Confrey, J., 2006 – The evolution of design studies as methodology. In: The Cambridge Handbookof The learning Sciences, edited by R. Keith Sawyer, Cambridge University Press.   R. A. Duschl, H. A. Schweingruber,and A.W. Shouse, Editors, Taking Science to School: Learningand Teaching Science in Grades K-8. The National Academies  Press, Washington,  DC 2007  Onida, Segalini, Investigación didàctica en la escuela primaria: una experiencia sobre los fenómenos volcanicos Enseñanza de las Ciencias de la Tierra, 14.3, 247-258, 2006          [1]      national project Fis21 funded by the Italian Ministry of Education 2006-2007      [2]      a globe with the rotation axis oriented toward the North celestial pole seen from theobservation location, so to be parallel to the axis of the celestial sphere around the observer.      CITACIÓNGIORDANO, E.; ONIDA, M. y ROSSI, S. (2009). From the earth to the universe: a teaching  proposal about basicconcepts in earth sciences and astronomy for compulsory school.. Enseñanza de las Ciencias, Número Extra VIIICongreso Internacional sobre Investigación en Didáctica de las Ciencias, Barcelona, pp. 2889-2892http://ensciencias.uab.es/congreso09/numeroextra/art-2889-2892.pdfVIII CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL SOBRE INVESTIGACIÓN EN LA DIDÁCTICA DE LAS CIENCIAS (ISSN 0212-4521)http://ensciencias.uab.espág 2892

From the earth to the universe : a teaching proposal about basic concepts in Earth Sciences and Astronomy for Compulsory School

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