Italy and South Africa Under the Same Sky

EU-UNAWE Italy travelled to South Africa this summer to help the country celebrate its National Space Week. The Italian team held activities at five different schools, reaching almost 600 students and 20 educators.
The exchange visit provided opportunities for pupils and teachers to develop and improve their knowledge of science, in particular Astronomy. Educators improved their teaching methods, while students learnt in an interactive and fun-filled manner that stayed in line with the National Curriculum.
Activities kicked off on 30 July with a question and answer session held by Shazrene Mohamed, an astronomer from the South African Observatory. Students had the opportunity to clear up any astronomical myths they might have heard or read. As a female astronomer, Shazrene helped to dispel the wide-spread idea that astronomers are all male, hopefully inspiring some of the almost 300 girls in attendance to follow a career in astronomy.
Pupils were then invited to a planetarium show, this was the first time inside a planetarium for all of the children. During the show they observed the southern sky and some of the most famous constellations (Crux, Orion and Scorpio). Using Italian puppet theatre techniques and myths collected by the UNAWE South Africa team ...