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Hello, my name is Kathryn Christy, and I am a pre-service educator in my senior year of my undergraduate education.
An aspect of earth and space science I have always found fascinating is stargazing, observing the night sky and all of the wonders in the universe located above the Earth’s surface. Stargazing would provide students with an applicable experience related to the knowledge learned in the classroom, based on Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). NGSS features multiple standards across various grades K-12 regarding space science, so stargazing could be implemented at a variety of levels and varying degrees.
I intend to teach students at the middle level (5th-8th grade) and I want to implement a stargazing opportunity, connecting literacy and science together, with an intentional opportunity for experiential learning outside the classroom walls. However, I have multiple questions about the feasibility of achieving the experience. I have listed a few of them below.
- How does an educator navigate a lesson taking place outside of normal school hours?
- Dependent on location of school, what steps need to happen for the stargazing experience to take place in a non-light polluted, safe area?
- How, as an educator, can I acknowledge and respect the diverse cultural perspectives when studying the night sky?
- I am struggling with determining if stargazing is an equitable experience being provided to students, due to varying conflicts that could impede a student being able to come (ex. scheduling, guardian’s choice, financial, etc.). How could the stargazing experience be modified or specified to be more inclusive for all students?
Thank you for your time and responses to my questions.
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