Prevention of light pollution in children of the first cycle of education

A proposal to educate about the importance of caring for our night skies.

 

EDUCATION IN LIGHT POLLUTION PREVENTION

The objective of this educational program is to instill in children of the first basic cycle the importance of protecting our night sky. For this purpose, Professor Víctor Salina Hernández has developed a series of educational capsules available online to facilitate their distribution in schools. The school levels included are Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade, as they focus on exploring the natural environment, the Sun, the seasons of the year, and the planetary system.

 

Víctor Salina Hernández is a geographer from the University of Chile with extensive experience in the development of studies and projects; he is a science communicator and astronomy instructor, having specialized in the subject; he has been trained and updated in pedagogical techniques and ICT; he works as an instructor in astronomy workshops and courses for children, teachers, and preschool educators; he designs and prepares astronomy courses on various platforms; he works as an instructor of astronomy workshops and courses for children in the Department of Astronomy of the FCFM of the U. of Chile since 2012 and has conducted workshops for various institutions, such as Puerto de Ideas Antofagasta, PAR Explora RM, and Fundación EcoScience, among others; he has edited content and designed activities for the Radio Astronomy Manual ‘ALMA in the School’; he develops astronomy tourism with his own equipment in the RM, Elqui Valley, Interior of Maule; and he develops a project integrating astronomy in science and technology in schools in the Maule Region.

Method:

Include a pedagogical capsule in the educational process of children in the levels of Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, First, and Second Grade that draws their attention to the excess of artificial light in cities that threatens the optical quality of the night sky. For this, an educational product (capsule) must be developed that corresponds to the learning objectives of the levels of Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, First, and Second Grade. It is intended that this capsule be transmitted online, either synchronously or asynchronously. This material includes the following resources:

– Three short stories

– Six activities

– Teacher notes for each story and activity

In this case, the story, or tale, is used as a pedagogical resource to stimulate attitudes and acquire concepts; the activities facilitate the appropriation of concepts; and the teacher notes guide and support the work of preschool educators, early childhood education technicians, and guardians. The design and realization of three stories focused on what it means to lose the optical quality of the night sky are considered, and the activities are functional to the stories, as well as the teacher notes.

The delivery formats are:

– Stories in mp4

– Activities in pdf and/or mp4

– Teacher notes in pdf

Summary of stories:

The stars want to tell a story:

Mythology left us the legacy of constellations, and according to their story profile, children are powerfully attracted. This story is structured in this scenario, but emphasizing the difficulties in properly distinguishing the figure of the constellations.

The yacana is worried:

According to the Quechua-Aymara worldview of the indigenous peoples of the Andes, the arm of the Galaxy known as the ‘Milky Way’ is the Great River, where a series of animals are represented by the silhouettes formed by its dark areas; one of the highlights is the llama (yacana, in Quechua and Aymara language), a fundamental animal in the local economy; a legend of these Andean peoples written between 1598 and 1608 in Huarochirí, a mountainous area in central Peru, speaks of it. The story of the capsule focuses on the fact that the excess of artificial light in cities prevents the observation of this important part of the sky.

The Pleiades fall into disuse:

The star cluster The Pleiades is an object of worship for several indigenous peoples, such as the Incas, Rapanui, and Mapuche. They are associated with the successful harvest of their crops and mark the beginning of a series of agricultural activities. The story focuses on their visibility being lost due to light pollution, which is a cause of concern for these cultures.

Activities:

They are cross-craft activities related to the three stories and are of the type:

– Schematic to form constellations

– Making objects using consumable materials

– Painting an image of an astronomical object

– Fanzines of each story

Teacher notes:

– For each of the stories

– For each of the activities

To access the program: https://actividadeducativa.cieloschile.cl/