Print friendly version

Lesson ideas

Good Heavens

Students will look at the history of science to identify some of the scientific ideas that different cultures have contributed to science throughout history, to describe, using examples, ideas developed by different cultures to explain the world around them, to explore some models and theories that have been considered in science and then modified or rejected as a result of available evidence and discuss examples where societal, religious or ethical values have had an impact on scientific developments.

Many cultures - past and present have ascribed religious and cultural significance to the moon and its behaviour. Almost every culture on earth has its own legends about the moon and its influence on their people and their behaviour. The science syllabus embraces not only the beginnings of scientific ideas through observation, but the contributions that have been made by the different cultures on earth, through their observations and folklore. In this series of activities, students will be introduced to the topic through the myths and legends of several different cultures. These activities are not a complete topic but are intended to show how a science unit can be rich in multicultural/ anti racism perspectives.

1. Download the Five moon legends worksheet or select other relevant myths from library collections.
In groups of five:
Each group member receives a different legend to read and take notes.
After ten minutes, each student presents their legend or myth to the group and identifies the natural phenomena on which it is based.
With the whole class:
Each student selects their favourite myth, reads it, makes notes on it, and for homework, paraphrases it without the support of the original document.
In the next lesson, as an exercise in creative writing, students construct their own story of the moon the earth and the planets.
In addition, they are asked to write down their observations, i.e. the factual basis upon which their story is based.

2. Students study either a globe, or a map of the earth and identify the north and south pole, the equator, the northern and southern hemisphere and list a number of countries from each of the two hemispheres.
Students observe a model of the sun, earth moon system (either in printed form, electronically, or a built model) and use this model to explain the occurrence of :-
night and day
length of a year
length of a month
the tides
Students plot a graph from a tide table, showing how tides vary with the time of the month.

1. Students research and study some timekeeping methods as used by the ancient Greeks, Romans and Arabs
2. Students select a country from the list and research the climate of that country. Students then associate the climate with its position on earth and account for it in scientific terms.
3. Students make observations of the phases of the moon over a one month period and present their results in the form of a table, showing dates against diagrams of the moon's appearance.

Education Encyclopedia
Interactive Atlas of World Astronomy
Geoscience Australia/ Astronomical Information
Windows to the Universe