In Earth and Cosmos for Term 3, we are continuing our explorations of our Earth and its position in space. This leads us to a more mathematical lens using the Planetarium software Stellarium, and trigonometry to understand the size and location of our Earth.
Week 1 saw our students recreate an experiment conducted by Eratosthenes from 240BC where he determined the circumference of the Earth using nothing more than the sun, a stick and an obliging man to walk the distance between Aswan and Alexandria!
Using Stellarium students were able to ‘travel in time’ to determine the zenith angle of the sun at this point, and determine that indeed, Eratosthenes was very close to the exact circumference of our planet. We also explored the hypothesis of how First Nations Peoples’ careful observations and recording of phenomenon such as sun sets across the year provided accurate indicators of the movement of Earth relative to the sun between the summer and winter solstices.
Week 2 sees us delve deeper into the Big Idea of ‘Why here?’ with students investigating a factor that was vital for the development of life on Earth in preparation for their collaborative challenge in Week 3. This challenge will conclude, Module 1 and halfway through Week 3 will see us move to Module 2, exploring the idea of ‘What’s out there?’