Introductory presentation by UNAWE International Project Manager Pedro Russo at the UNAWE International Workshop 2015 in Leiden, the Netherlands from 5 - 9 October 2015.

1. Inspiring every child with
our wonderful cosmos

3. Astro
nomy!
OPTICS !
High-
precision
adaptive
optics!
COMPUTERS !
Fastest
hardware
Complex
software !
ELECTRONICS !
Most sensitive
detectors
Fastest clocks!
SPACE
Satellites
Miniaturizati
on Precision!
PHYSICS !
Laboratory of
extremes
Making heavy
elements !
CHEMISTRY!
Producing
organic
molecules!
BIOLOGY!
Building
blocks of life!
MATHEM-
ATICS
Abstract
thought!
!
INSPIRATION!
Career in
science and
technology!
ANTHRO-
POLOGY
Ancient
civilizations !
Our roots!
HISTORY!
Evolution of
Universe !
Our roots !
PERSPECTIV
E !
Tolerance
and global
citizenship!
Technology
& Skills
Science &
Research
Culture
& Society
Miley et al. 2009

4. Interest in Astronomy
2010 Rose Project
”Space: life, wonder, openness”
The most popular subject (for girls
and boys)
Elster et al. 2010

5. !Use perspective, inspiration and fun of astronomy to:
! Introduce young children from disadvantaged
backgrounds to the excitement of science
! Enhance their understanding of the world and
demonstrate the power of critical thinking
! Broaden children’s minds
! Stimulate world citizenship
Universe Awareness

6. Universe
Awareness
International
Network
Educational
Resources
Teacher
Training Evaluation

7. UNAWE: Network
53 Countries
1000 Educators,
Teachers & Astronomers

10. Universe Awareness Workshop 2012
Stats:
• 55 participants
• 28 countries
• 3 Members of National and European Parliaments
Main Aspects
• Curricula for Different Ages: Suitable resource packages
should be provided at various levels: e.g.: UNAWE Universe
in a Box
• Evaluation: Develop a UNAWE evaluation quick guide
• Educational Resources: Peer review platform
• Culture in Astronomy Education: Activity list for cultural
aspects

12. Universe Awareness Workshop 2015
Twitter: #unawe2015
Partners:
• European Space Agency
• H2020 Space Awareness
• FP7 Teaching Enquiry with Mysteries Incorporated
• World Space Week 2015

13. Social Programme
Tours
• City Tour I: Today, 14:30 – 16:00 (max 30) – Registration!
• City Tour II: Today, 16:00 – 17:30 (max 30) – Registration!
• Old Observatory: Today, 17:45 – 18:45
• Workshop Dinner
• Thursday, 18:30 / Oude Leyden
Movie Night: The Martian 3D (in OV English w/ Dutch subtitles)
– Registration!
• Tuesday, 21:30
• Ticket price: 10 EUR

14. Student Ambassador Programme
• Students with different backgrounds
• 124 Students from 40 countries
• Main activities:
• Activities in primary schools
• Translation support
• Quick Start Guide
• www.unawe.org/ambassadors/

16. Communication
Learning, doing and improving–together

17. Building Blocks for the UNAWE Communication
POST: Spark new ideas, conversations and actions.
DO: Discovery good resources, contacts and ideas to use and
implement.
SHARE and CONNECT:Through social networks, on-line
platforms, networks, etc..
Communication

18. Number of news updates: 351 )~2/3 update/week(
Number of press releases: 8
Number of Resources: 170
Communication

19. ! Online resources: open-source
(creative commons license)
! ~100 educational resources
(from activity plans to books)
! August 2011: Science Magazine’s
SPORE (Science Prize for Online
Resources in Education) Award
UNAWE: Resources

20. Earth Ball
• 10 000 Distributed to
schools and teachers
• 57 Different countries

21. Spacey Book
(in English and Dutch)
•16 Asylum Centers
• 220 Primary Schools.

22. Cosmos in Your Pocket
21 000 Distributed
17 Different languages

23. ! Astronomy news service for children
aged 8+ in collaboration with ESO, NASA
Chandra, Europlanet, ASTRON, RAS, ...
! Share with children the excitement that
the latest scientific discoveries bring
! Demonstrate that there is still much to
learn about the Universe (research that
they could contribute to in the future)
! 274 Space Scoops since March 2011
! Translations in 23 languages (3000
texts!)
! Distributed by AAAS Science EurekAlert!,
national newspapers and magazines.
UNAWE: Space Scoop

24. ! Introduce radioastronomy to young
children (8-12 years old)
The Invisible Universe

26. UNAWE: Universe in a Box
! Educational Kit Modular and
Customizable
! Low-cost Materials
! Localizable by the UNAWE Network
! Easy to Reproduce
! Distribution of 900 boxes through
UNAWE network
Ramchandani, Ashton, Russo et al. 2014

28. Universe in a Box is an educational kit to assist teachers and educators
in bringing astronomy and space sciences to 4-10 year old children
around the world.

32. UNAWE: Universe in a Box

33. open-access platform for
peer-reviewed astronomy
education activities
International
Astronomical
Union

34. What is astroEDU?
astroEDU makes the best astronomy activities
accessible to educators around the world.
astroEDU is the first, open-access platform of peer-
reviewed astronomy educational activities.
astroEDU is a platform for educators to discover, review,
distribute, improve, and remix educational astronomy
activities.

35. astroEDU Peer Review
• Educator
• Astronomer

41. Since 2014:
• 11,511: ALL-TIME VIEWS
• 2,771: ALL-TIME DOWNLOADS
Since 2014: 170 resources
(highest number of resources by a
project )
Since 2014: 170 resources

46. ! Multiple teacher trainings per country
each year.
! Pre-service training
! Curriculum relevant
! Give teachers confidence through
hands-on astronomy activities
! ~ 30 teachers per session
! From 2011 to 2014 UNAWE trained
more than 7 000 teachers .
! Reached more than 65 0000 children
indirectly
UNAWE: Teacher Training

47. Evaluation
Kimble, Russo et al. 2012.

49. http://unawe.org/resources/posters/UNAWE_Poster_13/

50. Universe Awareness or Space Awareness?
• Complementary projects
• Space Awareness targets children & teenagers
(including their reachers and parents)
• Space Awareness is a programme with a
limited time scope: 2015 - 2018
• Very focused on Science & Technology careers.
• All the Space Awareness activities targeted to
children are Universe Awareness activities

51. Challenges for next years
• Funding
• Evaluation
• Resources development
• Some news about Space Scoop
• UNAWE Teacher Training Syllabus