Contextualization

Sky observation is a practice as old as humanity itself. Since ancient times, humans sought to understand the movements of the Celestial Bodies - Sun, Moon, stars, and planets - trying to relate them to everyday phenomena. Even though many of these questions have been clarified by science nowadays, the study of Celestial Bodies' movements remains fundamental both for understanding basic astronomy concepts and for our comprehension of the universe.

The movements of Celestial Bodies can be clearly perceived when observing the sky over a period of time. For example, we can notice the Sun's change in position during the day, the Moon's appearance at night, and the emergence of stars and constellations at different times of the year.

Theoretical Introduction

The movement of Celestial Bodies is caused by the Earth's rotation, which is the spin our planet makes around its own axis. This rotation is responsible for day and night and takes approximately 24 hours to complete. The other movement that Earth performs is translation, which is the journey our planet takes around the Sun and takes about 365 days and 6 hours to complete. This movement is responsible for the seasons.

In addition to Earth's rotation and translation movement, we can also observe the movement of other Celestial Bodies. The Moon, for example, performs a rotation movement around its axis and a translation movement around Earth, which are responsible for the Moon phases.

Planets also perform rotation and translation movements, but since they are at different distances from the Sun, the time it takes to complete these movements varies. Furthermore, each planet has a different axis inclination, which causes differences in the behavior of the seasons and in the duration of day and night.

Practical Activity

AstroMobiles - Understanding Celestial Movements

Project Objective

This project aims to:

1. Allow students to explore and understand key concepts related to Celestial Bodies' movements.
2. Develop teamwork, time management, problem-solving, and creative thinking skills.

Detailed Description

Students, divided into groups of 3 to 5, will build models of Celestial Bodies (Earth, Moon, Sun) and simulate rotation and translation movements. The students will create an observation diary, recording the position changes of the models during the day. As an integral part of the project, students will be encouraged to create creative stories involving the Celestial Bodies of their models to be told in presentations to the class.

Required Materials

• Styrofoam balls of different sizes
• Barbecue sticks
• Paints of different colors
• Cardboard
• Lamp (representing the Sun in the model)
• Paper and pen for the observation diary

Detailed Step-by-Step

1. Each group should paint the Styrofoam balls representing Earth, Moon, and other planets.
2. Barbecue sticks will be used to fix the Celestial Bodies on the cardboard and allow them to rotate, simulating the rotation movement.
3. After assembling the model, students should position the lamp to simulate the Sun's light shining on the Celestial Bodies.
4. During a week, students must record in a diary the observed movements in their model, noting the position changes of Earth, Moon, and other planets in relation to the Sun (lamp).
5. Based on their observations, each group should create a story involving the Celestial Bodies of their models. This story will be presented to the class at the end of the project.
6. The project report should be prepared, describing the process, explaining the theoretical concepts involved, and presenting the conclusions reached.

Project Deliverables

Groups must deliver the built model, the filled observation diary, and perform a presentation of their story to the class. Additionally, they must also submit a written project report.

Written Report

The report should follow the standard format with:

• Introduction: should address the relevance of studying Celestial Bodies' movements, with a brief description of the theoretical concepts involved.
• Development: should describe the activity carried out, with a detailed explanation of how the model was built and how these activities helped in understanding the studied concepts. It should include the methodology, the description of each project step, the created story, the presentation, and the observation diary.
• Conclusions: summarize the main points worked on, the learnings and results obtained, and how the project aided in understanding Celestial Bodies' movements.
• Bibliography: references of the sources consulted for the project, books, websites, videos, among others.

Through this activity, it is expected that students can better understand Celestial Bodies' movements, as well as develop skills such as teamwork, time management, critical thinking, and creativity.