Teachers' corner

CNES/CSG is confident that it helped increase the knowledge of astronomy through the major events it organised in 2008.

The first major preparatory initiative was a training course in astronomy for schoolteachers, which aimed to stimulate their interest and get them to pass on their newly-acquired knowledge to their pupils.  This resulted in a variety of new teaching materials being produced for their classes, and the information being made available to a much wider audience.

A short video clip also invited them to set up their own astronomy clubs, and six information sheets were produced which described some of the simple experiments shown during the training.  They demonstrated that a polystyrene ball, a sheet of paper, a wooden skewer and a lamp was all that was needed to illustrate the seasons, the length of day and night, their effects on the climate, and so on!