Access the full demonstrator in the Inspiring Science Education website. You can also download the PDF.
Short description
Students calculate the astronomical unit using pictures from the transit of Venus in 2004.
Age of the students
15-18
Duration
:3-4hrs
Educational objectives
Cognitive
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Affective
–
Psychomotor
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Links to the curricula of each country
Cognitive Objectives
- To learn the three measurement units of distances in space, and why they are useful.
- To know for every measurement unit the distance in space that defines it.
- To know the method of parallax and how astronomers use it to measure distances.
- To learn what a Venus transit is and why it does not happen often.
- To learn how scientists of the 18th century managed to calculate the astronomical unit.
- To become familiar with the scale of distances that astronomers deal with.
- To recognize the capability of scientists to adapt some methods (in this case the parallax) to different context and purpose.
- To learn about the existence of experimental errors and that they are part of the process. The errors do not occur because they did something wrong.
Affective
- To understand the importance of cooperation in Astronomy and science in general.
- To understand the importance of technology’s evolution in science.
Psychomotor
- To be able to use a pixel ruler software to calculate distances in an image.
Tools used
Soon.