Peering through
your telescope, you gaze up at the sky on a crisp, clear night.
The stars are lighting up the sky like city lights in a metropolis.
As you focus on Polaris, the North Star, suddenly a huge ball
of light with a streaking tail heads towards your telescope.
Is it a missile or UFO? You check the telescope’s lenses
but they are crystal clear. As you look back into the telescope,
you realize that the ball of light is heading towards Earth!
It keeps moving closer…and closer. Just when it seems
that the bright ball will impact Earth, it disappears like
dust in the wind. Space dust, that is.
For children in places such as Millesburg
Ohio, everything in outer space seems new and exciting
to them. Activities such as watching Baby Galileo Discovering
the Sky DVD can introduce a whole new world to your tots.
This outstanding DVD is named after one of history’s
greatest astronomers. His full name was Galileo Galilei, but
you can call him Galileo.
Jumping Jupiter!
Galileo was first interested in medicine, and then in mathematics.
Within time, he became the first person to use the refracting
telescope for the purpose of gazing at the heavens. Refraction
happens when light bends at a certain point, such as when
it enters water.
One day Galileo realized that Jupiter’s
moons were circling that planet, rather than Earth! This was
evidence that Earth was not the center of the universe, as
nearly everyone believed at the time. Galileo was often criticized
for his theories that opposed the views of the ancient Greek
Aristotle. In fact, Galileo was declared an enemy of the Catholic
Church, and was forced to publicly reject his theories. But
in 1993, the Vatican officially declared that Galileo’s
work was indeed valid.
Stars, planets, and moon ice cream
How can you make the stars as fascinating for your child in
Berlin Ohio or other locations, as they were for Galileo?
Try these activities:
1. Subscribe to science magazines
or watch TV shows about outer space. These can be excellent
teaching tools for kids, and the best part is that they are
fun to flip through or watch.
2. Whip up some tasty moon ice cream:
• Put ¼ cup of ice cream
into a small plastic bag.
• Completely seal the small bag
• Put the small bag into a larger plastic bag
• Add ¼ cup of rock salt and about 2 cups of
crushed ice
• Zip up the large bag
• Shake the large bag for 10 minutes. When the blend
in the small bag becomes thicker, remove it from the larger
bag, and enjoy!
3. Visit a planetarium in Berlin
Ohio or wherever you live. Planetariums are the next-best-thing
to viewing the actual stars and planets in person. Like me,
you may have fond memories of visiting planetariums as a youngster.
They really make what you read about in schoolbooks, come
to life.
4. For pre-schoolers, including those
in Berlin Ohio, start with the basics of astronomy. Read poems
or nursery rhymes to your children about the moon, stars,
and planets. On a clear night, sit outside on lawn chair or
blank. Talk about the moon and the face of the “man
on the moon.” Also, discuss the differences between
stars and planets.
5. When camping in Berlin Ohio or
another place, look up the stars, and locate different constellations.
Have children “discover” their own constellations,
and then create names and legends about them.
Whether your child lives in Berlin
Ohio Loding or Berlin, Germany, astronomy provides an
excellent way to teach your child about his or her universe.
The sky’s not the limit for your child’s education! |
