On 22 June 2011, 25 (twenty-five)enthusiastic primary school teachers attended the first EU-UNAWE teacher training workshop in the Netherlands. The workshop was held at the Pedagogic Academy 'de Magneet' in Groningen. The workshop's main goal was to inspire teachers to use astronomy in the classroom.
While enjoying lunch, the teachers listened to Peter Barthel, professor of Astronomy at the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute at the Royal University of Groningen (RUG).Barthel kicked off the event by giving an inspiring and humorous talk called “the Universe in a nut-shell” (you can find it over HERE). Afterwards, the teachers were given the opportunity to attend one of four different workshops:'Day and Night on Planets', 'The Structure of the Universe', 'The Four Seasons' and 'Solar and Lunar Eclipses'. Each workshop provided different hands-on activities and resources that could be easily implemented in the classroom
After almost two hours of cutting, pasting, drawing, crafting, laughing, listening, asking and answering, the first teacher training workshop of EUNAWE-Netherlands came to a close. The event was a big success overall, and hopefully it really opened up the field of astronomy for these teachers. Many of them have already expressed great interest in bringing these resources into their classrooms and incorporating astronomy into their curricula.
This workshop was made possible by the support from the Hanze Hogeschool and the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute at the University of Groningen. As a follow-up to this event, the teachers will visit one of the famous Dutch radio telescopes in the province of Drenthe.
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