05-14-2019, 04:54 PM
A primer on astronomy literacy
This isn't directly related to the MK observatories, but their staff does a lot of outreach on the island as do other observatories around the world in their locations. These guys have proposed what astronomy literacy might mean and thought some here might be interested given how important the Big Island is to international astronomy.
From https://phys.org/news/2019-05-blocks-ast...izens.html
"Throughout history, astronomy has revolutionised the way humankind sees its place in the universe, from knowing only a handful of planets in the solar system, to the billions of galaxies currently known. But to what extent has this knowledge been integrated into society? The International Astronomical Union (IAU) wanted to find a way to determine how astronomically literate the public is. But before it is possible to assess this, you need to determine what literacy means: What should citizens, anywhere on the planet, know about astronomy? For that reason on 3 May, they published the first global astronomy literacy document, titled "Big Ideas in Astronomy: A Proposed Definition of Astronomy Literacy." Russo was one of the leaders of the project."
The first attempt to create a definition and description of astronomical literacy is here:
https://www.iau.org/static/archives/anno...19029a.pdf
It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but think it's a good start.
This isn't directly related to the MK observatories, but their staff does a lot of outreach on the island as do other observatories around the world in their locations. These guys have proposed what astronomy literacy might mean and thought some here might be interested given how important the Big Island is to international astronomy.
From https://phys.org/news/2019-05-blocks-ast...izens.html
"Throughout history, astronomy has revolutionised the way humankind sees its place in the universe, from knowing only a handful of planets in the solar system, to the billions of galaxies currently known. But to what extent has this knowledge been integrated into society? The International Astronomical Union (IAU) wanted to find a way to determine how astronomically literate the public is. But before it is possible to assess this, you need to determine what literacy means: What should citizens, anywhere on the planet, know about astronomy? For that reason on 3 May, they published the first global astronomy literacy document, titled "Big Ideas in Astronomy: A Proposed Definition of Astronomy Literacy." Russo was one of the leaders of the project."
The first attempt to create a definition and description of astronomical literacy is here:
https://www.iau.org/static/archives/anno...19029a.pdf
It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but think it's a good start.