Visita all’osservatorio astronomico

Visiting the astronomical observatory is the occasion of a cultural growth. This visit, to be effective and incisive, must be prepared, before and during the course of it, by dealing with some basic contents. These should be selected according to a triple reference: the pupils’ naive theories, their mental processes and the historical contexts responsible of building the scientific knowledge. We have therefore selected the following contents: the sky moves, the mountains of the moon, stars and planets. A specially arranged questionnaire will have the purpose of testing the pupils’ preknowledge on the nocturnal motion of heavenly bodies. The reading of passages taken from “Sidereus Nuncius” will put the astronomical observation into context.