A love of learning about the Moon attracted a sell-out crowd to a unique event organised by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).
The first public event of its kind saw families with young children pack into UCLan’s Observatory at Alston to take part in the We Share The Same Moon project.
The project, to develop resources for teaching science through storytelling, focused on folktales about the Moon. Youngsters listened to stories in the planetarium and got hands-on making a model of the Moon. The weather affected the planned telescope viewing, so the attendees created a human-powered scale model of the solar system instead.
It took place to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing and the fun session was led by Dr Megan Argo, an astrophysics lecturer at UCLan, and professional storyteller Cassandra Wye.
Cassandra said: “We Share The Same Moon is bringing to the UK for the first time the native American sky-lore storytelling tradition of teaching science through story.”
Dr Argo added: “Our project aims to create resources that are useful in informal learning environments, not just school classrooms. This was our first public event where we tested our methodology and I’m delighted to say it was a big success. The enthusiasm of the attendees was excellent, and it was great to see so many young children engaging with the material and asking lots of questions.”
