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Tuesday 2 September 2008

Astronomy For Kids.....

Can we make astronomy for children an easy subject?

What is astronomy?
 
Children ask this question while we say something about space or physics. Astronomy is a branch of physics. It studies about the celestial bodies. Most of the children love to learn this science because it induces the curiosity. A good teacher can use astronomy for kids to teach them how to read and understand science; perhaps astronomy can be considered as the window to the world of science. Stars, comets, satellite, solar system etc. always finds a place in the imagination of a kid.

Most of the kids may wonder when they realize the 'size' of the universe. Astronomy for kids starts from an answer to the question; what is space? U.F.O. are lots of definitions available for the term 'space'. However, anything that is beyond the atmosphere of our planet, earth, is considered as space.

A kid is interested in astronomy definitely raises a question, how big our universe is. Because, children are very much interested in colours, size, number etc. The answer is crucial for kids in order to stimulate the interest with the subject astronomy. Actually, scientists have put forward lots of theories about the size of the universe. We can explain to the children about the infinity theory and big bang theory to make astronomy for kids interesting. So, we are sure in one thing that we do not know the size of the universe. The most extreme object that we see with the naked eye is about 2,000,000 light years distant. We can gently ask the child to find out how big the universe is. It really sharpens the curiosity of the child about the universe and makes astronomy for kids something enjoyable.

Does the universe have an end? Or being it eternal? Ask such questions to the kid, and encouraging them to find the answer is definitely useful. There are hundreds of books available in the market about astronomy for kids. Providing these books to kids is useful. There are lots of softwares available in the market to teach astronomy. If children are getting in touch with such softwares, they would be able to visualize the universe with the help of pictures and videos included in the software.

Explaining astronomy to a child is obviously a tough task. The elders must include interesting stories and poems while explaining astronomy for kids. They can explain about the stars, black hole, a comet, and so on. Showing pictures, telling some stories from mythology etc. helps the child to grasp the nuances of astronomy.

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