UtSTA 2024: Out-Of-This-World Science Teaching

During the 2023-24 school year, Clark Planetarium developed, tested, and implemented a kinesthetic and computer modeling approach to teaching Utah SEEd Standard 6.1.2 in classrooms across the state of Utah. In the kinesthetic portion, four participants will represent the inner planets of our solar system. Starting in a line, they will revolve around our Sun in periods of two weeks showing how Mercury travels fastest in its orbit. Using this evidence, we will demonstrate how to lead participants to construct explanations for the role of gravity and inertia in orbit. We will support these explanations using computer models of our solar system and by asking participants to make predictions given the absence of gravity, inertia, or an imbalance between them. Through an established partnership, Clark Planetarium is pleased to be able to offer the software we will be using to teachers at no cost for use in their classroom.