Development of Teaching Materials for Teachers about Small Astronomical Telescopes

Textbooks used in elementary and junior high schools must be written based on the Courses of Study in Japan. Science textbooks show observation of the moon and the sun using a small astronomical telescope. However, most in-service teachers have never used an astronomical telescope. Teachers have to use it safely to secure the safety of pupils, students, and teachers. I examined wrong and unsafe acts while in-service teachers and students assembled astronomical telescopes. Then I developed digital teaching materials for teachers including risks caused by wrong acts.

(2) The condition of the moon's surface is different from that of the sun. The objectives for the content are to help pupils develop their ideas about the moon phase and conditions of the surface through the observation of the moon and the sun and through the examination of the location and the phases of the moon and the location of the sun. The science textbooks of Grade 6 show the observation of the moon with small astronomical telescopes and/or binoculars and that of the sun with solar filters.
Students learn content on astronomy in the third year of junior high school and the content is as follows: (1) The relation between the rotation of the Earth and the diurnal motion of celestial bodies. The objectives for the content are to enable students to consider the Earth's movement through observations of nearby celestial bodies, and to understand characteristics of the sun and planets. The science textbooks of the third year of junior high school show the observations of the solar surface and sunspots using solar projection through small astronomical telescopes.
Both science teachers of elementary and junior high schools need to know how to use a small astronomical telescope. However, they have never used it, and it is difficult to understand how to assemble an equatorial telescope.
At the school teachers have to use an astronomical telescope safely. Therefore, I examined wrong and unsafe acts while students and in-service teachers assembled astronomical telescopes, especially equatorial telescope. Then I developed digital teaching materials for teachers including risks by wrong acts.

Examination of wrong and unsafe acts
Most in-service teachers and students have never used small astronomical telescopes. Some teachers and students had tried to assemble small astronomical telescopes by themselves using manuals and/or books on astronomical telescopes, but some of them could not understand how to assemble them. Moreover, it is not easy for them to judge whether their acts are unsafe or not. I examined wrong and unsafe acts while students and in-service teachers assembled astronomical telescopes, especially equatorial telescopes.

Training sessions of in-service teachers
The observations of the moon or sun using small astronomical telescopes are recommended in science textbooks of elementary and junior high schools after the revisions of the Courses of Study in 2008. Therefore, I have held the training of in-service teachers in astronomical telescopes eleven times from 2009 to 2017 (Table 1)

Classes for students
I have given classes to teach how to use small astronomical telescopes for students of the faculty of education since 2009. Most of them became elementary and junior high school teachers. The number of the students attending each class is 25 to 35 students.

Examination of wrong and unsafe acts
In-service teachers and students tried to assemble small astronomical telescopes in a group of 1 to 5 people using a book on astronomical telescopes at the beginning of the training sessions and classes, respectively. It is found that they did some wrong acts while they assembled the telescopes. Moreover, even if they finished the assembly of astronomical telescopes, they were not sure if they were correct or not.
Wrong and unsafe acts while they assembled astronomical telescopes are as follows: (1) Attachment of the equatorial mount in the wrong direction. When in-service teachers assemble astronomical telescopes at their schools, many pupils and students may gather around the teachers and the telescopes. The above-mentioned acts (3) and (4) are especially unsafe at the schools. In the case of (3) many teachers and students attached a counterweight to the counterweight shaft from the top. If a lock lever is loose, the counterweight would swing like a pendulum and it could hit the pupil's/student's head. In the case of (4) some teachers and students forgot to tighten the thumbscrew of the counterweight shaft. If a screw of the counter weight is loose, the counterweight could fall on a foot of a teacher, pupil, or student. Both cases cause a big accident and serious injury such as a fracture.

Development of teaching materials
Most manuals and books show only a correct way to assemble astronomical telescopes. Therefore, it is difficult for in-service teachers and students to notice risks when they do it the wrong way. Hence, I developed digital teaching materials, video materials and the related manual, on astronomical telescopes including risks by wrong acts at their schools.  Balancing the telescope on the DEC axis

Video teaching materials
The digital teaching materials were developed taking the following points into consideration: (1) In-service teachers use astronomical telescopes at their schools.    (1) Improvement of the consciousness of the safety.
(2) Decrease of the frequency of the wrong acts.