4th EAAE Summer School 2000

4^th EAAE Summer School
Tavira, Portugal.

The fourth summer school was held from 3rd to 8th of July 2000 in Tavira on the Atlantic coast of Portugal. The organisation of this event was carried out by the WG3-EAAE with the cooperation of ASTRO (the Portuguese Association for Astronomy Teatching). The weather conditions were hot, and the rythm of work at the Summer School was intense, but the swimming pool and the beach provided relief when necessary.

The theme of this Summer School was Astronomy and Navigation, and the activities were organised focussing on this topic. We spent the rest day on a boat-trip that made a group of participant sick, but the reason for this was the sea, rather than Astronomy.

During the course, 2 general lectures, 11 workshops and 2 general working groups were held, as well as posters sessions and observations.

General lectures

Navigating through the stars (Rui J. Agostinho. Portugal)
The European Space Agency : How it works - What it does - All its programmesAndrea Vena. France

Workshops

Construct the model of the Zodiac-Earth-Sun system Irma Hannula-Sakkari Ekko. Finland
Determining latitude and longitude observing only one star Roland Boninsegna. Belgium
Didactical activities about tides Lidia Nuvoli - Cristina Palici di Suni. Italy
Galileo's jupiterian astrolab and longitude determination Francis Berthomieu. France
Making a simplified sextant for didactical use Rosa Maria Ros. Spain
Solving problems with a solar motion demonstrator Werner Warland. Germany
The beginning of astronomical sailing Simon Garcia. Spain
The shape of the Earth and of the Sky : Thinking about a round world Leonarda Fucili. Italy
Travelling through the Galaxy : 3-D models of constellations based on new datas from Hipparcos satellite Ilgonis Vilks. Latvia
Where am I ? Today's answer with the Global Positioning System Felisbela Martins. Portugal

Observational Resources

Night time observations Alexandre J. Costa - Clive Jackson

General Working Groups

Materials and tools bazaar.
Misconceptions on astronomy.

A total of 46 people attended, counting participants and instructors from several European countries (Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain). There was a participant from Brazil, showing how far the Summer School's reputation has travelled.This was the second year that we have had a participant from America. The atmosphere surrounding our activities during the week was very friendly.

Every year, the Summer School offers more practical activities, and reduces the number of general lectures, which are always more theoretical in comparison with workshops. The time for discussion and exchange was also increased. The poster session is given mor time and importance at each Summer School. There are new General Working Groups on interesting topics for all participants. This year the Misconception on Astronomy focussed on this section. A new section was also introduced : the Bazaar. This was a place that all the participants and instructors were able to exchange, sell and buy different materials, dossiers, CD-ROMs, computer programs, astronomical tools, instruments and models. What changed hands did not matter - the most important is promote the exchange of information to promote astronomy at all.

Francis Berthomieu <berthomi@ac-nice.fr>

Last edited January 10, 2001