Harvard’s ThinkSpace brings hard science to Cambridge grade schools

November 15, 2017
Putnam Avenue Upper School eighth-graders Liam Mahari (left) and Viviany Barbosa Brito work with project director Patricia Udomprasert during a hands-on lab.
Kris Snibbe/Harvard Staff Photographer Harvard scientists and Cambridge Public Schools educators are collaborating on a special-thinking program that uses the WorldWide Telescope platform. Putnam Avenue Upper School eighth-graders Liam Mahari (left) and Viviany Barbosa Brito work with project director Patricia Udomprasert during a hands-on lab.

"It’s impossible to miss when the seasons change. But do most people understand the science behind those changes? According to decades-old research by astronomers and educators at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), probably not."

"Many people think seasons are caused by changing distance between the Earth and Sun, an idea that can be reinforced by misleading textbook diagrams. But that’s not the case."

"To help set the record straight, CfA experts designed the ThinkSpace (Thinking Spatially about the Universe) program to address long-held misconceptions about the cycle of the seasons by focusing on spatial thinking. This fall, through a collaboration with Cambridge Public Schools (CPS), they’re letting local students in on the science."

Harvard Gazette: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/11/harvards-thinkspace-brings-hard-science-to-cambridge-grade-schools/