Astronomy journals lead to student inquiry

This journaling described in this article is not a lesson that should be limited to college courses. If you teach astronomy or even weather this article provides information on how and why y... See More

This journaling described in this article is not a lesson that should be limited to college courses. If you teach astronomy or even weather this article provides information on how and why you should consider asking students to use daily or regular journals as a part of your units. The authors describe a college course where students are required to make observations of events in the sky and using those to develop predictions and explanations of the events they recorded. While this describes college, the process and procedures are adaptable to any grade level capable of collecting and recording data. For example, they ask student to use a compass to determine the angle the sun rises or sets on a regular basis and to record the time of those readings (or the moon or a constellation or planet). They go on to describe how many of their students discovered misconceptions (which were also a part of the journal reflections) and developed new understandings of the way objects seem to mo