Exomaths

Talk
Teaching astronomy as part of other subjects in secondary schools – astronomy as a “gateway science”
4th Shaw-IAU Workshop
Wednesday Nov. 16, 2022
UTC: 8:50 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Thursday Nov. 17, 2022
UTC: 10:50 a.m. - 11 a.m.

"Basic mathematical concepts are behind many research fields, but the complexity lies how to connecting them in a classroom activity.
In this talk, I show a beautiful example where 12 years old students link calculation of circular areas with transit method for detecting exoplanets (Geometry and Astrophysics).
The power of free mathematical software (GeoGebra) for modelling the star and exoplanet with plane circles, compute the visible area of the star through the animation, and plot the results to compare with observational data from astronomers does the final outreach video developed and explained by the siblings Elisa and Hugo."

About Manuel Felipe Núñez Díaz

I am a math teacher at the Secondary School in Canary Islands (Spain). Previously I completed a master and PhD in astrophysics at the Universtity of La Laguna. My current interest is how to use basic mathetmatical concepts and methods for modelling phyiscal phenomena with programming software. Furthermore, astronomy has a huge source of amazing problems and so attractive to students that I try to develop them in classroom.

Watch a recording of this talk (external link)