The study of Astronomy is an important experience which has far-reaching implications for many curricular areas. “Astronomy literacy” implies not only knowledge and understanding of the Earth and its interaction with other celestial objects, but also an understanding of the scientific processes used to produce those concepts. Astronomy is, on its own right, a high interest subject with vast implications in our societies. It has been a cornerstone of technological progress throughout history, has much to contribute in the future, and offers all humans a fundamental sense of our place in the universe. (Finley,2013) Astronomy has also the power to attract a wide range of students (Massey, 2011). This motivational nature of Astronomy promotes science literacy and may encourage students to pursue future careers in STEM. But Astronomy, as part of science education, can no longer be viewed as only elite training for future scientists or engineers. As recently stated in a EC Report, knowledge of and about science are essential to prepare people to be actively engaged and responsible citizens, creative and innovative, able to work collaboratively and fully aware of and conversant with the complex challenges facing society (Science Education for Responsible Citizenship, EC, 2015). The project SpaceGuardians aims to develop an innovative pedagogy for improving Astronomy Literacy of children (3 to 6 yo) and for raising their interest over STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), based on an interactive learning eBook. In the process, the project intends to raise awareness towards the importance of Astronomy Education at various levels. The eBook will be developed considering: • A framework for Astronomy education that the partnership will specifically develop for pre-school level. • Good practices of storytelling and interactive stories, specifically for this age group. • Need to appeal to both boys and girls. As an interactive eBook, it will integrate interactive features, namely a dynamic storyboard that may enable for different endings depending on the children’s response to questions, mini-games, puzzles and other elements embedded in the story. Along with the interactive story, it will be developed a Facilitator’s Guide - SpaceGuardians Facilitator’s Guide - for teachers and parents, to help them make the most out of the learning opportunity provided by the interactive learning book. Additionally, the project SpaceGuardians will also deliver a: • Training programme for teachers, trainers and parents on how to use the SpaceGuardians eBook and the Facilitator’s Guide • Pilot training involving teachers and children to test the SpaceGuardians methodology (Interactive eBook and Facilitator’s Guide) • Website and a Facebook page on Astronomy Education with a repository of the materials produced in the project (but not only) and that can be a meeting point for people involved or interested in the topic. • Sustainability Strategy that will present the guidelines for the future exploitation of results and to ensure the future impact of the project. • Contact Database for organisations and people from the project’s target groups at European level • Project presentation in events, in the partner countries and others. This initiative gathers 5 participants: • Civic Computing is a digital strategy agency with vast expertise in the development of bespoke applications and tools that is investing in new services for educational publishers and in children's books • Advancis (Portugal): private company that provides consultancy and training services in Education and People Development, with competences in curricula development, storytelling in education, ICT based learning methodologies, among others • BOON (Portugal): private company that provides services in design and illustration. • Platon schools (Kindergarten – Elementary – Gymnasium – Lyceum) is a modern educational institution with 530 learners and 83 staff. • Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille is a joint research unit of the CNRS-INSU and of the Université d'Aix-Marseille (AMU), that undertakes research in astrophysics and instrumentation.
All files relevant to this project including, CVs, timesheets, Intellectual Outputs, Quality and Dissemination reports are provided as part of the present report in the following link: - http://repository.erasmusplus.website/SG/Final_Report/ - Username: evaluator - Password: Evaluator101! The study of Astronomy is an important experience which has far-reaching implications for many curricular areas. “Astronomy literacy” implies not only knowledge and understanding of the Earth and its interaction with other celestial objects, but also an understanding of the scientific processes used to produce those concepts. The project SpaceGuardians has developed an innovative pedagogy for improving Astronomy Literacy of children (3 to 6 years old) and for raising their interest over STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), through two interactive learning eBooks: 'The Moon was Stolen' (https://spaceguardians.eu/interactive-book) and; ('Is There Anybody Out There' https://spaceguardians.eu/interactive-book-2). The purpose of these eBooks are to spark an interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in children from a very young age. During the project we took into consideration the need to incorporate: • A framework for Astronomy education that the partnership will specifically develop for pre-school level. • Good practices of storytelling and interactive stories, specifically for this age group. • The need to appeal to both boys and girls. The eBooks integrate interactive features, mini-games, puzzles and elements that move while reading. The eBooks incorporate voice over in all languages so they can be read individually by any child. However, if a parent or a teacher wants to read the stories to the children we have developed a Facilitators Guide (FG) that they can read before hand. The FG was developed to maximise the learning opportunities provided by the eBooks and it includes information about how the eBooks should be used, topics for reflection with the children and exercises and activities that you can play in the class room or at home. Through the eBooks and raising awareness towards the importance of Astronomy Education at various levels. Moreover, the project SpaceGuardians delivers: • 2 Interactive eBooks in 4 languages; English, French, Greek and Portuguese (including voice over) • Training programme for teachers, trainers and parents on how to use the SpaceGuardians eBook and the Facilitator’s Guide • Pilot training involving teachers and children to test the SpaceGuardians methodology (Interactive eBook and Facilitator’s Guide) • Promotional Video • Website on Astronomy Education with a repository of the materials produced in the project and a FaceBook page that can be a meeting point for people involved or interested in the topic. • Sustainability Strategy that presents the guidelines for the future exploitation of results and to ensure the future impact of the project. • Project presentation in events, in the partner countries and others. This initiative gathers 5 participants: • Civic Computing is a digital strategy agency with vast expertise in the development of bespoke applications and tools that is investing in new services for educational publishers and in children's books • Advancis (Portugal): private company that provides consultancy and training services in Education and People Development, with competences in curricula development, storytelling in education, ICT based learning methodologies, among others • BOON (Portugal): private company that provides services in design and illustration. • Platon schools (Kindergarten – Elementary – Gymnasium – Lyceum) is a modern educational institution with 530 learners and 83 staff. • Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille is a joint research unit of the CNRS-INSU and of the Université d'Aix-Marseille (AMU), that undertakes research in astrophysics and instrumentation.