Trial Classes on Diurnal and Annual Star Motion Using a Portable Planetarium: Introducing a Self-made Planetarium into a Junior High School

Abstract

A portable planetarium is expected to be effective in teaching astronomy in science classes. We investigated whether the use of a portable planetarium improves students’ understanding of diurnal and annual motion. We gave trial classes on diurnal and annual motion for grade nine students in a junior high school using a handmade portable planetarium. A questionnaire survey showed that the planetarium class was effective in improving students’ understanding of annual motion but showed little difference regarding their understanding of diurnal motion.