Great Ideas in Astronomy: A Proposed Definition of Astronomy Literacy

The Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences (IA), an R&D unit funded by FCT, is leading an initiative in partnership with Leiden Observatory, University of Leiden, Netherlands, which aims to promote global understanding of astronomy. The project is entitled Great Ideas in Astronomy and consists of a small book that summarizes what everyone should know about the Universe and our place in it. It has also given rise to a website, which is now available in multiple languages and accessible anytime, anywhere.

“Big Ideas in Astronomy: A Proposed Definition of Literacy in Astronomy” is the culmination of years of debate and discussion on the essential topics that a person literate in astronomy, anywhere in the world, should know. It is structured similarly to other international science literacy projects, with eleven umbrella ideas that fill just over 70 pages of a small book, as well as a website.

Each great idea serves as an entry point to fascinating concepts, known since ancient times or only for a few decades, covering historical, theoretical, and observational aspects of astronomy. It is now an online reference in languages such as Arabic, Bengali, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, and Japanese, with more languages on the way.

After two years of contributions from the global community of scientists, educators, and communicators, the document Great Ideas in Astronomy was delivered to the Office for Astronomy Education (OAE) of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), whose mission is to support professional astronomers and astronomy educators worldwide in bringing the fascination of astronomy to schools.

Under this mission, the OAE will continue to implement and ensure the next steps of the Big Ideas in Astronomy, which are: conducting empirical studies on the Big Ideas, fostering the development of school curricula aligned with them, promoting the production of educational resources and materials for teacher training, and preparing strategic reports for curriculum development.

Photo credits: Aneta Margraf-Druc/Big Ideas in Astronomy