<VENUS2004.ORG> File : The transit of Venus: a stroke of luck for teachers

The transit of Venus across the face of the Sun in June 8, 2004 comes as a gift for teachers of physics, mathematics, history and modern languages looking for a subject capable of appealing to their pupils. This article describes briefly the significance of this phenomenon, its historic and scientific importance and proposes a few ideas for educational activities, some of which are of interdisciplinary and international interest.

(This article, written by Arkan SIMAAN - French teacher of physics and historian of sciences, was published in School Science Review, March 2004 : http://www.ase.org.uk )

Make the most of this rare event on 8 June 2004, which can provide an exciting interdisciplinary project.

Venus © Nasa

Sommaire

1 - The transit of Venus: a stroke of luck for teachers
2 - Historical background
3 - Educational proposals
4 - Measuring the Earth-Sun distance
5 - Cross-curricular links
6 - Further reading
7 - Websites in English