In her presentation, Mrs. Snyder used regular star charts as handouts to each individual and had us work through an exercise to plot the positions of the Sun, Moon, and the planets as known to the ancients – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

In the process, she demonstrated that the Earth-centered star map versus the Sun-centered star map reveals basically the same information, but the latter is a simpler model and easier to deal with in mapping.

Interestingly, I recall taking an astronomy course some years ago covering similar topics. In that course the instructor made it a point to present the observational data in a summary form and along side it, the interpretation for these observations according to both the geocentric and heliocentric theories. Once could see the apparent rationale used by the ancients.

These sorts of exercises might lend themselves to exploring the development of ideas – such as those that arise from observations. The valid predictions that one would expect from these models, and where they cease to work could be examined. These ideas are at the heart of science.

She also pointed out that understanding coordinates and being able to glean information from charts and maps are skills needed on standardized tests. For more information on this topic visit Mrs. Snyder's Website at the Abrams Planaterium.