Ad Astra:
Using Latin in a Cross-curricular Science Program
MoonLink Activity #2 (Planetary
Nomenclature)
On day 2, the students were
given Worksheet #2
and were asked to work in groups to complete a sort of information
scavenger hunt. In crafting this activity, I drew heavily upon
information found in the web site of an organization known as
the International
Astronomical Union (IAU) whose function it is to name the
features of all heavenly bodies in our solar system. The web
site itself contains the organization's gazetteer which alludes
to classical mythology and languages (especially Latin) VERY
heavily. The major objective of this activity was for the students
to familiarize themselves with the way the gazetteer was organized
and what kind of information they could find here pertaining
to Latin. Each group of students was given a full copy of the
gazetteer (although this activity would have worked just as well
by allowing the students to complete the work at a computer station
with a connection to the web site).
In the one question, the students
were asked to find the code used for the planet Mercury
which is the letter H. They were then asked to consider why this
is and hopefully would access their knowledge of the Greek name
for Mercury, which of course is Hermes.
In another question, the students
were asked to make a list of features that only appear on the
moon. The students would soon realize that these features are
all Latin words such as lacus, rima, palus,
and mare. They next had to consult a Latin dictionary
to write out the genitive forms for the listed features and their
definitions that they could compare with the IAU's definitions.
In a similar question, the students
were asked to translate the names of some of the moon's maria
and to locate the mare where Apollo
11's Eagle landed in 1969. In another question, the students
were asked to locate the satellite on which the features are
named for characters and places from Homer's
Odyssey (the answer is Tethys, a moon of Saturn).
|
To view a map of the Moon with
its maria labeled, click here. |
Finally, the students were asked
to consider the naming of NASA's first three space programs (Mercury,
Gemini, and Apollo) and discuss the appropriateness of these
names by reading about the focus and purpose of each mission.
For example, in the Gemini program, the astronauts traveled in
a spacecraft that could only fit TWO people. By looking up the
Latin word Gemini, the students would come to an understanding
of why the program was named in such a way.
Before moving on to explain
the third activity in the Moonlink unit, I want to add here that
these above examples are only a small sample of the many, many
questions and activities which could be crafted from use of the
IAU's gazetteer. Its references to classical language and mythology
are numerous and fascinating and easily demonstrate to Latin
or Greek students the relevance and usefulness of their studies
to an area of modern science.
