In this poster is presented the development and testing of a pilot project to teach basics of astronomy to primary school students. This is a learning program that bases on the interdisciplinary nature of astronomy with amusing and playful activities. The objective of the programme is to engage children in astronomy and make them aware of the importance of the development of science and technology for society. The program has been tested a small non-government-funded school in the state of Puebla, in Mexico. Due COVID-19 lockdown the classes had to switch from face-to-face to online. Over 80% of the students that completed the course had considerably increased their knowledge of astronomy and requested to continue with the classes on the next school term.

Donations (in cash and kind) amounting to $200,000 from companies in the south-western Sydney region have allowed the construction of a teaching, research and public access Observatory at the University of Western Sydney in Campbelltown. The Observatory will also serve as the home of the Australian Optical SETI Project (OZ OSETI for short). Two fibre-glass domes will be installed at the site. The main 4.5 m fibre-glass dome will house a 0.4 m telescope while the smaller 2.9 m dome will house a 0.3 m telescope. Both telescopes are fork-mounted Schmidt-Cassegrains working at f/10. An outside observation area will be used for tripod-mounted telescopes for public use and teaching purposes. The expected completion date for the project is July 2000.

Children who visited Auckland Observatory and Stardome Planetarium in 1998 were surveyed on their ideas about the Earth, the Moon and the Sun. Widespread misconceptions similar to those found in other studies were revealed, however the single teaching session had an impact on children's ideas comparable to that of much longer interventions. Several ideas not reported previously were expressed. For example, two children drew a figure eight orbit for the Earth; circling the Sun during the day, and the Moon at night. Only one child of the 67 surveyed proposed the notion of day and night being caused by the Sun orbiting the Earth. This is in contrast to many other studies. A drawing based pre-post survey proved to be a convenient and powerful tool for revealing changing patterns in children's thinking. The literature surveyed indicated levels of misconceptions about astronomy among teachers and other adults that were nearly as great as those of the children being taught. It would seem a strategic move to provide teachers with sufficient training if they are required to teach astronomy at every level, as has happened with the New Zealand science curriculum. A comparison between different question types suggests that multiple-choice questions may underestimate the knowledge of younger children by over 300% when compared with interview responses. A drawing based question in this study generated up to 41% more correct responses than a multiple-choice question on the same topic.

In this paper I shall present ways in which professional astronomers in developing nations can aid basic education by using a few things that have been done in Mexico.

Recently the compulsory education in Mexico was increased from 6 to 12 years. An optional subject on astronomy was included in high school; so there are several ways in which one can contribute to the national education system.

I shall give a practical example on ways to teach and mention the importance of magazines and books dedicated to teachers. I will also address the way we have implemented brief courses for educators and organized conferences for science teachers.

It is important to emphasize that we must find ways to train people in a more effective way.