Thousands and thousands of school children around the world enjoyed the workshop Deadly Moons. The activity received the SPORE Prize, a publication in Science Magazine, and drawings featured in many exhibitions. In her post on The Vatican Observatory Foundation Blog, astronomer, artist and educator Deirdre Kelleghan looks back on her popular workshop.
“Moon Heads.” Extracted from Vatican Observatory Foundation on 5 October 2016.
After Deirdre shared her workshop with UNAWE in 2008, Deadly Moons has travelled all over the world. For example, at an exhibition at the opening of International Year of Astronomy 2009 in the UNESCO building in Paris France, EU-UNAWE event at Europa Kijkdagen in Brussels, science events in Poland, The Netherlands, Vietnam, Ghana in Africa, Hofstra University New York, Vancouver Canada, and Reykjavik Iceland.
Since then, the workshop has had several updates, to keep with the times. “For me there is nothing as good or as satisfying in education than to give up to date real time knowledge to my audiences. The outstanding images from Cassini, MRO, Rosetta and other robotic missions continue to inspire my creativity in designing workshops and producing paintings,” says Deirdre. Still, to this day, the activity uses soft pastels and black paper to bring colour, blending and texture to a drawing.
Feedback from Irish children on the Deadly Moons workshop. Extracted from Youtube on 5 October 2016.
Besides being updateable, the activity also provides opportunities for exhibitions, which is great for viewing days. Deirdre exhibited children’s "Deadly Moon" drawings with astronomical drawings from some of the best contemporary observers on the planet. Schools have displayed over 700 drawings from their students.
UNAWE exhibition in the UNESCO building in Paris, France. Extracted from Vatican Observatory Foundation on 5 October 2016.
The Deadly Moons workshop is a multidisciplinary activity for children of ages 6-12, combining art, science and ICT, teaching skills like communicating information, hands-on learning and using imagination. In Irish, saying ‘that’s deadly’ is another way of saying that something is amazing, or awesome.
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