TLF ID M025137
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people maintain detailed knowledge systems about objects in the Solar System, including the Sun, Moon, planets, comets, and meteors. These traditions show how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people carefully observe the movements of celestial object, explain their motions, and pass that information on to new generations. In the accompanying classroom activity, students will come to understand some of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander names of the planets, their movement across the sky, and the concepts of ecliptic, zodiac, and retrograde motion. They will focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander observations of these things, and discuss how this scientific knowledge was developed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people long ago.