In the article, the author explores the key competencies required by a physics teacher to teach astronomy. Innovative methods, techniques and forms of lessons are also considered, contributing to the development of students' interest in studying astronomy.

Keywords: astronomy, student, teacher, competencies, innovative forms, methods and techniques.

The astronomy section is an important part of the school curriculum. Astronomy is of particular interest to students. At the very beginning of studying this section, students are in a state of anticipation of the result. They expect this course to be dominated by direct observation and study of planets, stars, and constellations. But often their expectations do not match reality. The predominance of formulas and a lot of theoretical material makes astronomy boring and uninteresting in the eyes of students.

The fact is that astronomy as a separate subject was absent from Russian schools for a long time, in 2017 it was returned to the list of compulsory subjects in the school curriculum, and then in 2022 it was excluded from it again [2, p. 299]. In this regard, methodological manuals, recommendations and developments are not enough for a high-quality study of this science. But science does not stand still, so modern astronomy is developing rapidly and is systematically updated with new discoveries. Therefore, the astronomy course at school needs significant changes and updates. An important aspect of a student's successful acquisition of the necessary knowledge and skills is high-quality teacher training.

How can teachers organize the learning process so that astronomy becomes a truly fascinating subject for students? To begin with, the teacher must master key competencies such as:

— cognitive competencies — a set of necessary knowledge on the subject, psychology and pedagogy;

— professional and technological competencies — possession of the necessary knowledge of astronomy and the ability to properly organize the educational process using new methods and technologies;

— psychological competencies — a set of skills and abilities to identify the personal characteristics of a student's character, determine his emotional state and create a favorable atmosphere for learning;

— communicative competencies — the ability to organize pedagogical interaction in which mutual understanding, mutual respect and willingness to cooperate are present between the teacher and the students.;

— professional and informational competencies — the teacher's knowledge and skills for the effective use of information resources;

— value-semantic competencies — the ability to engage in creative activity, the ability to apply innovative and creative methods in their activities;

— reflexive pedagogical competencies — the ability to evaluate the process and result of one's pedagogical activity [3, p. 1206].

Having mastered these competencies, the teacher will be able to arouse students' interest in their own subject and ensure that students acquire the necessary knowledge and skills. But in order for students to become motivated to study this subject and subsequently only strengthen it, it is worth using interesting and interactive lesson formats. Let's look at specific examples.

The first astronomy lesson can be started with the business game «Astronomy Trial». In this game, each student gets his role (judge, witness, prosecutor, accused, lawyer, etc.) in the trial. The students take turns preparing reports on the history of ancient and modern astronomy, and then present them according to the program of the trial. This way, the teacher will be able to see the level of initial awareness of students in the field of the history of astronomy and interest children in further studying it [1, p. 174].

In subsequent lessons, the teacher can start the lesson using «Five Minutes of Cosmonautics», that is, leave the first 5–6 minutes of the lesson to discuss a new space discovery, a scientific article, or just the latest news about space, prepared in advance by the teacher or students. This technique will allow you to see the applied application of astronomy in real life, and the search and analysis of information by students will contribute to the development of critical thinking.

In addition to the classic homework with exercises and paragraphs, the teacher can also choose as homework writing essays on topics of interest (for example, «astronomy and mathematics», «astronomy and economics», «astronomy in my life», etc.), composing an astronomical crossword puzzle, preparing a video clip, presentation or other interesting material for the next topic. This way, students will develop creative skills, broaden their horizons and consolidate their knowledge of the subject, and each lesson will be distinguished by its originality and uniqueness [1, p. 175].

Control papers can also have an interesting format, they can be conducted in the form of astronomical dictation (tests or other tasks performed on paper and containing questions with original wording), surveys at the conference (a teacher with one group of students prepares questions for the conference, and other students answer them), searching for errors in literature and music (students look for errors in astronomical information in various musical or literary works).

Also, the lessons of discovering new knowledge can also be conducted in an exciting way. For example, when studying the planets of the Solar system, the organization of the role-playing game «Space Detective» is appropriate. As part of this game, the teacher tells the students the following news: «A planet has disappeared! There was a record of the ninth planet in the archive data of the 1990s, but it's not there now». Then the students are divided into groups: astronomers, historians, and physicists. Each group receives its own source of information, analyzes it, and then discusses it with the entire class and the teacher.

The Astronomical Cinema is another interesting lesson format in which the teacher shows excerpts from films.: «Cosmos: space and time» (a documentary film that tells many stories about space in simple language), «Interstellar» (visualization of a black hole), «The Martian» (calculations of orbits and studying the problems of growing plants on Mars), «In search of Planet X«(cartoon about dwarf planets and astronomers), «Gagarin. The first in space» (details of the preparation of the first space flight) and many others. After watching the excerpts, the teacher can either ask questions or give practical tasks.

Thus, when studying astronomy in a modern school, students can learn a lot of new and interesting things about space in an interesting way. The original presentation of information and the use of various lesson formats will contribute to the development of motivation for children to learn and study astronomy. However, the organization of such lessons requires a lot of time from the teacher, so lessons in the game format can be alternated with traditional lessons, while homework and individual assignments can also be creative. In turn, the integrated use of various methods and techniques will ensure that students acquire the necessary knowledge and skills in astronomy.

References:

1. Бирзуль А. Н. Опыт организации работы по астрономии в 11 классе: сборник трудов конференции. // Социально-педагогические вопросы образования и воспитания: материалы Всерос. науч.-практ. конф. с междунар. участ. (Чебоксары, 15 апр. 2021 г.) / редкол.: Ж. В. Мурзина [и др.] — Чебоксары: ИД «Среда», 2021. — С. 173–179. URL: https://phsreda.com/e-articles/10271/Action10271-98325.pdf
2. Валиахмедов, Д. З. Необходимость введения дисциплины «Астрономия» обязательным предметом в программу среднего общего образования / Д. З. Валиахмедов. — Текст: непосредственный // Молодой ученый. — 2023. — № 14 (461). — С. 298–301. — URL: https://moluch.ru/archive/461/101433/ (дата обращения: 10.06.2025).
3. Орлова Т. А. Методы повышения профессиональной компетенции будущих учителей по физики и астрономии // Экономика и социум. 2022. № 3–2 (94). URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/metody-povysheniya-professionalnoy-kompetentsii-buduschih-uchiteley-po-fiziki-i-astronomii (дата обращения: 10.06.2025).