Precession of the Equinoxes: a pedagogical proposal for secondary education teachers

Abstract

Second part of a didactic sequence of activities on some topics of Astronomy, related mainly with the real shape of the Earth, the gravitational interactions between our planet and other celestial bodies, and the resulting movement of the rotational axis of the Earth, leading to the precession of the equinoctial points. All elements are given for the construction of a simplified Sun-Earth system model, with a zodiacal band surrounding it, in order to show in a pedagogical manner how precession involves a shift of the zodiacal constellations in time.