A workshop participant decodes a Maya codex using a guide to Maya glyphs and numbers.
Humans have looked at the night sky for thousands of years to understand the world around us. During the Southern Skies Teacher Workshop, participants take a journey in a planetarium dome to see Latin American skies and listen to stories from indigenous Inka and Maya communities.
The Consortium in Latin American and Caribbean Studies at UNC and Duke University offers a professional development workshop for K-16 educators of North Carolina once a year. The workshop, Southern Skies: Stories from Latin America is led by Dr. Gabrielle Vail, a Research Collaborator in the Department of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Teachers experience a live bilingual (English and Spanish) dome show, Southern Skies/Cielos del Sur at the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center. All participants are provided with resources to use in their classrooms and instructions for recreating the lessons with their students. This workshop aligns to several curriculum standards set by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.
Learn about the history of the Southern Skies/Cielos del Sur show here.
Video Highlights from 2024 Southern Skies Teacher Workshop
Southern Skies Workshop resources for educators :
- The lending library book collection: Southern Skies Workshop: Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Resources for Teachers can be borrowed free of cost. Complete the request form here.
- Southern Skies/Cielos del Sur script
- Southern Skies Resources and Activity: Make a Maya Codex
- Southern Skies Resources and Activity: Make an Inka Khipu
- For resources to Decode a Maya Codex, contact Skylar Zee zee@email.unc.edu.
Workshop participant reads Maya Numbers and Calendars resource.
On January 23, 2025 at 4:00 PM EST Dr. Gabrielle Vail showed teachers how to complete a classroom activity “Decode a Maya Codex”.
An example of a complete Maya Codex from the “Make a Maya Codex” Activity. Codex 2024 Composition © Gabrielle Vail, LLC. All rights reserved.
Professional Development Teacher Workshop
Since 2023, the Southern Skies program has been offered as a professional development teacher workshop. Dr. Gabrielle Vail serves as the workshop facilitator and provides background information on indigenous ways of knowing as well as a hands-on classroom activity for participants. During the workshop, participants have attended the dome show program Southern Skies/Cielos del Sur at the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center.
K-12 Classroom Outreach
Southern Skies activities are taught in classrooms. Workshop participants receive instructions for hands-on classroom activities.
Students make their own Maya codex at Voyager Academy.
Students make their own Inka khipu at Voyager Academy.
K-12 School Field Trip
Southern Skies is offered as a special program field trip at the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center for K-12 students once a year.
Participating schools and teachers receive curriculum materials to support teaching about the program.
For more information, please contact outreach coordinator Skylar Zee at zee@email.unc.edu.
Southern Skies workshop participants gather on the steps of the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center in 2023.
Southern Skies workshop participants hold up their Inka khipus made during the workshop in 2024.
For more information about these resources, please contact: Skylar Zee, outreach coordinator, at zee@email.unc.edu.
This workshop was supported in part by grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education’s Title VI National Resource Centers program. The content of this workshop does not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
