How to introduce pre-service teachers to mathematics and science subjects: the use of Human Orrery in teacher training

A training program for pre-service primary teachers was set-up in 2018-2019 with the intention to enhance their knowledge in astronomy and their ability to set-up STEM activities. We introduced them to a specific pedagogical tool, the Human Orrery, which is made to propose a motivating and embodied experience of the Solar System dynamics. All teachers created and implemented a two-hour activity whose focus was on different mathematics and science topics, within the context of the Solar System. Two of them are described and analysed thoroughly in this paper. It shows on the one hand how trainees succeeded to have different concepts interconnecting through the use of the Human Orrery, and on the other hand the difficulties they encountered in terms of astronomic knowledge and STEM activities’ design.