This work presents a study about the concept formation of the daily motion of the celestial sphere by a group of middle school teachers participants of an Astronomy course. The results are based on the analyses of the answers of these teachers for the questions made in the check tests and the records from the classes of the course. It is studied the relation between the answers, the accounts of the sky observations by the participants and the development of the contents about the daily motion of the celestial sphere. The elaborations of sequences of the verified conceptual evolution by the group and its relation with the theory develop in the course are presented. After a closer look at the elaborations of the participants, some principles were revealed: the elevation of the celestial pole to geographic latitude, obliquity, continuity of motion, circularity, tri-dimensionality and cyclicity. The study suggests that these principles shoud be used as heuristic guides, suitable for the teaghing of sky observation.
Astronomy; Science education; Teacher education; Conceptual evolution
