AstroBVI: An Astronomical Educational Kit for the Blind and Vision Impaired (BVI) Community in South America

We aim to make astronomy in general, and galaxies in particular, more accessible to children with visual impairments. We plan to create and distribute educational kits composed of tactile 3D maps of galaxies accompanied by a manual and multimedia material. To be accessible to children in most of South America, the instruction manual will be written in Spanish, Portuguese, and English and made available in BVI-accessible formats (braille, large print, and audio). Experts in the field, based in Chile and the UK, will train educators and communicators through local outreach activities and an international online workshop for teachers in South America. We will design manual and eLearning lessons, in collaboration with the Tactile Universe team, the Galileo Teaching Training Program (GTTP) project, and the MaNGA (Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO) EPO group. The project build upon the foundations by similar past projects funded by the OAD: Astronomy with all Senses and Touch of the Universe.