History of telescopes in teaching: Like the microscope, the telescope was introduced into classrooms in the mid to late 1900’s. They were used to teach the students about the history of the telescope, as well as the parts that make it work and why it works (optics). Also, they helped introduce astronomy to students as they could now make astronomical observations about what they saw using the telescope. Current use of telescopes in teaching: Telescopes are being used in many of the same ways in classrooms today. There has been more of an emphasis on teaching why and how the telescope works the way it does. This whole concept is called optics. In our own experiences, there hasn’t been much of an emphasis on teaching astronomy in the high school/ middle school level outside of the bare minimum of learning the solar system. Future use of telescopes in teaching: We don’t see the use of the telescope changing much in the classroom. Teachers will still use this tool to teach and explain optics. There could, however, be a change in emphasis into what is taught with the telescope, similar to how optics are the main principle being taught today as opposed to in the past when it was more oriented towards the general history of the telescope. Perhaps the future will see a rise in the teaching of astronomy to high school/ middle school students using the telescope.