Laboratory Activities![[IMAGE]](observer.gif)
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Hipparcos
Sky Plot
The Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues contain a wealth of
information in a user friendly format. Available in both printed and machine
readable form, these catalogues can be exploited by both professional and
amateur astronomers. This section is generally aimed at amateur astronomers,
and also at teachers and students of physics and astronomy. We have started
to link a series of "projects" to this page showing how the catalogues
can be used to conduct interesting observations by such users
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Solar Astronomy
Activities-Investigations
Tour through these topics to find exciting activities,
images, interactive tools, text, and other resources to let you research
our special star -- the Sun. Activities include:Solar Images and Data,
The Spinning Sun, Sunspot Race, Are those Spots on the Sun, Observing the
Sun, Galileo Challenge, How Big? How Far? How Hot, The Sinning Sun, Hidden
Pictures, Interview with Mr. Sol.
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AAVSO Hands-On Astrophysics
Hands-On Astrophysics is a unique and innovative educational
curriculum and set of materials developed by the AAVSO and funded in part
by the National Science Foundation. Users of HOA will be able to experience
the excitement of doing real science with real data - variable star data
taken from the unique database of the AAVSO, and data they collect themselves
by making their own variable star observations. This multi-media curriculum
is extremely flexible, and it supports the National Standards for Science
and Math Education by directly involving students in the scientific process.
HOA is ideal for educators and students, amateur astronomers, astronomy
clubs, and anyone who is interested in exploring science through variable
stars and variable star observing.
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Hands On Astronomy
Activities for Kids: K-6
Welcome to our collection of children's online astronomy
activities. In the following seven chapters are hundreds of fun explorations
into astronomy as a classroom tool for learning how to theorize, experiment,
and analyze data. The activities are fully illustrated and explained and
are lots of fun for teachers and students alike. This site contains the
complete text and graphics of the collection along with related links,
a table of contents, an explanation of how to use this book, and email
links to the authors. We do hope you enjoy these adventures in astronomy
as much as we enjoyed designing them.
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Remote Access Astronomy
Project
The University of Santa Barbara offers free access to their
telescope to students, teachers, and interested amateurs. Participants
merely submit their request for a particular observation and the appropriate
CCD images are collected and the data is sent to the observer electronically.
In addition to access to the telescope, the RAAS project offers a number
of laboratory activities, complete with data and worksheets. Among the
activities are: Craters in the Solar System, Tracking Sunspots, Monitoring
Variations in Magnitude of SS Cygni, COBE for (BIG) Kids, Investigation
of M16- An Open Cluster in Serpens, Volcanos on Io, Dark Matter, Finding
the Light Curve of Supernovae, Kepler's Laws of the Orbit of Mercury, Imaging
of the Orion Nebula, The Moons of Saturn. These labs are appropriate for
High School and Undergraduate students.
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Solar
System Trading Cards
Elementary school activity. Give the students an opportunity
to create, color, cut, paste, and interact.
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Contemporary
Experiences in Laboratory Astronomy(CLEA)
Project CLEA develops laboratory exercises that illustrate
modern astronomical techniques using digital data and color images. They
are suitable for high- school and college classes at all levels, but
come with defaults set for use in introductory astronomy classes for
non-science majors. Each CLEA laboratory exercise includes a dedicated
computer program, a student manual, and a technical guide for the
instructor. The technical guides describe file formats, user-setable
options, and algorithms used in the programs. The most advanced CLEA
labs run under Windows on PC's, or on color-capable Macintosh computers.
Exercises include: Classification of Stellar Spectra, The Flow of Energy
Out of the Sun, Photoelectric Photometry of the Pleiades, Radio Astronomy
of Pulsars, The Rotation of Mercury Using Doppler Radar, The Hubble Redshift
Distance Relation, The Large Scale Structure of the Universe, The Revolution
of the Moons of Jupiter
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Hubble
Deep Space Academy
Join Professor WifPic in examining the Hubble Deep Field
image and simulate the process astronomers have gone through to count,
classify, and identify objects in the image as well as estimate their distances
from Earth. The lesson is modular so that all or part of it may be completed
using computers and the Internet. The purpose of this lesson is to allow
students to experience the processes actual scientists go through to organize
and synthesize new information. They will have the opportunity to ask and
answer questions of their own about a previously unknown region of space
and then to compare their analysis to that of real astronomers currently
working on the same tasks. Our goal is that students will come to appreciate
the importance of collaboration among scientists as well as the possibility
of more than one acceptable answer to any scientific inquiry. Target audience
is Middle School.
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Student
Astronaut Challenge
Challenge your students to pit their wits against scientists
and students from around the world! The "Student Astronaut Challenge" is
an activity your students will find relevant and fun. Through an interactive
lesson filled with video clips and up-to-the minute information from NASA
and the Space Telescope Science Institute, your students, using critical
thinking and reading skills, search for word and picture clues to sequence
the events in the 1997 Second Servicing Mission of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Students can work through the "Student Astronaut Challenge" independently
or in groups. Teachers can access images, charts and worksheets that accompany
the lesson if computers are not available for their students. The lesson
is designed to be user-friendly for all levels of computer accessibility
so that even in the case where there are no computers in the classroom
there are two options for the educator: each page can be printed out and
placed in order or, in the "grab bag", there are nicely formatted pdf files
that can be printed as well.
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Athena Earth and Space Science:
Activities and Curriculum
This is one of the most extensive and exhaustive curriculum
and activity site on the Web. Track drifter buoys in the world's oceans,
forecast today's space weather, investigate tropical storms viewed from
space. Athena engages students in observing phenomena using remote-sensed
data to construct knowledge about the world. Data sets and instructional
pieces are related to oceans, the atmosphere, Earth resources, and space/astronomy.
Real-time data is used where possible. The material is intended for direct
use by students with appropriate assistance from teachers. The goal of
Athena is to enhance the K-12 science curriculum, and facilitate use of
the powerful computational tools in classrooms networked to the Web. Scientists
and educators work together developing instructional material for K-12
science teaching based on data acquired via Internet. The materials include
data sets with appropriate explanation, student activities, and teacher
background information delivered to classrooms via pages on the World Wide
Web. Project staff train teachers and provide support for eighteen pilot
sites in Seattle area classrooms. We support the pilot classes with on
site visits and e-mail, solicit feedback, and continue writing material
in light of the classroom experience. The project is a collaboration between
SAIC, the Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction,
and the school districts of Seattle, Bellevue, Lake Washington, and Northshore.
This project fills a need by making scientific data accessible to students
in an understandable form. It does this by involving educators in planning
and writing and piloting the material in classrooms. It provides a template
for lessons and a model for collaboration between schools, business, and
the government.
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Berit's
Best Sites for Children
Fun learning activities for pre school and elementary school
children. Movies, stories, coloring, audios. Lots of fun.
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Graphing
Stratospheric Ozone
This lesson includes a simple "how-to" graphing example
followed by other more sophisticated examples of graphing using NASA images
and images from the Neumayer Antarctic Station. If you have experience
graphing and don't need to follow the "how-to" you may want to try the
following.... First turn your attention to the "Ozone Chemistry" section.
This area contains enough material to enable students to find data and
images for graphing. You may want to download the images onto floppy disk
or print them out (preferably in color) and consult later when graphing
data are assembled. The initial time requirement for this exercise was
three hours. The time should be divided into three equal segments.
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Spectra from
Space
This web site presents activities related to space telescopes
used to acquire spectroscopic data of astronomical objects. Included are
activities from The Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO), The Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics
Facility (AXAF), The Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and The Space Infrared
Telescope Facility (SIRTF).
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Reaching the
Red Planet (curriculum)
Mary Urquhary has done an exceptional job in this development.
The description follows: Reaching for the Red Planet is a multi-purpose
curriculum focusing on planning a Mars colony. The project entails learning
general facts about the planets, learning about the Earth's environment,
choosing a purpose for a colony on Mars, and planning and designing a colony
on Mars. The students will use drawings, creative writing, research skills,
team work, math, and the scientific method to explore their own environment,
and design an artificial one for Mars. Several assignments, a teacher's
tour guide to the planets, a guide to the question of life on Mars, and
a guide to current and planned Mars missions are included in Reaching for
the Red Planet and experiments for the students to perform in class are
explained in detail. I hope your students will find Reaching for the Red
Planet to be a fun and educational experience. Suggested time for the entire
program: eight weeks to one semester (2 to 4 hours per week), or a summer
course. This Web version also includes many links to other interesting
sites,
many of which are involved in outreach activities, or science education.
Please feel free to contact the author with any questions, comments, or
helpful suggestions. Please be advised that this is a volunteer effort
and the author is a graduate student trying to finish her Ph.D. Thesis,
but LOVES to do public outreach
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Falling into a Black
Hole
There is a lot here. Many lessons and many topics. Take
a look. Falling Into a Black Hole In which we fall into a black hole on
a real free fall orbit. All distortions of images are real, both general
relativistic from the gravitational bending of light, and special relativistic
from the near light speed orbit. The black hole belongs to a quadruple
stellar system, a binary binary. The system is fictional, but plausible.
After you are done dying at the central singularity of the black hole,
feel free to explore more about the Schwarzschild geometry, about wormholes,
and about the collapse of a black hole.
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The
Nine Planets
This is a multimedia tour. The Nine Planets is an overview
of the history, mythology, and current scientific knowledge of each of
the planets and moons in our solar system. Each page has text and images,
some have sounds and movies, most provide references to additional related
information. Interplanetary spacecraft have revolutionized planetary science.
Very little of this document would have been possible without the space
program.
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Exploring
Planets in the Classroom ( 25 activities)
These on-line activity pages are formatted for printing
and direct classroom use. The original layout was developed by a team of
educators in 1994 while producing NASA Publication EP-306 Exploring the
Moon: A Teacher's Guide with Activities for Earth and Space Sciences. Note
that pages will not look or print correctly unless you are using a Web
browser that supports TABLES, such as Netscape 1.1 and higher.
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Hands On Universe
Hands-On UniverseTM (HOU) is an educational program that
enables students to investigate the Universe while applying tools and concepts
from science, math, and technology. Using the Internet, HOU participants
around the world request observations from an automated telescope, download
images from a large image archive, and analyze them with the aid of user-friendly
image processing software.
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Educational Space
Simulation Activities
The concept of telecommunicated simulations was developed
by Robert Morgan of University School in Shaker Heights, Ohio in 1989.
Basically, the concept brings to telecommunications the advantages of simulated
activities shared via computer telecommunications. The concept initially
has been used by K-12 schools, but its principles apply to any area of
education. In a telecommunicated simulation, schools each pretend to be
some aspect of the overall simulation and they share information, simulated
events, and simulated activities with other schools. Each school, of course,
can react to simulated events created by other schools. Although there
have been a number of different types of telecommunicated simulations,
our space shuttle launches provide an excellent example of the kind of
activities which occur. In several of our 24 hour long shuttle launches
University School has acted as the space shuttle "Centennial." In fact,
the space shuttle "Centennial" is an existing full size reproduction of
the space shuttle which exists at University School. Other schools have
acted as alternate landing sites, Solar flare observatories, the Russian
Mir Space Station, reporters, and a variety of other components of a space
shuttle launch.
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Remote Proposal Submission
Software-Associated with The Mt Wilson Telescope.
This is an FTP site. There is a lot of information to look
through, but the effort is worth it. In fact, if you wish to use the TIE
telescope, you must stop here.
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Informal
Science Education Resources
From Griffith Observatory. Designed to create an easily
accessed suite of informative resources about the science and technology
of the Hubble Space Telescope, tailored for the informal science education
(ISE) community. These resources will assist that community in showcasing
HST and its associated science and technological advancements, thereby
increasing HST's visibility and relevance to the public.
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CERES
Through funding from NASA, faculty at Montana State University
and classroom teachers from across the nation have developed an extensive
library of on-line and interactive K-12 science education materials for
teaching astronomy. Closely aligned with the NRC National Science Education
Standards, these web based lessons make maximum use of exciting on-line
NASA resources, data, and images. In addition to classroom-ready materials
using contemporary teaching strategies, CERES has developed several on-line
NASA data search engines and two graduate level distance learning courses,
available over the internet to K-12 teachers.
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Chemistry
of Supernovae
Lesson Plan :
Students will observe visible spectra of known elements and identify
an unknown element or combination of elements by visible spectra.
Grade level
Grades 9 - 12
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Gamma
Ray Satellite Imaging
1.Students will be able to (a) simulate data transfer from
a gamma-ray satellite to a computer, and (b) create an image from these
data.
2.Students will use matrix addition or subtraction to operate on data
collected by a gamma-ray
detector.
3.Students will be able to locate discrete gamma-ray sources in the
Universe by using the scientific method.
Grades 6-10
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Stars
and Slopes
1.Students will apply the knowledge of plotting data and
obtaining a slope using a log-log coordinate system.
2.Students will determine the line of best fit from a set of data obtained
from X-ray astronomy
satellites.
3.Students will discover the relationship between slope and the classification
of stellar objects.
Grade Level : 10th to 12th + grades
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How
Big Is That Star
Have you ever wondered about how big stars actually are?
Have you ever wondered how
astronomers and astrophysicists determine the sizes of stars? Well,
everyone can learn how to do this by using the simple representations and
manipulating the mathematical equations which are illustrated and demonstrated
within this lesson.
1.Students will be able to explain the relationship between radius
and mass among a list of stars.
2.Students will understand how a the binary star system's orbit can
cause changes in the observed brightness of the system.
3.Students will determine the diameters of stars by analyzing data
and manipulating equations.
Grade Level : 6th through 9th grades
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Time
That Period
This lesson examines the idea of periodic behavior and
how it is determined from a set of data. The students will examine this
concept through a hands-on lab that involves a simple, student-made pendulum
which is followed up with critical thinking and performance assessment
style questions. Students will also analyze data received from high-energy
satellites of various binary star systems' orbital periods or stellar rotation
periods.
1.Students will recognize a periodicity within a set of data.
2.Students will learn how to complete and apply the method of
Folding to finding the period of the periodicity.
3.Students will apply the method of Folding to determine the
periodicity of pendulums, sample data, and orbits of binary star systems.
4.Students will learn an appreciation for basic astronomy and
astrophysics through the exposure of such topics embedded in this lesson.
Grade Level : 7th through 12th grades
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What
Is The Frequency (Wavelength)
This lesson is based on the concepts of frequency and wavelength,
how they relate to each other, and how they correlate with the colors of
the visible spectrum. The students will examine these concepts through
a hands-on lab that involves measuring and timing "wavelengths" by pullingadding
machine tape through a simple, student-made apparatus. This lab is
also followed up with critical thinking and performance assessment style
questions.
Students will discover and verify the relationship between Wavelength
and Frequency of the Electromagnetic Spectrum.
Grade Level : 6th through 9th grades
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Scaling
the Universe
We begin by creating a scaled-down map of the classroom
to familiarize students with scaling and distance on a very familiar level.
We continue by scaling the size of the solar system and continue this model
out to the edge of the local group. Also, in another model the distance
to the edge of the known universe is scaled to a comprehensible size by
setting the distance between the Sun and the Earth to the thickness of
a sheet of paper.
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Mapping
the Classroom
In order to gain a better understanding of the scale of
the universe, it is helpful to begin by calculating the size and scale
of something that is easily measurable. As a useful introductory exercise,
map the classroom in two dimensions at different scales so that the skills
of linear measurement, unit conversion and metric conversion are mastered
before distances between objects become difficult to imagine.
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Mapping
the Earth-Moon System
To begin this activity, scale the Earth to 16 inches. Many
globes come in this size, especially the inflatable beach ball kind sold
in many Nature stores. Once students understand that the size of the Earth
as represented by the globe requires the use of scale, ask a student to
guess the size of the moon compared to a 16 inch globe.
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Mapping
the Solar System and Nearest Star
This is an extension of Mapping
the Earth-Moon System. Impress the students further by shrinking the
Sun's scaled size down to 3 inches, or about the size of an orange. Depending
on the amount of time you want to spend on this activity, you may either
present the students with the 3 inch model of the Sun and ask them to guess
the size of each of the planets, or present objects that are the scaled
sizes of Jupiter and Saturn and ask the students which planets they think
these might represent.
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Finite
Wave Speed
An easy and effective everyday way to experience the finite
speed of light is in an analogy to sound. Sound is also a type of wave
with finite speed. The speed that a sound wave travels is, however, much
slower than the speed at which light waves travel. For this reason it is
much more easily measured by humans.
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Mapping
in Time
Have the students imagine that they are sitting on each
of a few planets, the Sun, the nearest star, the edge of the galaxy, the
Andromeda Galaxy, and the edge of the Local Group.
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