Curricular Resources in Astronomy
Here are a number of links to Internet sites which contain information and/or
other links related to Astronomy. Please read our
disclaimer.
Amazing
Space
- The Space Telescope Science Institute - the organization responsible for
the scientific operation of the Hubble Space Telescope - hired teachers to
develop a collection of K-12 web-based interactive astronomy lessons complete
with student activities and teacher guides. There are several different units
with topics on: Black Holes, Galaxies, Stars, the Solar System, Telescopes,
Hubble Space Telescope.
- Ask
an Expert: Astronomy
- CLN's "Ask an Expert" page has about 100 links to specialists in the field
who can serve as a valuable source of curricular expertise for both students
and teachers. Questions/answers on Astronomy may be found in our "All Subjects"
section at the top of the page, the "Science" section, as well as the general
"Reference" section.
- [An]
Astronomy Course for Students Using the Internet
- An Internet-based course on astronomy that should be adaptable to most
age and interest levels.
- Astronomy
Education Resources
- Here's a meta-list of links to educational astronomy sites with descriptions.
- Astronomy
WWW Resources
- This meta-list has categories of astronomical services, like general collections,
e-zines, specialized areas, and servers around the world.
- Athena
Curriculum: Space and Astronomy
- Athena has used geophysical and other data sets acquired via the Internet
to prepare curricular units on space and astronomy.
- BC's
Pacific Space Centre
- The on-line location of BC's H.R. Macmillan Planetarium and Gordon Macmillan
Southam Observatory. Increase your awareness about the space center's different
program offerings, and find out about the forecast for the night skies for
the upcoming month.
- Bradford
Robotic Telescope
- At this site you can control a remote and fully automated 46 cm telescope
connected to the Web. Just register (it's free) with this telescope, located
high on the moors in West Yorkshire, England and ask it to look at absolutely
anything in the Northern night sky. It decides when the conditions are good
enough to make observations, then posts the documentation, results, and photo
of your job.
- Comets
and Meteor Showers
- The "Comet" segment of this site contains accurate positions of each currently
visible comet, on-line star charts, photographs and information on interesting
historical comets. In the "Meteor" segment, information on meteor showers
is divided by month with information provided on each shower.
- Eric's
Treasure Troves of Science
- Extensive on-line encyclopedias of math and science. Included are encyclopedias
on Astronomy, Scientific Biography, Scientific Books, and Rocketry. Each section
is browsable alphabetically or searchable by keyword. Entries have a concise
explanation as well as cross links which can be quite extensive.
- Expanding Universe: A Classified Search Tool for Amateur Astronomy
- Here's a meta-list of links to astronomy www sites, but with a difference.
It uses a modified Dewey Decimal System to organize the links.
- Mission
to Mars
- The content of this ThinkQuest 1997 award winning site covers the history
of Mars, man's fascination with it, and our exploratory missions. There's
lots of information in the pages in the 'Mars Academy' or students can learn
about the planet through an interactive mission simulation in which they design
and execute a mission probe.
- NASA
Education Internet Links
- Links to the multitude of NASA educational resources.
- National
Air and Space Museum (Smithsonian Institution)
- Take a 'Virtual Tour' of this museum.
- Outer
Orbit
- This site has a number of curricular resources for students and teachers,
including: Space Chat (talk with professionals); Ask an Astronomer (question
and answer service); Today in Space (look through a telescope or link to an
online magazine/newspaper); Mission Mars (information about this project);
International Space Station (keep up to date with what's happening); and links
to other space related sites.
- Rader's
Interactive Space Exploration Center
- Instructional units on a range of topics within five major astronomical
sections: Universe, Galaxies, Stars, Solar System, and Explore. Generally,
each topic is presented within one or two screen pages.
- Science
for the Millenium
- This virtual exposition from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications
(NCSA) has a number of very extensive exhibits for astronomy students and
teachers. Movies and sound enhance the site but are not absolutely necessary.
- Cosmos
in a Computer Learn more about cosmology - the study of the universe
as a whole. Topics include: How did the universe begin? How did it come
to be in its present state? What can the universe's present structure
tell us about its evolution and ultimate fate? Why are computers essential
to understanding the universe? What does it take to compute the cosmos?
There are also lots of scientific animations.
- Spacetime
Wrinkles Questions addressed in this exhibit are: Who was Einstein?
What is gravity? What are black holes and gravitational waves? Where might
black holes lurk? How can we "see" them? What does it take to study black
holes? What happens if you disturb a black hole? What happens when two
black holes collide? Will Einstein's theory of gravitation continue to
prevail in decades to come?
- Whispers
for the Cosmos Learn more about how radio astronomers use computers
to analyze huge amounts of data in an attempt to answer questions such
as: Is space really empty? What lies between the stars? Can molecules,
including those we're made out of, form in space? How are stars born?
What determines the shapes of galaxies?
- SEGway
- The Science Education Gateway provides Earth and Space Science curricula
produced by teachers in collaboration with SEGway partners (e.g., NASA, Science
Museums). Lessons, activities and self-guided tutorials are categorized under
"Space Science", "Sun/Earth", and "Solar System." (Note: you may find some
of the same lessons in the web sites of its partners.)
- StarChild
- Designed for children, this site has two difficulty levels of content on
the Solar System, the Universe, and Space Stuff. Within each area, there is
a set of student activities that children can perform online.
- Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS)
- This site contains information about SEDS and about space science in general
for students at the high school or university level interested in forwarding
the cause of space exploration and development.
- Views
of the Solar System
- Views of the Solar System contains images and information about the Sun,
planets, moons, comets, asteroids, and meteoroids. There are over 220 pages
of information and 950 images.
- [The]
Whole Mars Catalog
- Information about Mars as well as Mars Missions.
- Windows
to the Universe
- Funded by NASA, this site contains Earth and Space Science documents, including
images, movies, animations, and data sets, targeted for elementary, middle
school and high school students. Documents provide not only scientific content,
but also information about the artistic, historical, and cultural connections
between science and our lives. Teacher resources include classroom activities
and educational links.
Note: The sites listed above will serve as a source of curricular content in Astronomy. For other resources in this subject area (e.g., curricular content in Earth Science, General Science, Life Science, or Physical Science), or for lesson plans and theme pages, click the "previous screen" button below. Or, click here if you wish to return directly to the CLN menu which will give you access to educational resources in all of our subjects.
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