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A nychthemeron or a day on earth is a deceivingly simple concept. Today we will examine that day on earth in detail. Perhaps uncovering a few surprises.

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Science Hub

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An inquiry approach is a method often used in science education. The question bank provides an initial list of questions about the secret lives of planets, stars and galaxies and places where their answers can be found.

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In this tutorial, we learn how to use the arrow keys to move the sprite, keep score, and make a shooting effect as we create a simple game. For more tutorials visit: http://mrteacherkevin.com/ Project Page: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/20059827/

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scroll down page to links to sites

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Year 7 Earth in Space | Irymple Secondary College

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Irymple Secondary College is set in the heart of the Sunraysia in the far North-West of Victoria.

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Let ClickView help with the time-consuming task of creating lesson plans for your next science or English class with our free lesson plan books.

Our three science lesson plan books each come with a variety of different lessons for topics in Biology, Physics, and Chemistry.

For English, help your students to understand and critically analyse the work of three Shakespearean classics.

Download the complete lesson plan books below.

If you would like more information on our lesson plans and accessing the supporting ClickView video resources, please contact ClickView.

Download our Science Lesson Plan Books

Detailed lesson plans for Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9 science classes in Biological, Chemical, Earth and Space, and Physical sciences.

Download our Shakespeare Lesson Plan Book

Complete lessons for A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet.

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Free Lesson Plans for Australian Educators

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Let ClickView help with the time-consuming task of creating lesson plans for your next science or English class with our free lesson plan books. Our three science lesson plan books each come with a variety of different lessons for topics in Biology, Physics, and Chemistry.

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Scootle provides Australian teachers with access to more than 20,000 quality-assured digital learning resources aligned to the Australian Curriculum.

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Earth and Space Science Units and Lessons Grades for 7-9

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Earth and Space Science Units and Lessons Grades for 7-9

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1. Lunar Crater Challenge: Students manipulate the forces of motion to place a ball in a cup at the center of a 6 foot diameter circle without entering the circle. A great connection to space exploration, this engineering design challenge represents placing a NASA rover into the middle of the Apollo lunar crater to explore it as a potential human colony site. View the full challenge here.

2. Space Lander Challenge: We recently featured this activity as one of our best STEM challenges ever because of the combination of science principles, a fun storyline, simple materials, and use of the design process. In the space lander challenge, Student teams build a lander to keep two marshmallow "aliens" inside a cup as it is dropped from various heights. Using straws, index cards, and mini marshmallows, students apply concepts of shock-absorption, drag forces, and stability, to create and test their designs.

3. Drag Device Challenge: Without the mess of an egg drop challenge, students build a device to keep a ping pong ball inside their rover during impact. Exploring the forces of gravity and air resistance, students design a drag device to slow down a payload while learning how engineers land rovers on other planets like Mars. Find more details on this challenge here.

Robotics competitions are the most popular of stage 3 STEM projects that bring together research, science concepts, math, and engineering design to solve open-ended problems. Students often present results to technical experts for feedback and evalution. They likely compete against other teams for a thrilling and inspirational experience. Below are two space-themed competitions:

1. Team America Rocketry Challenge: Compete with teams across the world on a rocket-twist to the egg-drop activity at the Team America Rocketry Challenge. A handbook is provided to guide students through physics principles and rocketry basics, but be prepared for intensive hands-on building. You may considering starting with basic model kits before progressing to this challenge.

2. Mars Colony Competition: In Space Club, we developed our own multidisciplinary competition. Students apply scientific concepts, math skills, critical thinking, research, and engineering design to plan a long term habitat on Mars. Students consider both engineering and mental health aspects, and answer questions like: How will colonists get food? What is the Martian environment like? Will our colony have a government? How do we prevent boredom? In the end, students present research and protoype to local professionals. Implement this project in your program with our detailed guide.

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Lunar Crater Challenge: Students manipulate the forces of motion to place a ball in a cup at the center of a 6 foot diameter circle without entering the circle. A great connection to space exploration, this engineering design challenge represents placing a NASA rover into the middle of the Apollo lunar crater to explore it as a potential human colony site.

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The activity links math, NASA, and astronomy. Students will learn all about the math used in NASA and complete cool activities to build their own math skills!

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Parents And Educators | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for Kids

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Resources for educators to teach students about NASA space and Earth science

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No matter how much you know, there is always something new to learn about science. While your college courses may cover the basics, you can get a more in-depth look at a wide variety of topics from Internet resources such as these great documentaries. These selections will help you explore everything from the inner reaches of the human mind to the outer areas of our universe and just about everything else in between. Better yet, they're all free to watch online so you can learn more without spending a dime.
Health and Medicine
These documentaries cover topics like health care, diseases, nutrition, nursing, and more so you can get great insights into health and medicine.
Drugs
Learn how drugs impact the brain and the variety of legal restrictions imposed upon them from these documentaries.
Genetics
From cloning to genetic disorders, these documentaries will shed some light on your DNA.
Evolution and Biological History
Learn more about life on earth, from the earliest cells to the evolution of humans, from these documentaries.
Physics
Even if you don't know a ton about physics, these great movies will show you how the universe works from the smallest particles to the biggest galaxies.
Environment
These documentaries focus on technologies and conservation efforts meant to preserve the environment.
Geology
In these movies, you'll be able to learn about the regions of the world, how Earth's processes work, and much more.
Space
Explore the solar system and beyond with these great space-focused documentaries.
Technology
These documentaries will help you learn about computers, robots and even the beginnings of electricity.
Nature
Study the natural world and the fauna that calls it home through these free documentaries.
Miscellaneous
Watch these films to fill in the gaps in your scientific knowledge.

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100 Best (Free) Science Documentaries Online - OnlineUniversities.com

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No matter how much you know, there is always something new to learn about science. While your college courses may cover the basics, you can get a more in-depth look at a wide variety of topics from Internet resources such as these great documentaries.

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Explore Christy Vilaire's board "Astronomy for Middle School" on Pinterest. | See more ideas about Outer space, Solar and Solar system.

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by Andrew Fraknoi (Foothill College & A.S.P.)

© copyright 2000 Project ASTRO, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 390 Ashton Ave., San Francisco, CA 94112
Reproduction of any kind without express written permission is forbidden. Contact the author at: fraknoiandrew {at} fhda.edu

This resource list includes a small selection of especially effective astronomy activities designed for K-12 classes and science projects. We focus on those activities that are either hands-on, or at least encourage students to think for themselves, and not merely follow a cookbook recipe or fill in a few blanks. Each listing has a brief summary and comments; note that these comments are the opinion of the list's compiler and are not the "official policy" of Project ASTRO or the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Another person in astronomy education may have selected a different list of activities and may have had different things to say about them. Additions or suggestions for future editions of this list are most welcome.

The Web is now a huge, and mostly unorganized, repository of information, and we make no claim that our list is complete. Instead, we simply hope that it can introduce you to the wide range of organizations and institutions that are working to put astronomy activities on the web, and to give you leads for activities that contain reasonable astronomy and emphasize hands-on, inquiry-based learning.

Several large collections of astronomy activities on the Web (mostly sponsored by NASA) that can be printed out as entire books are summarized in the last section.
Classification: Table of Contents:
1. General Astronomy
2. Moon Phases and Eclipses
3. The Seasons and the Sun in the Sky
4. Constellations and Sky Observing
5. The Scale of the Solar System
6. Planets and Satellites: General
7. Planets and Satellites: Specific Worlds
8. Comets, Asteroids, Meteors, and Meteorites
9. The Sun
10. Stars and Stellar Evolution
11. Galaxies
12. Cosmology
13. Light and Color
14. Telescopes, Observing, and Instrumentation
15. The Universe at Many Wavelengths
16. The Search for Life Elsewhere
17. Debunking Pseudo-science
18. Interdisciplinary Approaches to Astronomy
19. Appendix: Some Activity Books That Can be Printed Out
General Astronomy
Astronomy in the Marketplace:

In this classic activity by Dennis Schatz, groups of students are asked to come up with a list of astronomical terms that are used in business and commerce, such as Saturn cars, and Mars candy bars. You must scroll down past the main article to get to the activity. [a]

Cosmic Calendar:

Students learn to scale the history of the universe since the big bang to a one-year calendar, noting where significant events (such as the formation of the Earth or the rise of humans) would fall in that year. Based on a suggestion by Carl Sagan. [m,h]

Image Really Works!:

Astronomer Elizabeth Roettger introduces and gives basic instructions for the use of a free program called Image, for image processing. She suggests both terrestrial and celestial images to play with and demonstrates a few simple techniques. [h]

Picture an Astronomer:

Students are asked to imagine an astronomer and then to draw a picture. No clues are given about the astronomer's race, sex, or age. Students discuss why they drew the pictures they drew and why they have the mental images of scientists that they have. [a]

Stellar Travel Times:

Students learn to understand the concept of a light year by calculating distances to the stars in other units, such as bike years, car years, and Space Shuttle years. Part of the SETI Institute Life in the Universe curriculum. [m,h]
table of contents Moon Phases and Eclipses
Birthday Moons:

Students use web-based lunar-phase displays to find the phase of the Moon for their birthday this year and in other years. They then place their birthday moon in the context of the pattern of moon phases. Good beginning activity for younger students, but should be followed by encouraging students to observe the Moon in the real sky, not just the computer. [e]
table of contents The Seasons and the Sun in the Sky How Many Days are in a Year?
This calculational activity by Evan Manning helps familiarize students with the Gregorian calendar, and then asks them to come up with a calendar system for another planet where the year is also not an integer multiple of days. [m,h]

Length of the Day:

In this advanced observing activity by Steven Edberg, students observe the transit time of the Sun and the stars and discover that the solar day is not equal to the sidereal day. [h]

Making a Sun Clock:

Instructions for building a sun-clock, using their print-out and a compass, to measure local solar time. [e, m]
table of contents Constellations and Sky Observing
Create a Constellation:

To help students see how different cultures invented different visual interpretations of the same groups of stars, they are given a "new" star constellations and asked to draw a figure connecting many of the stars and then to invent a legend to go with it. Comes with a nice resource sheet showing how Ursa Major was seen by many different cultures. Part of the "Astro Adventures" book by Dennis Schatz and Doug Cooper. [e,m]

Find That Planet:

Alan Gould guides students on how to use the Web to find the location (ephemeris) of a planet in the sky for their location on Earth and their selected observing time and then to plot the positions they obtain on a sky map. [m,h]

Pinhole Protractor:

This activity, by Gene Byrd and Renato Dupke, teaches students to build and use an inexpensive device for estimating the angular sizes of objects. You need to scroll down past the main article to get to the activity. [m,h]

Sky Paths: Studying the Movement of Celestial Objects:

Basic, open-ended observing activity for young children, in which they learn awareness of motions in the day and night sky, and discuss how sky-related myths might come about. [e]
table of contents The Scale of the Solar System
Build a Solar System:

Offers a spreadsheet to make a scale model of the solar system and beyond. Lets you scale things to the unit of a sheet of toilet paper, so students can measure scale by unrolling a roll of it. [a]

Cosmic Wheels: Measuring the Orbits of Planets:

Out in the playground, students make a model of the orbits of the planets and their orbital periods. Suggests using part of a videotape to give clues, but can easily be done without the video. Part of the SETI Institute Life in the Universe curriculum. [e]

Grapefruit Saturn:

Students construct a scale model of Saturn and its ring system. [m,h]
How High Up is Space?
Students construct a scale model of the Earth's atmosphere, where the height of Mt. Everest is equal to the width of a pencil. Then they see where different things (airplane flights, the beginning of space, the Hubble) fit on that scale. Most students are quite surprised by the results.

Scrunch the Universe:

Very basic activity, building a scale model of the Earth-Moon system; also teaches the simple math of ratios and scaling. [e, m]

The Thousand-Yard Model: The Earth as a Peppercorn:

Making a scale model of the sizes and spacings of the planets using common household materials. A classic activity by Guy Ottewell. [a]

Toilet Paper Solar System:

A classic activity by the late Gerald Mallon is redone by Elizabeth Roettger. Students use rolls of toilet paper to measure of the scale of the solar system. [e,m]
table of contents Planets and Satellites: General
Changing Faces: Solar & Planetary Rotation:

Students model and explore how we tell a body in space is rotating. First they simulate rotation in the school yard, and then they watch movies on the internet that show both planetary features and sun-spots rotate. [e,m]

Crazy Craters:

In this nice activity from the book Moons of Jupiter from the GEMS Program at the Lawrence Hall of Science, students do a variety of activities to simulate how cratering occurs by dropping and throwing objects at a chocolate-powder surface on top of flour. This is perhaps the most thorough version of a classic activity (see the "Impact Cratering" ones later in this section.) [a]

Flexing Muscles and Moons:

Students measure the effect of gravitational flexing (which keeps Io and Europa's interior warm) by taking the temperature of some flexible rubber balls. They also do calculations about the force of gravity. [m]

How Much Would You Weigh on Distant Planets:

Students view Web movies of astronauts on the Moon and discuss what they can learn about one's lunar weight; a calculator is provided to get their weight on other planets; a discussion of the causes of weight and gravity is then suggested with different hypotheses. [m]

How Old Are You [On Different Planets]:

Simple calculation activity to figure out your age on worlds with different orbital periods. [e,m]

Invent an Alien:

This classic activity by Dennis Schatz asks students to invent a more-or-less plausible life form that could survive on one of the moons and planets in our solar system. [a]

Impact Cratering:

Students drop projectiles into a tray of sand, make craters on various types of surfaces, and measure their results in this set of projects by Ron Greeley. [m,h] (A similar activity, with more detail, is at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/education/videos/playVideo.cfm?videoID=14)

Impact Craters:

Students simulate planetary impacts by throwing hard objects onto a simulated lunar surface. Good as far as it goes, but fails to point out a crucial difference with the real world: on the planets, the impacting bodies explode making craters much bigger and rounder than the ones the students will obtain. [m,h]

Making Months:

A horrible web address hides a cute little calculation activity by Evan Manning that emphasizes the difficulty of making calendars from unconnected astronomical periods, by asking students to come up with a calendar that will work for an imaginary planet. [m.h]

Mapping the Topography of Unknown Surfaces:

Teams of students making a martian landscape (from contour maps) inside a shoe box, while other teams use probing rods to figure out the topography without looking (much as a radar altimeter in a spacecraft helps scientists do). This is an adaptation of the Venus Topography box activity (see next section) that can be used for any world. [m,h]

Playground Ellipse Activity:

Very basic activity in which students construct an ellipse, using rope and two stakes in the ground. [e, m]

Robots from Junk:

Student teams design a simple "rover" that can explore its environment, using suggestions and easy-to-find materials (simulating how the Mars Pathfinder rover was designed.) More engineering than science, this activity is included here as a placeholder for dozens of such activities found around NASA sites. [h]

Search for Ice and Snow:

In this cute activity by Alan Gould, students pretend they are alien visitor desperate for snow and ice, and use a web-based selection of Earth images (from space) to figure where the ice and snow are on our planet. The technique has applications in finding icy regions on other worlds. [e,m]

Solar System Trading Cards:

Simple web-based interactive game in which students answer factual questions about the solar system and collect "solar system trading cards". It's no threat to Pokemon, but if you teach solar system factoids to young kids, this may be a fun review. [e]

Sun's Impact on Earth's (and Other Planets') Temperatures:

Use data from the internet to examine planetary temperatures and weather patterns, and then to test hyptheses about the Sun's effects on planetary climate [m,h]

Take A Spin Through the Solar System:

Students use the internet to gather information and images to help determine the rotation rate of bodies in the solar system.

Toilet Paper Geologic Time Scale:

Elizabeth Roettger's activity uses a roll of toilet paper to measure out the 4.6-billion year time span since the Earth formed to scale. Includes a list of major events in biology and geology over that span. [h]

Your Weight on Other Worlds:

Presents a behind-the-scenes calculator to help students figure out what they would weigh on other planets, moons, and stars. Some teachers may prefer to have students do the calculations on their own. [e,m]
table of contents Planets and Satellites: Specific Worlds
Exploring Mars: Geography & Mission Planning:

Students are asked to research what martian explorers might find on Earth at the latitudes and longitudes where we landed spacecraft on Mars. [m,h]

Exploring Mars: Old, Relatively:

Students examine an image of part of the Mariner Valley complex on Mars with craters and landslides, to see which features formed in what order. The web-based image has the property that students can click on any part of it to get more information. [m,h] (A similar activity using an image with outflow channels and craters is found at: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/expmars/channels.html)

Graphing Stratospheric Ozone:

Downloading and making graphs from satellite data about concentrations of ozone in the Earth's atmosphere; encourages discussion of social issues involved. [h]

How Does Flowing Water Shape a Planet's Surface:

Interesting activity, in which students use an inexpensive "stream tray" to simulate the flow of water on sandy terrain, compare their results to features seen in martian images, and then try to replicate some of the features seen on Mars. Has good instructions and background material. [m,h]

How Thick is the Earth's Atmosphere?:

Just a quick calculation activity to show students how thick the Earth's atmosphere is compared to the radius of the solid Earth. [m,h]

Incredible Light Bulb/Egg Drop Challenge:

To simulate the dropping of the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft on Mars using airbags, teams of students are challenged to find a way to drop an egg or lightbulb with enough cushioning to prevent them from breaking. Fun! [m,h]

Investigating the Martian Polar Caps:

Students use internet resources and image processing to measure and compare the martian and terrestrial polar caps at different seasons, and analyze their results. [m,h]

Jovian System Scale Model:

A brief activity for younger children to make a human scale model of the Jupiter system and to act out how the Galileo probe and orbiter entered the system. [e]

Looking for Young Features on Europa:

This is an image processing activity (using a free program called NIH Image) in which students analyze an intriguing image of Europa sent back by the Galileo spacecraft and learn how to tell the relative ages of the features on that satellite's surface. [m.h]

Mars Landform Identification:

Straightforward activity by Peter Mouginis-Mark, in which students are given definitions of various geological landforms that can be seen on Mars and are then shown Viking orbiter images and asked to identify which types of landforms can be seen on each image. Comes with a visual identification key. [m,h]

A collaborative group activity in which teams of students use internet resources to develop a traveler's guide for martian explorers. [m,h]

Martian Sun-Times:

An interesting activity by two teachers at the University of Chicago Laboratory School in which students become reporters for a martian newspaper, and have to do stories about the weather on the red planet. Students get martian weather information from the Web and then make deductions about current weather, seasons, climate, dust storms, etc. [m.h]

Venus Topography Box:

This classic activity, developed by Larry Lebofsky and his collaborators, simulates the exploration of a cloud-shrouded world with radar. You set up a "terrain" inside a closed box, and then students explore it with long probes (such as chopsticks) through holes in the box cover. Fun and instructive. (There is a good print version of this in Universe at Your Fingertips. See also "Mapping the Topography of Unknown Surfaces" in the previous section.) [a]

What Can Craters Tell Us about a Planet?:

This activity is very similar to the "Crazy Craters" and the two impact crater activities listed in the previous section, but is fleshed out with specific information about martian craters. Students brainstorm about craters seen on images sent back from Mars, try to replicate them by making their own craters, and then are challenged to explain more complex landforms on the red planet. [m.h]

What Can Sand Indicate About How and Where Water Flowed:

Students examine different kinds of sand and apply what they learn to analysis of martian sand samples. The teacher has to go out and find a variety of sand samples for the whole class, which may deter some teachers. [m,h]

What is So Special about Pathfinder's Landing Site:

Students look at images of the Ares Valley region of Mars, where Pathfinder landed, and try to see what they can learn from them about the geology and geological history of the region. Unfortunately, the activity was written before Pathfinder landed, and has not been updated with what the mission actually discovered. [m,h]
table of contents Comets, Asteroids, Meteors, and Meteorites
Edible Rocks:

Fun activity, part of the excellent Meteorite Mysteries package (see the last category in this listing), to show students how the internal structure of meteorites is analyzed. Students get or make a variety of dessert bars that have internal structure and make field notes about them using geologic vocabulary. Recipes are included. [e,m]

Making a Comet in the Classroom:

Using some dry ice and common materials to make a model comet that can be seen to sublime. A classic activity by Dennis Schatz. [a] (also available at: whyfiles.news.wisc.edu/011comets/crecipe.html)

Measuring the Motion of a Close-Approach Comet:

Students use downloadable photos of Comet Hyakutake and a downloadable image processing program to measure the comet's motion. Mainly involves following instructions, but teaches some useful techniques, and the NIH Image Software is very powerful. [h]
table of contents The Sun
Are Sunspots Really on the Sun:

Encourages students to use solar images with sunspots to help decide whether sunspots are really on the Sun or the shadows of objects circling the Sun. Would be even better if it encouraged students to think the method through for themselves. [m,h]

Interview Mr. Sol:

Cute little activity in which younger students "interview" the Sun as a way of encouraging them to research various topics on the Stanford Solar Center web site. [e]

Magnetism and the Sun:

A guided tutorial, with activities, for high school students who are taking pre-calculus math, on basic aspects of magnetism (and the applications of those ideas for the Sun.) [h]

Motion of a Coronal Mass Ejection:

A quick calculation activity in which student measure SOHO images to obtain the size and speed of material ejected by the Sun. [m,h]

Observing the Sun Safely:

John Percy gives viewing instructions, techniques for projecting an image of the Sun, and some solar observing projects. You need to scroll down past the main article to get to the activity on this site. [m,h]

Reflections of a Star: How to Find the Angular Diameter of the Sun:

Use a mirror in a water bottle and a screen to see a safe image of the Sun, and then figure out the sun's angular diameter from the way the Earth's spin causes the image to move across the screen. [m,h]

Retrieving Solar Images:

Instructions on how to retrieve images of the Sun taken by spacecraft for plotting the numbers and motions of sunspots. This basic activity precedes many of the other activities found on the useful Stanford Solar Center site. [a]

Solar Brightness:

Use a grease spot photometer to compare the brightness of the Sun to that of a lamp and then estimate the power output of our Sun. [h]

Solar Music & Helioseismology:

Students discover how you can learn about an object by listening to its vibrations; in this case, by playing with musical triangles, bottle harmonicas, and slinky's. Interesting, even if you don't think elementary students need to know about helioseismology. [e]

Sun's Impact on Earth's Temperature:

Use data from the internet to examine planetary temperatures and weather patterns, and then to test hyptheses about the Sun's effects on planetary climate [m,h].

See also the Changing Faces activity under planets.
table of contents Stars and Stellar Evolution
Black Hole Scale Model:

Quick math activity that asks students to calculate scale models of a binary star system with a black hole in it. [h]

Guest Investigator Puzzle:

Teaches students about how research is done with astronomical satellites, about the spectra of different types of stars in the extreme ultraviolet, and then challenges them to identify the type of a star by comparing its spectrum to known examples. A complex, but interesting, set of activities, from the staff of the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer satellite. [h]

How Hot is That Star:

This is mostly an on-line tutorial on how we use radiation from the Sun and the stars to measure their temperatures and other characteristics, which encourages students to search the web. We include because there is an interactive H-R diagram activity and other touches of recognizing that students learn better if they do things for themselves.

How Old Are the Jewels of the Night:

Students make an H-R diagram of stars in a cluster, and then learn about stages in the lives of stars. Requires printing an image on a color printer. [h]

Life Cycles of Stars:

Students are given pictures of human beings and of massive stars in different stages of their lives, and are asked to discuss and assemble them in sequence. Nice review activity after studying stellar evolution. [h]
table of contents Galaxies
Classifying Galaxies:

Students become familiar with Hubble's (somewhat dated) galaxy classification scheme and then try to fit galaxy images into that scheme. (A better version is in Universe at Your Fingertips.) [h]

Galactic Inquiry:

Similar to the one above, this is another web-based galaxy sorting activity. It too suffers from using Hubble's outdated system, and not bringing in more modern views of galaxy evolution. But it's a good starting point for beginners. [h]

Galaxies Galore:

In this basic web-based activity, students build a galaxy like our own out of components, learn to identify different types of galaxies, and then play matching and other "card games" with galaxy images. [e]

Hubble Deep Field Academy:

Students work with real images from the "Hubble Deep Field" - a long exposure view of the most distant galaxies - as they learn about galaxy classification and estimating galaxy distances. (Good use of real data!) Some of the "too-cute" web features may discourage older students, but hard-copy versions are available and can be down-loaded. [m,h]
table of contents Cosmology
The Expanding Universe:

An activity on the Hubble Law, where students measure the separation of dots on an expanding balloon and derive the relationship. Involves learning about cepheids and cosmic distance measurement. [h]
table of contents Light and Color
Electromagnetic Radiation on Trial:

Amongst some more routine suggestions for investigating radiation, there is a gem of an idea to stage a trial about whether one or more bands of the electro-magnetic spectrum have done more good or more harm for humanity. [h]

Fingerprints for Light Sources:

Very basic introduction to spectra, using a homemade box to hold a diffraction grating. [m,h]

Inverse Square Law:

Students measure how light from a source spreads out using graph paper or a perf board. [m,h]

Making a Rainbow:

Students make a color spectrum in the classroom and then use simple color filters to examine their own ideas about color. [a]

Persistence of Vision:

Use a cardboard tube with a narrow slit to show how your eye adds together strips of light to give you the impression of a larger image. Can be applied to television or to the way information from space probes is added together strip by strip. [a]

Star Light, Star Bright:

This is an interactive tutorial on the electromagnetic spectrum, and how we use radiation to measure the temperature of stars. What makes this hands-on is that students can put in different parameters and see the effect on the screen. At the end students apply what they have learned to visual data from the Hubble. Requires a reasonably modern computer and modem. [m,h]

What's the Frequency, Roy G. Biv:

Basic activity in which students pull adding machine tape marked with wave cycles through a portal and keep track of frequencies. [m]

Why the Sky is Blue:

This demonstration from the Exploratorium Snack-book of science activities lets students demonstrate how molecules scatter light and change the colors of the beam. [m,h]

Your Pupil Changes Size:

Use a magnifying glass and a mirror to examine how the pupil of your eye changes size in response to varying light levels. [a]
table of contents Telescopes, Observing, and Instrumentation
Mission Mastermind:

This is more about space technology than astronomy, but in this interactive module, students simulate what the astronauts go through when they go up to service the Hubble Space Telescope. Includes warm-up activities (such as simulating working in space by wearing thick gloves and trying to manipulate objects behind a screen), on-screen interactions, and follow-up activities that include writing tasks. [m]

Every Picture Tells a Story:

Students are shown a drawing that can be interpreted in two ways and then apply what they learn to planetary images. [e,m]

Mountain Quest:

Students organize into research teams to recommend locations and characteristics for a new ground-based observatory; develops web-based research skills and teaches about requirements for a modern astronomical observatory. [m,h]

Name That Angle:

An activity by Scott Hildreth that explores the idea of angular resolution, helps develop math skills, guides students to doing analogies, and explains the resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope. [m,h]

Remember the Egg:

Students train their ability to look for subtle features while observing through telescopes by closely examining a carton of eggs and trying to distinguish among the eggs with drawings good enough so another group can tell which egg is which. Very clever. [a]

Astrophotography for Teachers & Students:

Some hints and activities for beginning photography of the night sky. Scroll down a bit to get to the write-up. [m,h]

Digital Images: From Satellites to the Internet:

This activity shows students how images are converted into digital bits, and how they can communicate simple information using black and white squares. [m]
table of contents The Universe at Many Wavelengths
About Once A Day:

Uses the timing of gamma-ray burst discoveries with the Compton Observatory to teach students basic statistical concepts by looking at the data for 20 bursts. We only wish the statistical operators needed had been defined in the activity itself. [m,h]

Herschel's Infrared Experiment:

Instructions for recreating the 1800 experiment with which William Herschel discovered the existence of infrared radiation, using thermometers and the spectrum of sunlight. [h]
table of contents The Search for Life Elsewhere
Inventing Life Forms:

Teams of students roll dice to pick some characteristics of an imaginary species on another world and then have to design an life-form with the characteristics the dice have assigned to them. Involves a great deal of thinking about how other species on Earth differ from us and each other. Part of the SETI Institute Life in the Universe curriculum. [m,h]

Lotto or Life:

Compares estimating one's chances of winning the lottery to estimating the chances of the existence of extra-terrestrial intelligence (using the Drake Equation). Assumes some background in statistics and the Drake Equation. [h]

See also "Invent an Alien" under the Planets and Satellites category.
table of contents De-bunking Pseudo-science
Sun, Shadows, Surface Structure, and the Face on Mars:

Students use modeling clay and a bright light source to explore the kinds of shadows features on another planet might cast, and then examine the shadows on Mars images to see what they can learn from them. Then they look at the infamous "Face on Mars" image to understand what role shadows play in the misinterpretation of such images. [m,h]

Testing Astrology:

A suite of activities testing astrological claims, including: charting the birthdays of US presidents, comparing horoscopes in different newspapers, and mixed-up horoscopes. (Includes a skeptical article and bibliography about astrology.) [m,h]
table of contents Interdisciplinary Approaches to Astronomy
Cosmic Code:

Teaches younger kids about the use of binary numbers in science and technology, and then has them decode a message using a binary numbers code. [e]

A Flag for Mars:

Students discuss the symbolic meaning and history of flags on Earth, and then design a flag for planet Mars, discussing what such a flag might mean, and how has the right to "own" another planet like Mars. [m,h]

In this collaborative group activity, teams of students use the internet to find moon myths in a number of cultures and then try to discern the astronomy behind each myth. There is a section on researching moon missions that just seems tacked on to curry favor with NASA. [e,m]

A Timely Matter:

A brief calculation activity that helps students get a better feel for large numbers by calculating times of past events in hours instead of years. [e]

To Terraform or Not to Terraform:

Engages students in discussions, debates, writing projects, etc. focused on the ethics of "invading" Mars with Earth organisms or even people, especially given that Mars may at one time have developed life of its own. [m,h]

See also "Electromagnetic Radiation on Trial" in the Light and Color section, and "Mars Quest" in the Planets & Satellites: Specific Worlds section.
table of contents Appendix: Some Activity Books That Can be Printed Out
These guides are typically in "pdf" format, which means they require Adobe's free Acrobat Reader software to print out. But this software is easy to download (each site has instructions and links on how to do it) and the books come out very nicely formatted. This is not an exhaustive list, but can introduce you to some of the types of materials that are available. Most of these were funded by NASA (and suffer a bit from "NASA chauvinism", where mostly NASA-related research and educational materials are thought worth mentioning.)

Cassini Mission Teacher Guide:

A field test version with good activities and background information about the Saturn system and the Cassini mission, which is scheduled to enter Saturn orbit in 2004.

Everyday Classroom Tools:

This excellent K-6 curriculum addresses very basic ideas about light, shadows, celestial motion, latitude and longitude, telling time, and the seasons. It was developed by astronomers and educators at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and uses hands-on inquiry-based activities.

Eyes on the Sky, Feet on the Ground:

From the same group as "Everyday Classroom Tools", this book features additional activities for kids on the Earth's motions, calendars, maps, planets, and the Moon. The activities are divided into groups by topic, and must be printed out a group at a time. A lot of thought and care has gone into this project.

Exploring Meteorite Mysteries:

Superb set of activities from NASA's Johnson Space Center, several of which are included in the ASP's More Universe at Your Fingertips.

Exploring the Moon Teacher's Guide:

Very good set of activities about the Moon and planetary geology.

Mars Exploration Curriculum:

An extensive curriculum on missions to Mars, developed by TERC (an educational consulting firm) and Mars scientists at JPL. We have listed some of the activities from this curriculum separately in the Mars section, above.

Planetary Geology Teacher's Guide:

Good sets of activities and background information on the geology of planets and satellites and how we explore other worlds.

Solarscapes: Sunspots and Rotation:

Excellent short curriculum focusing on the Sun, with well-thought-out hands-on activities. (One of these is featured in the ASP's More Universe at Your Fingertips.)

Space Based Astronomy:

Intriguing activities and materials on space physics, and how we explore the environment between planets, for grades 5 up.

Think Small in a Big Way:

Comet related activities from the Stardust Mission (for grades 5-8).
table of contents

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by Andrew Fraknoi (Foothill College & A.S.P.) © copyright 2000 Project ASTRO, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 390 Ashton Ave., San Francisco, CA 94112 Reproduction of any kind without express written permission is forbidden. Contact the author at: fraknoiandrew {at} fhda.edu This resource list includes a small selection of especially effective astronomy activities designed for K-12 classes and science projects.

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Kids learn about astronomy, the study of outer space including the stars, planets, comets, black holes, and the Solar System. History and astronomers in this astronomy for teachers and kids section.

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Educational Games, Worksheets, and More for Kids

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An Educational platform for parents and teachers of pre-k through 7th grade kids. Support your kids learning journey with games, worksheets and more that help children practice key skills. Download, print & watch your kids learn today!