Education

AAS

The AAVSO's Hands-On Astrophysics Curriculum (American Association of Variable Star Observers)

Applets http://jersey.uoregon.edu/vlab/ Applets on Inverse Square Law; Galaxy Photometry; Blackbody Radiation; Galaxy Sizes and the Hubble Law; Combine Stellar Spectra to synthesize a galaxy

Antikythera Mechanism - video on the secrets of the 2,000-year old computer capable of calculating planetary motions. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rUsgL2VGeU

ASP

Astronomy Camp -- University of Arizona Alumni Association Astronomy Camp - http://www.astronomycamp.org/

Astronomy Courses -- Online Courses

Astronomy Education Review (AER) -- http://aer.noao.edu-- Index: http://aas.org/teach/subject-index-papers-astronomy-education-review-2001-2013

Astronomy Textbook online by Andrew Fraknoi, David Morrison, and Sidney Wolff

Bad Astronomy http://www.badastronomy.com/ misconceptions

Books online - http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/onlinebks/online.htm

Birthday Stars activity by Timothy Ferris - http://www.pbs.org/seeinginthedark/explore-the-sky/birthday-stars.html

Careers -- Career Resources for Astronomy Students

Creationism -- In response to demands (in Kansas and elsewhere) that discussions of the Big Bang and the vast age of the cosmos be excluded from science curricula, the Astronomy Education Board of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) has put together an article for teachers on how we know the universe is old and that it changes with time. The illustrated article has been posted on the Web at: http://www.astrosociety.org/education/publications/tnl/56/ It is a special issue of the "Universe in the Classroom" newsletter on teaching astronomy in grades 3-12, published by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

CERES -- Montana State University -- a series of Internet-based Astronomy Lesson plans. The activities were developed by a team of teachers and scientists for the MSU/NASA Center for Educational Resources (CERES) Project for students at a variety of levels K-12. http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/

CLEA Gettysburg College/Project CLEA - http://www3.gettysburg.edu/~marschal/clea/CLEAhome.html - Information on astronomical laboratory exercises. Anonymous FTP: io.cc.gettysburg.edu Read the 00-README file there for further info. Resource materials for undergraduate and high-school astronomy laboratories. manuals and software for downloading, and links to other astronomical resources. From: marschal@harvard.edu (Larry Marschall)

Drake Equation Online (TERC) - http://astrobio.terc.edu/drake/

EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION FOR Astronomy Education

European Student Project Group -- Work Group #4 -- High school activities in astronomy

http://www.amtsgym-sdbg.dk/as/eaae-rep.htm

Earth Rotation - Rotation Of Earth Plunges Entire North American Continent Into Darkness [The Onion: February 27, 2006 - March 5, 2006 | Issue 42*09]

ExInEd--Hypercard Books for Macs http://www.stsci.edu/exined-html/exined-home.html

Eyes on the Sky--Feet on the Ground -- http://hea-www.harvard.edu/ECT/the_book/

Galileo 1610 - http://www.galileo1610.com - Mark Thgompson plays Galileo.

HR Diagram Simulators, (Steve Kluge): http://www.astro.ubc.ca/~scharein/a311/Sim/hr/HRdiagram.html or http://www.astro.ubc.ca/%7Escharein/a311/Sim/hr/HRdiagram.html

KidsAstronomy.com -- http://www.KidsAstronomy.com -- a dynamic children's Astronomy website.

Kinesthetic Astronomy, Space Science Institute (Nora McDevitt) I have been using Kinesthetic Astronomy (including body shadows) and the kids really get it. It is free. "The Sky Time lesson reconnects students with the astronomical meaning of the day, year, and seasons. Like all Kinesthetic Astronomy lessons, it teaches basic astronomical concepts through choreographed bodily movements and positions that provide educational sensory experiences.

LECTURES/PODCASTS

    • James Madison University lectures - http://www.jmu.edu/planetarium/Podcasts.shtml.

      • Telescopes as Time Machines, Dr. Jason Kalirai, James Webb Telescope, Jan. 24, 2013

      • 2012: We're All (Not) Gonna Die!, Dr. Phil Plait, Sept. 27. 2012

      • Climate Through the Ages, Dr. Jennifer Mangan, JMU, April 20, 2012

      • Time is Running Short! (and also Long): Cyclical Time, Renewal and Power in the Ancient Maya World, March 23, 2012

      • Reaching for the Stars: Space Exploriation & Humanity's Quest to Understand Everything, Dr. David Leisawitz, NASA, Feb. 24, 2012

    • Silicon Valley Lecture Series - http://youtube.com/svastronomylectures

Live from Antarctica http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/livefrom/livefrom.html

Light Pollution - International Dark Sky Association - http://www.darksky.org

Living in Space game--teacher page - http://www.childrensmuseum.org/cosmicquest/spacestation/teacher.html

Mars Project Phase One http://marsproject.com/

FINDING IMPACT CRATERS WITH LANDSAT - http://craters.gsfc.nasa.gov - In this classroom activity, students consider the sudden release of a tremendous amount of kinetic energy when an extraterrestrial object strikes the Earth. They write about the effects that such a collision might have on the land, atmosphere, water, and living things. Students then read descriptions of the actual effects of impact events and the evidence these leave behind. In small groups, they study satellite images that show possible evidence of impact events, selecting one or two images to interpret for the class, and explain how the image does or does not show evidence of an impact event. To demonstrate their understanding of the role of impact events in shaping the Earth, students write a series of guidance questions for a field expedition to determine whether or not a given landform is an impact crater. Recommended Level: Grades 5-8.

Fraknoi's Resource Guides - http://www.fraknoi.com

  1. Women in Astronomy: Their Accomplishments and Challenges - PDF

  2. Web Resources for Debunking Astronomical Pseudo-science - PDF

  3. Sources of Astronomical Images - PDF

  4. Free Lab Exercises for Introductory Astronomy Courses - PDF

  5. Copyright-free Images of all the Objects in the Messier Catalog - PDF

  6. Pluto, the Kuiper Belt, and Planet Nine - PDF

  7. Plays (and some Films) about Astronomers - PDF

  8. Light Pollution (and Radio Interference) - PDF

  9. An Annotated Catalog of Music Inspired by Astronomy - PDF

10. Science Fiction Stories with Good Astronomy - PDF

11. Black Lives in Astronomy - PDF

National Astronomy Education Projects Catalog - http://www.astrosociety.org/education/resources/naep.html - (ASP) Catalog includes workshops, curriculum, computer and audio-visual materials, newsletters, student programs, planetarium and amateur astronomy projects, and awards and grants.

NOAO programs -- http://www.noao.edu/education/noaoeo.html#ongoing -- The Use of Astronomy in Research Based Science Education(RBSE) -- http://www.noao.edu/outreach/rbse/

Olympiad -- International Astronomy Olympiad http://olympiads.win.tue.nl

Paper Plate Education website at http://analyzer.depaul.edu/paperplate

Planetariums

PhysLink--Online Physics and Astronomy Education Reference http://www.physlink.com/

Programs Using Real Astronomy Data - http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_classroom/teacher_research/otherpgms.shtml

Radio Astronomy

Research Based Science Education(RBSE) http://www.noao.edu/outreach/rbse/ a four-week summer workshop for middle and high school teachers interested in incorporating astronomy research within their science classes.

Research in Astronomy Education -- bibliographies

Science Fiction

Seasons

Seeing Impaired - Astronomy for Seeing Impaired from Noreen Grice - http://www.youcandoastronomy.com/

SEGway--NASA online science activities http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/SEGway/

SIMULATIONS/INTERATCTIVES

Skynet University - http://skynet.unc.edu/introastro/ourcouses/

Solar System scaling activities and scale models, with about 70 links to activity pages and various scale models: http://www.vendian.org/mncharity/dir3/solarsystem/

SOFTWARE

Solar System model Excel spreadsheet http://www.clarkfoundation.org/astro-utah/snippets/scale/

Space Explorers - http://www.space-explorers.com/

Spectroscopy Activities http://www.as.utexas.edu/stardate/spectroscopy/sp.html by Mary Kay Hemenway Ph. D., Astronomy Department, University of Texas

Surfing the Solar System, Treasure Hunt Game from Family ASTRO at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific http://www.astrosociety.org/education/surf.html

Telescope Technology for Teachers -- http://www.as.utexas.edu/stardate/ttt/ttt.html, also http://www.as.utexas.edu/mcdonald/scope/poster/poster.htm (University of Texas)

Telescopes Online

University of Alabama http://crux.astr.ua.edu/AstroHome.html University degree program information; images

Windows on the Universe http://www.windows.ucar.edu/