Astronomy Education - Directory of Online Resources

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Education > Science Education > Astronomy

See also our Space History page

Astronomy.com
An flashy education resource, especially suited for K12 students and teachers.
From the publishers of Astronomy Magazine.

Antimatter: Mirror of the Universe - (dead link)
An entertaining introduction written for a general audience. The site includes a Kid's Corner.
By CERN, European Organization for Nuclear Research

Art Institute of Chicago Museum

• Science, Art & Technology
  "...began as a year-long course offered by The Art Institute of Chicago to Chicago Public School science teachers interested in exploring the relationship between science and art within a museum setting... Teachers used the information provided to create written guides for museum visits with their students and lesson plans for in-class instruction. The program's overarching goal was to show science teachers that an art museum may be used as a visual library to augment and to enrich established high-school science curricula in chemistry, earth science, or physics."
  Sections include: Intro to Science and Art ; Art and Astronomy ; The Chemistry and Physics of Light and Color ; Perception, Light, and Color ; Conservation: Light in the Making and Viewing of Art ; Careers in Science, Art, and Technology ; Lesson Plans ; Self-Guides ; Glossary.

Astronaut Hall of Fame - (dead link)

Astronomical Resources on the Internet
Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, Spring 2002
Sections include: Starting Points ; Article & Preprint Databases ; Journals ; Books ; Catalogs and Data Centers ; Organizations ; Software ; Observing Programs ; Telescope Making ; Educational Resources ; Online Star Charts ; Terminology ; References.
By Joe Kraus, Science Librarian, University of Denver and Pete Banholzer, Goddard Space Flight Center Library

AstronomyDaily.com
"AstronomyDaily.com is the portal site for anyone with an interest is astronomy. Most of our pages contain observing information updated in real time and customized for your viewing location and time zone."
Free registration required.

Beyond Einstein
Structure and Evolution of the Universe: From the Big Bang to Black Holes
"The discoveries of Albert Einstein sparked the scientific revolution of the 20th century and rank among the greatest achievements of humanity. Recent developments show that we can now complete Einstein's legacy and, in the first decades of the 21st century, unravel the mysteries of the Universe that await us. ."
Sections include: The Science ; The Program ; What's New ; Press Room ; The Technology ; Education ; Life Cycles ; Resources ; People.
- Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA

The Center for Science Education
UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory

Connected: Earth Views of Space and Space Views of Earth - (dead link)
"The Department of Space Physics and Astronomy at Rice University has created the first online, up-to-date, digital museum accessible to the general public, by constructing six interactive displays of real-time earth and space science data, developed and tested at the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS) and now available for other museums and schools around the country."

Constellations Index
Includes general information on the 88 officially-recognized constellations, getting started, and practice constellation.

Cosmic Distance Scale
"This feature will give an impression of how immense our Universe is by employing a method used many times in 'Power of 10' films - that is, starting with an image of the Earth and then zooming out to the furthest visible reaches of our Universe."
By Maggie Masetti, NASA

CyberAstronomy
"...an interactive 3D tour of our Solar System including the Pathfinder voyage from Earth to Mars. CyberAstronomy provides valuable data and facts on each planet, their prominent moons, and other celestial wonders."

Exploratorium: Ancient Observatories

• ChichÈn Itz·
  Sections include: History ; Mayan Mythology ; Alignments ; Activities ; Resources ; Teacher's Guide.
• Chaco Canyon
  Sections include: Canyon ; Observation ; Seasons & Alignments ; Time ; Resources ; Teacher's Guide.

Exploring Planets in the Classroom: Hands-on Science Activities
"More than 25 hands-on science activities are provided in classroom-ready pages for both teachers and students for exploring Earth, the planets, geology, and space sciences."
By the Hawai`i Space Grant Consortium

Infrared Astronomy
A fun K12 site with photo galleries, classroom activities, educational links, and much more.
Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC), California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

International Space Station
Human Space Flight (HSF), NASA

Hubble: A View to the Edge of Space
Sections include: Place ; Ideas ; Tools ; People ; Hubble Live
From The Exploratorium

HubbleSite
Regular features include: News & Views ; Gallery ; Discoveries ; Sci-Tech ; edu.space ; Fun & Games.

• Hubble Space Telescope:
  New Views of the Universe
  "...a traveling exhibition highlighting Hubble's contributions to astronomy. Take a journey into Hubble's amazing universe through cool pictures, interactives, and movies."

Leicester University Educational Guide to Space & Astronomy
An informative K12 site with an extensive listing of educational links

Live from Earth and Mars
"...based at the University of Washington in Seattle and sponsored by NASA, is developing and will disseminate educational materials based on real time and retrospective Atmospheric Sciences and Space Sciences data and information."

The Meteoritical Society - (dead link)

• Educational Links - (dead link)

Mission to Mars - Athena Mars Exploration Rovers
Sections include: Mission Update ; Mars For Kids ; Educators ; Mars Facts ; The Mission ; Gallery ; News.

Mars Exploration Rover Mission Home (English or Spanish)
"NASA's Spirit Rover is starting to examine its new surroundings, revealing a vast flatland well suited to the robot's unprecedented mobility and scientific toolkit."
Sections include: Mars for Kids ; Mars for Students ; Mars for Educators ; Mars for Press ; Multimedia ; Overview ; Science ; Technology ; The Mission ; Features ; Events.
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, CalTech.

NASA - see also our Astronomy: NASA Sites page.

• Astronomy Picture of the Day
• Cooperative Satellite Learning Project - (dead link)
• Mars Exploration Program
• NASA Education Program
  • NASA Education Press Releases - (dead link)
  • NASA Resources for Students - (dead link)
    • Aerospace and Related Career Information
    • NASA Educational Television Resources for Students - (dead link)
    • NASA Internet Resources for Students - (dead link)
  • NASA Resources for Educators - (dead link)
    • NASA Curriculum Support Materials - (dead link)
    • NASA Internet Resources for Educators - (dead link)
    • NASA Multimedia Resources - (dead link)
    • NASA Spacelink Express
• NASA for Kids - (dead link)
• NASA Human Spaceflight - (dead link)
  • Gallery of Images, Video, and Audio
  • Human Space Flight (HSF) - Realtime Data
    Sections include: NASA Television ; Land Ground Tracks ; Sighting Opportunities ; Orbital Tracking ; Orbital Elements ; Weather.
• NASA Quest - An Educational Web Site
  "Dedicated to bringing NASA people, space and science to classrooms through the Internet."
  • Astro-Venture
    "...is an educational, interactive, multimedia Web environment where students in grades 5-8 role-play NASA occupations, as they search for and build a planet with the necessary characteristics for human habitation."
  • Women of NASA - (dead link)
    "...area offers opportunities to find out about their education, career journeys, and current work via online profiles, live webchats, interactive video webcasts, and textbased forums. Young women give peer perspectives of working at NASA through their adventure journals, photos and videos."
• Robotics Education Project
  "...is dedicated to encouraging people to become involved in science and engineering, particularly robotics. REP works to capture the educational potential of NASA's robotics missions by supporting educational robotics competitions and events, facilitating robotics curriculum enhancements at all educational levels, and maintaining a web site clearinghouse of robotics education information."
• Solar System Simulator
  Inputs include: Viewpoint and Target ; Date and Time ; Field of View ; Options.
  By David Seal.
• NASA - Stardust
  NASA's Comet Sample Return Mission
  Sections include: Overview ; Mission ; Science ; Technology ; Newsroom ; Education ; Gallery ; Links ; Comet Resources.
  • Wild 2 Sample - January 2, 2004
    "Team Stardust, NASA's first dedicated sample return mission to a comet, passed a huge milestone today by successfully navigating through the particle and gas-laden coma around comet Wild 2 (pronounced "Vilt-2"). During the hazardous traverse, the spacecraft flew within 240 kilometers (149 miles) of the comet, catching samples of comet particles and scoring detailed pictures of Wild 2's pockmarked surface."

__________

PBS - Exploring Space: The Quest for Life
Sections include: Meteorites & Life ; The Search for Aliens ; The Mars Prospect ; Essays

PBS - NOVA - MARS Dead or Alive
"NASA Gambles on two rovers sent to determine if the red planet ever had conditions suitable for life."
View the entire program online.
Sections include: Inquiry, Interview & Overview ; Video & Interactives ; Resources [New Images from Mars] ; Teacher's Guide.

PBS - NOVA - Origins
Companion website to the TV broadcast.
"Journey back to the beginning of everything: the universe, Earth, and life itself."
Sections include: Inquiry, Interviews & More ; Interactives & Slide Shows ; Resources: Links, Teacher's Guide.

PBS - NOVA - The Elegant Universe
"Eleven dimensions, parallel universes, and a world made out of strings. It's not science fiction, it's string theory...Brian Greene explains why string theory might hold the key to unifying the four forces of nature."
Sections include: Articles & Interviews ; Slide Shows & Interactives ; Resources ; Links ; Teacher's Guide ; Watch the Program (all three hours are available for viewing online).

PBS - NOVA - To the Moon
"The program chronicles the untold science and engineering story of how we got to the moon."
Sections include: Explore the Moon ; Lunar Puzzlers (Hot Science) ; Last Man on the Moon ; Hear the Space Pioneers ; Origin ; Text ; Resources.

PBS - Space Station
"A rare inside view of the next frontier in space exploration"

Space-Age Living: Building the International Space Station
This K12 site includes Teacher Tips and Resources
From DiscoverSchool.com

Telescopemaking.com
Sections include: Intro & Theory ; Telescope Plans ; Equipment ; Methods ; Components ; Online Tools.

UCLA Space Physics Center

• Education
  Sections include: Space Grant Activities ; Textbook ; Software ; Tutorials.

Understanding the Universe
"Join us on an exploration to answer some of these mysteries. We'll find out how vast the Universe is, how and when it all began, meet scientists who helped us understand space, and visit a few galaxies beyond our MilkyWay."
- Discovery Channel School

Windows to the Universe
"Our goal is to build a site that includes a rich array of documents, including images, movies, animations, and data sets, that explore the Earth and Space sciences and the historical and cultural ties between science, exploration, and the human experience."
- University of Michigan

See also our Space History page

Maintained by Mike Madin.
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