Stars and Galaxies Resources
Education Resources on Stars and Galaxies at LPI
We will place today’s powerpoints onto our Web site so that you may access them for
yourselves. Feel free to download and share with other teachers.
 Downloading the powerpoints will give you access to the notes for each slide—we
have included comments, resources, and Web sites in the note section.
 The powerpoints are not intended to be used directly as they are in K-12 classrooms.
You may edit them to use as appropriate.
The powerpoints will be located under the Resources section at:
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/stars_galaxies/stars.shtml
Websites—Activities
Education Activities on Stars and Galaxies at LPI
Many of our activities are available for download at
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/resources/stars_galaxies/stars.shtml
Cosmic Survey
One tool for assessing your classes’ prior knowledge
http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/seuforum/download/CosmicSurvey2003.pdf
Stellarium
http://www.stellarium.org/
Stellarium is planetarium software that shows exactly what you see when you look up at the stars. It's easy to use,
and free.
Active Astronomy
http://www.sofia.usra.edu/Edu/materials/activeAstronomy/activeAstronomy.html
The activities in "Active Astronomy: Classroom Activities for Learning about Infrared
Light" focus on improving student understanding of infrared light, which occupies the portion of
the electromagnetic spectrum between visible light and microwaves, the shortest of the radio
waves.
TERC Astrobiology: What Types of Stars Are in Our Universe?
(Chapter 2 - Worlds in Our Universe, Activity 3) Students produce an Hertzsprung-Russell diagram of 100 stars to
study color, temperature, and age relationships between stars as well as their frequency in stellar populations.
http://astrobio.terc.edu/samples/chpt2_act3.html
Requests for diffraction grating glasses:
Unofficially they are honoring requests - to receive glasses, send an e-mail
to conxglasses@athena.gsfc.nasa.gov
The e-mail should contain the following information:
* Full Contact Information
* (Name, Mailing Address, Phone Number, Email Address)
* Organization Name (School Name, etc.)
* Brief Description of use of the glasses
* Number of glasses requested (A typical request is for a "classroom set" of 25-35 glasses. Due to limited
inventory, they ask that you limit your request to 40 glasses)
Mapping the Galaxy Activity
One of a series of college astronomy lab activities, at
http://astronomy.nmsu.edu/astro/a110labs/labmanual/node14.html
Where is M13?
This free downloadable application helps you visualize the locations and physical properties of deep sky objects in
and around the Galaxy. It works well in conjunction with an activity about our Milky Way.
http://www.thinkastronomy.com/M13/index.html
Equitorial Sky Chart
http://astro4.ast.vill.edu/labs/sc1h.jpg
Build a Doppler Buzzer Ball
This site provides some background information about the Doppler effect and directions on building a Doppler
Buzzer Ball.
http://www.planet-scicast.com/experiment.cfm?cit_id=2697
Classifying Galaxies Activity at Imagine the Universe
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/teachers/galaxies/imagine/act_classifying_galaxies.html
How Fast Do Galaxies Move?
http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/seuforum/galSpeed/
By examining the spectrum of light from a galaxy, students determine whether the galaxy is moving towards or
away from Earth, and how fast.
Where is the center of the Universe?
http://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/hubble/tools/center.html
Online activity to model the Universe.
Measuring the Universe on Vimeo
http://vimeo.com/41434123
This video discusses parallax, standard candles, redshift, and more.
The Mysteries of Deep Space Timeline
http://www.pbs.org/deepspace/timeline/index.html
This interactive timeline allows you to learn about this history of the Universe. There are high school-level activities
as well.
Movies and Animations Using the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
 http://aspire.cosmic-ray.org/labs/star_life/support/HR_animated_real.html
 http://astro.unl.edu/naap/hr/animations/hr.html
 http://rainman.astro.uiuc.edu/ddr/stellar/beginner.html
Astronomy Simulations and Animations
http://astro.unl.edu/animationsLinks.html
A compilation of various online programs on astronomical topics. This site includes calculators and simulators for
stellar velocity, luminosity, parallax, the HR diagram, eclipsing binaries, the Milky Way rotation, and more.
Galaxies and Cosmos Explorer Tool
http://www.as.utexas.edu/gcet/index.html
This online web-based tool that allows the general public and students to actively engage in this exciting adventure
through quantitative analyses of HST images from the Galaxy Evolution from Morphology and SEDs (GEMS)
survey.
Materials
Diffraction Grating Glasses/3-D Glasses: http://www.rainbowsymphony.com/
UV Beads: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/?gclid=CLOds5KEwZgCFQsMGgod7kCNYQ
Color Filters: http://www.stagelightingstore.com/s.nl/it.A/id.7564/.f?sc=25&category=92159
The colors that we use are #74 (Night Blue), #90 (Dark Yellow Green), and #27 (Medium Red).
Websites --Information and Curriculum
Cosmic Times
Cosmic Times is a series of curriculum support materials that trace the history of our understanding of the universe
during the past 100 years, from Einstein's formulation of gravity to the discovery of dark energy. It consists of 6
posters, and each poster is accompanied by 4-5 classroom lessons ranging from middle- to high-school and
including at least on multi-disciplinary lesson.
http://cosmictimes.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.html
Imagine the Universe
A learning center for the young astronomer that presents space information for middle school to high school
students, including podcasts and multi-media, student activities, graphics, and a dictionary.
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/homepage.html
World Book at NASA: Galaxies
http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/galaxy_worldbook.html
A detailed article with background information about galaxies.
Stellar Evolution
http://chandra.harvard.edu/edu/formal/stellar_ev/
This site by the Chandra X-ray Observatory has detailed background information, and an interactive guide.
NASA's Space Science Resource Directory
A useful tool for locating NASA Solar System resources, for particular grade levels or resource types.
http://teachspacescience.org/cgi-bin/ssrtop.plex
Windows to the Universe—The Universe
A program of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, launches you into a variety of astronomy topics
and activities on all levels. The site is user friendly and includes Spanish translations.
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/the_universe/the_universe.html
American Museum of Natural History’s Astronomy magazine
For children ages 10–13, this Web site allows viewers to meet people who study astronomy and learn all about our
Sun, the Milky Way Galaxy, and the universe. Hands-on activities and games are included.
http://ology.amnh.org/astronomy/
Audio/Video
NASA's Central Operation of Resources (CORE)
CORE http://catalog.core.nasa.gov/core.nsf/CoreWtype?SearchView&SearchOrder=4&Query=solar+system
offers a complete list of Solar System resources for educators, including a variety of information, activities, and
tools to spark children's investigation. Resources are available as videos, CDs, and other products.
Private Universe Project in Science, 1995, The Annenberg Foundation & Corporation for Public Broadcasting,
ISBN 1-57680-370-8
This video workshop for educators explores alternative ways of teaching science concepts, and examines
misconceptions common to students of all ages. Order on line at http://www.learner.org/resources/series29.html or
call 1-800-LEARNER.