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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mars: Off the Charts--Until You Put It There

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students explore the night sky and make illustrations which are shared in class the next day. Distinctions are made between the stars and the planets and views of the constellations for the season are made available. The work of early...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Long Would It Take To Travel To the Stars?

For Teachers 8th - 9th
Students consider the amount of time that it would take to get to the star, Sirius using various modes of transportation, some practical and some whimsical. The practicality of physically going to another star system is explored in this...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Palm use in Astronomy

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners identify and recall common constellations by using a palm pilot with astronomy software. Students will use their Palm to assist them in correctly identifying constellations using a telescope.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Observing Mars in the Night Sky

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers compare and contrast the orbits of Earth and Mars, locate the planet Mars, and diagram its retrograde motion.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Finding the Pole Star

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students study the constellations fo the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia and their use in finding the Pole Star. They realize that other celestial objects--Sun, Moon and planets--share the rotation (and hence rise and set), even though their...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Take a Spin Through the Solar System

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders participate in a variety of activities to explore the Solar System in this unit.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Mystery Constellation

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Learners decipher two teacher chosen mystery constellations a month. They listen to stories, explain what they know about constellations and name the mystery constellation.
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Website
Harvard University

Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics: The Constellations

For Students 9th - 10th
Based on images from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, this is an excellent glossary of all the constellations, including the ones that make up the Zodiac. Find images, photographs, and an excellent background narratives concerning each...
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Website
University of Wisconsin

University of Wisconsin: The Constellations and Their Stars

For Students 9th - 10th
An excellent site dedicated to the constellations and information about the objects which make them up. Contains a great deal of information about various stars, galaxies and other objects, as well as details on how best to observe them.
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Lesson Plan
University of California

Cse: What's Your Sign? The Science Behind the Zodiac

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This paper presents the explanation behind the Zodiac signs. It discusses motions of celestial objects, the Plane of the Ecliptic, and the constellations of the Zodiac.
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Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Changing Constellations

For Students 3rd - 5th
Do you like to look up into the night sky? There are so many stars, it can be mind boggling. Some ancient people marked time by the changes in star patterns. We still use changes in constellation patterns to mark astronomical time. This...
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Handout
American Association of Physics Teachers

Com Padre Digital Library: Open Source Physics: Local Coordinates Model

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This astronomy simulation presents stars in their Altitude/Azimuth coordinates serving as an introduction to the celestial globe and equatorial coordinates.
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Graphic
Other

Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Sky Map

For Students 9th - 10th
This astronomical survey by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey is poised to be one of the most ambitious ever undertaken. When completed, it will provide detailed images covering more than a quarter of the sky, and almost a million galaxies...
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Handout
Other

Constellations Web Page: The Constellations

For Students 9th - 10th
Information about 88 constellations, including the myths associated with them and details of the major astronomical objects that are part of them.
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Website
University of Oxford (UK)

Museum of the History of Science, Oxford: Tycho Brahe

For Students 9th - 10th
This site contains information about Tycho Brahe as well as many pictures of him and his diagrams of the universe as he saw it.
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Website
Other

Sea and Sky: The Constellations

For Students 9th - 10th
Is that a lion in the sky? Find out what the constellations are, how they were named, and when stargazers might see specific ones throughout the year.
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Website
Other

Sea and Sky: Celestial Objects

For Students 9th - 10th
Empty space in outer space is not truly empty. Celestial objects fill the space not occupied by planets, stars, and such. This resource identifies these objects and further explains their existence.
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Website
Enchanted Learning

Enchanted Learning: Zoom Astronomy: All About Space

For Students 3rd - 8th
A fantastic collection of information about the solar system. Includes information on all of the planets, the moon, the sun, asteroids, comets, meteoroids, and stars. Also find puzzles, a dictionary, quizzes, classroom activities, and...
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Handout
Globio

Glossopedia: Stars

For Students 3rd - 8th
Many of the objects you can see in the night sky are stars, large objects in space that produce light. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, contains more than 100 billion stars. Stars are so far away that their light does not reach us for years....
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Lesson Plan
Utah Education Network

Uen: A Moon With a View

For Teachers 3rd
Understand the rotation of the earth and the appearance of movement of other bodies in the sky.
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Website
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Meteor Showers

For Students 3rd - 8th
This video segment adapted from NASA uses animation to illustrate the properties of meteor showers and comets. Included is are visualizations of a comet's tail and of Earth passing through a debris stream left behind by meteoroids.
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Handout
Cosmos 4 kids

Cosmos4 Kids: Long, Long Ago

For Students 3rd - 8th
This site explores constellations found in the sky. Watch a video on the site that explores the constellations found in the winter sky.
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Unit Plan
E-learning for Kids

E Learning for Kids: Science: Antarctica: Describe the Life Cycle of Stars

For Students 4th - 6th
Discover the stars with Peter. At his mom's research center, help Peter learn constellations and learn about characteristics of stars.
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Neh: Edsit Ement: Galileo: Revealing the Universe

For Teachers 6th - 8th
In this lesson plan, students will consider "Galileo: Revealing the Universe." The plan includes worksheets and other student materials that can be found under the resource tab.