American Institute of Physics
African Americans in Astronomy and Astrophysics
A two-part lesson focuses on the contributions to the fields of astronomy and astrophysics of two African Americans: Benjamin Banneker and Dr. George Carruthers. In part one, scholars learn about Benjamin Banneker by examining his...
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Canada's Role in Astronomy and Space Science
Ninth graders, in groups, research a Canadian astronaut, developing a profile of their astronaut for presentation in a learning center. They visit the other groups' centers to explore more astronauts.
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Supernova Chemistry
Using spectroscopes, high school astronomy, physics, or chemistry learners observe emission spectra from several different sources. This stellar NASA-produced lesson plan provides terrific teacher's notes and a student handout. Make sure...
American Museum of Natural History
Being an Astronomer: Neil deGrasse Tyson
An interview delves deep into the life of famous astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson.
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The Guest Investigator Puzzle
Learners conduct a brief astrophysics lab matching the EUVE spectra of various kinds of "mystery" stars with the spectra of known stars taken at Extreme Ultraviolet and optical wavelengths to determine their type.
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Stars and Slopes
Students use the slopes of various curves plotted on log-log graph paper to classify stellar objects as binary stars, supernovae, or active galaxies.The data used in this instructional activity were obtained from X-ray astronomy satellites.
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How Big Is That Star?
Aspiring astronomers study stars. They compare stars and explain the relationship between radius, mass, and diameter. By creating a star simulation, they discover how a binary star system's orbit can cause changes in the observed...
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Time That Period
Physical science starters play with a pendulum in order to experience periodicity. Detailed procedures and a worksheet are included for day one. For day two, learners will use a graphing calculator to help them plot orbit data from a...
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Get the Picture!
Astronomers practice downloading data from a high-energy satellite and translate the data into colored or shaded pixels. As a hands-on activity, they use pennies to simulate high-energy satellite data and they convert their penny...
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Monster Functions in Space Science I
In this solar magnetic field activity, students are given 2 equations and use them to find the magnetic field strength and the Bp and Bz for given conditions. they express their answer using scientific notation.
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Super-Fast Solar Flares!
In this solar flares learning exercise, students observe a sequence of figures of a solar flare observed in 2003 from the Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager satellite. Students solve 6 problems including finding the scale of...
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Spelling List 35: Sight Words, Gk Roots Audio/Astro, and Academic Vocabulary
For this spelling list worksheet, students practice spelling words that are sight words, Greek roots audi/astro, and vocabulary. Students practice spelling 21 words total.
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Seeing Interference Fringes with a Telescope
Students construct an interferometer using a simple telescope. In this physics lesson, students explain how light waves create the fringe patterns. They observe patterns made by different objects in the sky and compare them.
