Curated OER
Astronomer Research
Learners discover the contributions of early astronomers and scientists. In this research skills lesson, students research electronic and print sources about Galileo Galilei, Aristarchus, Hipparchus, Claudius Ptolemy, Nicholas...
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Precession
Students explain how Hipparchus, around 130 BC, used a shift in the predicted location of a lunar eclipse to detect a slight shift in the path of the Sun around the sky. They examine the elliptical orbit in which the Earth travels around...
Curated OER
The Stellar Magnitude Scale
In this stellar magnitude scale activity, students use a scale showing the magnitude of objects in the sky to answer 5 questions about the brightness of the moon, the planets and stars.
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Power Functions: A Question of Magnitude
In this power functions worksheet, high schoolers read about determining the brightness of stars using a magnitude scale. Students solve 4 problems including finding the magnitude differences of stars and determining equivalent magnitudes.
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The Discovery of the Solar System
High schoolers study the ideas behind the heliocentric theory of Copernicus. They examine about retrograde motion of the planets as they move around the sun. They study astronomers who include Ptolemy, Copernicus, and Galileo.
Curated OER
The Discovery Of The Solar System
Students study the heliocentric theory of Copernicus, the ideas behind it and the explanations which it displaced. A discussion of retrograde motion of planets helps students explain the logic underlying the ideas of both Ptolemy and...
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How Distant is the Moon?--2
Students examine total eclipses of the Sun and their limited regions of totality. They explain that this limited view occurs because the Moon is close enough to us for different points on Earth to view it differently.
Curated OER
The Discovery of the Solar System
Students explain the observed motion of the planets. The inner ones move back-and-forth across the position of the Sun, while the outer ones usually advance in one direction, but with occasional temporary reversals known as "retrograde...
Curated OER
Star Magnitudes
In this stars worksheet, students use a chart comparing the absolute and apparent magnitudes for different stars to complete 4 fill in the blank and 2 short answer questions.