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Building a Telescope
High schoolers construct a simple refracting telescope. They calculate the magnification.
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Algebra: Mirror, Mirror on the Universe
Learners assess how algebra, telescopes, space exploration and optics are so important in astronomy. They encounter studies on the Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Deep Field and how algebra helps to determine the effects of contamination...
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A Distant View
Students investigate the essential concepts of how lenses work to magnify vision, and then build simple telescopes to demonstrate their understanding. They write a description of how their telescope could be improved and how it works.
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A Galaxy Up Close
In this Sombrero Galaxy worksheet, students observe infrared images taken by the Spitzer Infrared Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope. They answer 9 questions about the details of the images such as the radius of the stellar...
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Hinode-Close Up of a Sunspot
In this solar sunspot learning exercise, students use two photographs from the Hinode solar observatory showing a sunspot on the solar surface. Students solve 5 problems including finding the scale of the images, determining the smallest...
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How Many Stars in the Milky Way?
Students perform an experiment in which they will use a statistical method called `sampling' to count to a billion (and beyond). Students practice sampling by estimating the number of characters on a page from the classified section of a...
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The Transit of Mercury
In this transit of Mercury instructional activity, students read about Earth and Mercury lining up so that Mercury passes across the disk of the sun from the Earth's view. Students solve 3 problems and they determine the diameter of the...
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A Star Sheds a Comet Tail!
For this comet tails and stars worksheet, high schoolers read about the star Mira and the vast clouds of gases it emits. They use a photograph from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer satellite to solve 5 problems about the scale of the image,...