24 In-class lecture worksheets with individual/ small group activities for an introductory astronomy course, particularly with use of the OpenStax Astronomy textbook.
A learning activity for the "Do You Know That Clouds Have Names?" book in the Elementary GLOBE series. Each student will be given the opportunity to create their own cumulus cloud out of white paper and mount it on blue paper. Students will also complete the Cloud Fun Student Activity Sheet that includes a description of the cloud and what the weather was like on the day the cloud was observed. The purpose of the activity is to help students identify cumulus clouds and observe the weather conditions on days that they see cumulus clouds. Students will learn about a cumulus cloud's shape and appearance, how to verbally describe cumulus clouds, and what the weather is generally like when these clouds appear in the sky.
A four time shuttle veteran with more than 1,000 hours in space, Ochoa is an inspirational figure in spaceflight.
Most orbiting bodies follow a path that is an ellipse. In this activity, students construct 2 ellipses, and examine and measure them to determine some of their fundamental properties. The exercise helps learners make comparisons to planetary orbit eccentricities, and includes guidelines for constructing a scale model of Haley's comet.
An introduction to the forms and changes in energy. This lesson discusses potential and kinetic energy as well as introducing the 1st and 2nd law of thermodynamics.
Thinking about energy consumption for tilling land. Created by Sal Khan.
In this video segment from NASA, robotics researcher Ayanna Howard uses engineering to improve the intelligence of robots in space exploration.
The year is 2050 and your once-idyllic beachfront vacation home is now flooded up to the second story. The crab your family has enjoyed every Christmas for as long as you can remember has now become an endangered species. The oceans have changed. In Earth 540, Oceanography for Educators, we explore the mechanisms that lead to sea level rise and ocean acidification. We strive to understand how natural processes such as ocean currents, the gulf-stream, tides, plate tectonics, and the Coriolis Effect, affect our oceans and ocean basins. We then predict how man-made issues such as climate change and overfishing will affect our beloved waters and our livelihoods. Want to see into the future? Then this course is for you!
Nursery (or Kindergarten or Preschool) students enjoy seeing the evening sky with the teacher from the playground or through a big window (indoor). This is especially relevant for students who stay for extra-hour care. During late evening hours, some students feel a little lonely waiting for their parents, but they have a wonderful natural treasure: the evening sky. By observing the evening sky with the naked eye, they will notice many colours, changing colours, the first star, the subtle colours of stars, twinkling stars, and the movement of stars. Nursery teachers who think they are not science-oriented will also gain guidance skills of introducing science to students. This activity is also useful for primary school students, especially younger-grade students.
Here it is, folks: the end. In our final episode of Crash Course Astronomy, Phil gives the course a sendoff with a look at some of his favorite topics and the big questions that Astronomy allows us to ask.
Chapters:
Introduction: Are We Alone in the Universe?
The Search for Earth-like Exoplanets
Is There Alien Life in the Universe?
SETI: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Let's Explore the Universe!
Review
This video segment adapted from NOVA tells the story of two scientists who inadvertently discovered microwave radiation that is now believed to be heat left over from the Big Bang.
Today Phil explains that YES, there are other planets out there and astronomers have a lot of methods for detecting them. Nearly 2000 have been found so far. The most successful method is using transits, where a planet physically passes in front of its parent star, producing a measurable dip in the star’s light. Another is measuring the Doppler shift in a star’s light due to reflexive motion as the planet orbits. Exoplanets appear to orbit nearly every kind of star, and we’ve even found planets that are the same size as Earth. We think there may be many billions of Earth-like planets in our galaxy.
Chapters:
Introduction: Exoplanets
Reflexive Motion
Discovering the First Exoplanets
51 Pegasi b
Exoplanets in Transit
Detecting Exoplanet Transits
Photographing Exoplanets
Kinds of Exoplanets
Earth-like Exoplanets
Review
This OER is an expansion on the Introduction to Constellations. It contains both an activity as well as resources for further exploration. It is a product of the OU Academy of the Lynx, developed in conjunction with the Galileo's World Exhibition at the University of Oklahoma.
In this video segment adapted from NASA, students in Matsuyama City, Japan, interview Expedition 8 Commander and NASA Science Officer Mike Foale and Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri about life and work aboard the International Space Station.
This is an activity on apparent sizes and apparent angles, related to understanding how distance affects what we observe in outer space (the sun, moon, stars, or planets).
This guided inquiry activity has students using models to create variations of alignment of the Earth, Moon, and Sun. By varying their arrangement, students will discover how the positions of the Earth, Moon and Sun interact, how shadows can be cast on the Moon and on the Earth, and how Earth's view of the lit portion of the Moon changes.
Take a 360-degree virtual tour of our Solar System, with the help of Crash Course Astronomy host Phil Plait!
Many people hold preconceptions about the reasons behind the phases of the Moon. Many think the phases are caused by the shadow of the Earth on the Moon or by shadows passing in front of the Moon. This activity creates a model with the real Moon and Sun in the sky to help participants discover the real reason for the lunar phases.
This lesson allows students to construct solar system models showing the comparative sizes of the planets to a scale. The students will also use their models to carry out an investigation to analyze and interpret the distances between planets in the Solar System. This lesson uses common objects easily obtained by teachers. This lesson was created as part of the 2016 NASA STEM Standards of Practice Project, a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.
This is an activity about the solar activity cycle. Learners will construct a graph to identify a pattern of the number of observed sunspots and the number of coronal mass ejections emitted by the Sun over a fifteen year time span. A graphing calculator is recommended, but not required, for this activity. This is the second activity in the Solar Storms and You: Exploring the Wind from the Sun educator guide.