Useful Astronomy Information for Parents, Teachers & the
Public
Below we list some items that members of the Astronomy Outreach Program
have found to be very
useful:
Tools for Observing
the Night Sky:
- Night Sky Maps are
available
for the current month.
- Wondering which moons of Saturn and Jupiter you are seeing
with
your backyard telescope? Check out Sky & Telescope's on-line
java applets that allow you to see the positions of the
moons of Saturn and
moons of Jupiter for any given day and time.
- Sky
maps
anytime!
This site allows you to see what the sky looks like at any specified
time.
- International
Space Station Visibility to find out whether or not its visible
from
your city this week.
- Heavens-above.com
provides information on viewing satellites such as the International
Space Station, Hubble Space Telescope, etc.
Information About
Careers in Astronomy & Other Sciences:
- "A
New Universe to Discover: A Guide to Careers in Astronomy" - a
brochure from the American Astronomical Society suitable for students,
parents and teachers
- "Physics
in
Your
Future"
- a brochure from the American Physical Society that conveys the
exciting
possibilities of careers in physics to middle and high school girls by
highlighting current female physicists. Very useful for boys, too.
Available
on-line and in print for free with an on-line request.
- "Women's Adventures in
Science Series" - a set of 10 books that describe the lives
of 10 women scientists, including an astronomer, geologist, biologist,
anthropologist, etc., produced by the National Academy of Science
Astronomy Educational
Materials:
- Astroshop
from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) is an on-line shop
here
you
can purchase excellent resources (books, videos, slide sets, kits for
classroom
activities, etc.) to aid you in incorporating astronomy &
astrophysics
into your curriculum. We highly recomment the following to get you
started:
- Universe in the
Classroom - the ASP's newsletter for teachers of grades 3-12
features astrnoomy articles, classroom activities and resources
- NOAO Image Gallery
- contains
many fabulous images of astronomical objects taken with telescopes of
the
National Optical Astronomy Observatories
- Outreach Material from
the
Hubble
Space Telescope - includes on-line images and explanations of the
HST's
discoveries, material for classroom presentations, and plenty of
resources
for teachers that can be obtained free of charge.
- Resources
for Educators - a comprehensive listing of material and websites
from the American Astronomical Society
Here is some useful links
with more advanced material for HIGH
SCHOOL STUDENTS:
- Nine
Planets has information and images about space, the solar system,
planets,
etc.
- CLEA
Exercises (Contermporary Laboratory Experiences in Astronomy) are
download-able computer exercises that simulate real astronomical
observations and data analysis on a wide variety of topics developed
with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Investigating Astronomy -
activities for high school curricula highlighting real life,
data-driven applications in astronomy and physical science developed by
the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) and National Optical
Astronomy Observatories (NOAO)
- NSSDC's Catalog of
Spaceborn
Images contains images of the Moon, Earth and other planets in the
Solar System taken from Mercury and Apollo astronauts and from
satellites
such as the Vikings, Voyagers and Galileo. Hard copies of the images
are
available upon request.
- Astronomy
Picture
of the Day from NASA. This has cool astronomy pictures
everyday
with detailed explanations.
- The
Mars
Exploration
Rover Mission Home page gives you the latest images and information
about the NASA's Mars missions.
- Cool Cosmos!
This
site includes some wonderful activites and informative sites about
light
and how different types of light can tell us differnt things.
There
is an infrared zoo, and infrared tour of Yellowstone and many other
links.
- An on-line Periodic Table
- Sky and Telescope Magazine
has
the news on the latest astronomical events and advice on purchasing and
operating telescopes.
Here are some VIDEOS/DVDs that we highly
recommend:
- "Powers of Ten" (1977,
17 minutes) is a short video in Volume 1
of the collected works of
Charles and Ray Eames, a husband and wife team whose distinguished
careers
spanned art and architecture. "Powers
of Ten" is a fantastic
video that illustrates the structure in the Universe that you
find looking on a scales from 10^{-20} meters to 10^{+20} meters in
size
- from things as small as cells, atoms and quarks to things as large as
our solar system, Galaxy and the Universe. Its visually impressive and
provides a great context in which to introduce students to the amazing
variety in Nature on different physical scales. You can get a copy of
it
on the web at http:://www.eamesgallery.com.
- "Cosmic Voyage" (1996,
35 minutes) is an IMAX film about the
universe and its contents from its tinest particles to the greatest
expanse of outer space.
- "Blue Planet" (1993, 42
minutes) is an IMAX film about the Earth
with
plenty of amazing footage shot from the Space Shuttle. It discusses
of how fources of nature, human changes and global warming can effect
the evolution of our planet.
Related
Science Education Material:
- "An Ancient
Universe: How Astronomers Know the Vast Scale of Cosmic Time" -
This brochure published by the American Astronomical Society suscintly
describes how scientists study cosmic age and the evolution of the
Earth, solar system and the universe.
- "Science, Evolution and Creationism" -
This completely updated edition of the landmark booklet Science and
Creationism
from the National Academies of Science, Engineering & Medicine. It
is written for anyone who wants to learn more about the science of
evolution. It provides a succinct overview of the many recent advances
from the fossil record, molecular biology, and a new field known as
evolutionary-developmental biology that have yielded important, new,
and overwhelming evidence for evolution.
Podcasts
of Public Lectures in Astronomy:
Looking for something to do when the weather is cloudy? Why not try a
podcast from one of these sites and listen to a public lecture about
astronomy from a professional astronmer. These talks are aimed at the
introductory level and geared for non-specialists, and they often
contain question and answer sessions at the end.
Organizations that
Teachers may be interested in:
- The Orange County
Astronomers
have information for star gazers and offer many star-gzing nights for
the public (including
helping with our visitor nights)
- Science Teacher Org
(Associated
with the National Teachers Enhancement Network) which contains
information
on teacher education and networking
- Project Astro
in San
Diego is part of a national program from the Astronomical Society of
the
Pacific to improve science education in grades 4 - 9
- Astronomical Society of
the
Pacific
(ASP) is an international non-profit scientific and educational
organization
that works to increase the understanding and appreciation of astronomy
Ideas for Field Trips
in
Southern California:
- The UC
Irvine Observatory offers tours of the Observatory and educational
programs that bring telescopes and lectures in astronomy to K-12
schools.
- The
Tessmann Planetarium
at Santa Ana College offers tours to the public upon request.
- Griffith Observatory
in Griffith Park in Los Angeles has recently reopened after a
three-year long major renovation that greatly expanded the number of
exhibits and the planetarium.
- Palomar
Observatory in the mountains outside of San Diego has a small
visitor center and allows the public to take daily, self-guided tours
the 200-inch telescope.
http://www.physics.uci.edu/%7Eobservat/astroinfo.html
Last edited on Apr 28, 2008
Tammy Smecker-Hane