Astronomy On-line Teacher and Student Resources
compiled by Lisa Strobel
Teacher Resources
Note:Subject specific
resources will be found on their respective pages under Lesson Plans.
Adler Planetarium Curriculum Guides and Plans: http://www.adlerplanetarium.org/education/teachers/plans/index.shtml
Amazing Space: Homepage
for educators and curriculum developers
http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/eds/
Provides links to astronomy teaching tools and astronomy basic facts.
Astronomical Society
of the Pacific
http://www.astrosociety.org/education.html
Provides numerous resources, activities, and links to other astronomy material
available on the web.
Astronomy Notes
http://www.astronomynotes.com
Excellent source of information for teachers to get background information
on any astronomical topic. Complete online textbook for an "Astronomy 101"
type of class.
Athena Curriculum on Space and Astronomy
http://vathena.arc.nasa.gov/curric/space/index.html
Contains a unit on the Solar System
and a unit on the Sun as well as lessons on other space related material. Much
of the material is aimed for intermediate and middle school students but could
be addapted for other grade levels.
California State Science
Content Standards
http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/scmain.asp
This page on the California State Board of Education's website has links
to individual pages for each grade in grades K to 8 and then links to science
areas (e.g., Physics, Earth Sciences, etc.) for grades 9 to 12. Use this
in conjunction with the National Science Education Standards site (link below).
Hubble Space Telescope:
http://informal-sci.stsci.edu/
The place to download HST images.
Imagine the Universe
Lesson Plans (grades 6-12)
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/teachers/lesson_plans.html
Lesson plans are categorized by subject and grade level with a general description
of the standards that are covered in the lesson.
KidsAstronomy.com
Teacher’s Corner: http://www.kidsastronomy.com/teachers_corner.htm
This site contains lesson plans and activities for students broken down into
two age groupings.
NASA Resource Driven
Instructional materials
http://www.merlot.org/person/Contributions.po?oid=1010000000000185023
These lessons/activites use NASA resource material and integrate science with
other subject material.
NASA Space Science Education
Resource Directory:
http://teachspacescience.org/cgi-bin/ssrtop.plex
You can search by grade level, subject, topic or do a custom search.
National Science Education Standards: Science Content Standards (chapter 6)
http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/html/6a.html
This chapter from the NSES book outlines what students should know, understand,
and be able to do in natural science. Select the "Next" link at the bottom
of each webpage to go to the pages specifically for grades K-4, 5-8, and 9-12.
Origins: A Timeline of the
Universe tutorial: http://origins.jpl.nasa.gov/library/poster/poster.html
From this site you can also access other info about Stars and Planets, Habitable
Planets, NASA missions and much more.
Our Place In Space:
A study guide produced by the staff at Craigmont Planetarium
www.starhop.com/OPIS.pdf
Contains puzzles, word searches, constellation stories, solar system facts and
activities, and more. The solar system song is really cute.
Reading, Writing and
Rings (grades K-4) http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/education/edu-k4.cfm
This curriculum blends the excitement of space exploration with reading and
writing.
SEGway: Science Education Gateway http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/SegwayEd/master.html
A list of some astronomy related lessons organized by grade level.
StarChild Teacher’s
Center (Elementary grades)
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/teachers/teachers.html
Standards are not indicated on the lesson plans. There are two levels for
the plans, lower elementary and upper elementary. There are many good lesson
plans here.
Windows to the Universe: http://www.windows.ucar.edu/windows.html
Contains documents, images, movies, data sets, lessons and activities, games
and more on all kinds of topics about any part of the universe. You can select
to read text in English or Spanish and you can select wether you want info
at the beginner, intermediate or advanced level.
Zoom Astronomy: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/
This site has activities, crafts, and lots of information that students could
use for research purposes.
Student Resources
Amazing Space: http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/
Provides links to astronomy activities, astronomy basic facts, homework help
and more.
KidsAstronomy.com: http://www.kidsastronomy.com
Imagine the Universe! (For ages 14 and up) http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/homepage.html
StarChild: A Learning
Center for Young Astronomers (Elementary school age)
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/StarChild.html
This website can be viewed in Italian, Portuguese, German and English. A Spanish
language version is in the works.
NASA Space Place: http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/
This is a great place for kids to start exploring space with games, projects,
information images and more. You can also view this site in Spanish.
Windows to the Universe:
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/windows.html
Contains documents, images, movies, data sets, activities, games and more
on all kinds of topics about any part of the universe. You can select to read
text in English or Spanish and you can select wether you want info at the
beginner, intermediate or advanced level.
Zoom Astronomy: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/
This site has activities, crafts, and lots of information for research purposes.
last updated: September 10, 2006
Webpage contact: Nick Strobel
