Online Resources
Stars
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In Pictures: Journey to the Stars Article for grades 3 through 8 In the Milky Way Galaxy alone, there are hundreds of billions of stars. But that hasn't always been the case... Take a look at the life cycle of stars in this photo gallery. |
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Stargazing Activity for grades 3 through 8 There are thousands of stars in the night sky. Hidden among them are constellations and planets. How many can you find? Record your sightings in a stellar sky journal. |
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Big Dipper Mobile Activity for grades 3 through 8 On Earth, the Big Dipper looks like a giant connect-the-dots puzzle page. Out in space, though, you'd have a hard time recognizing the constellation. See why with a make-it-yourself mobile. |
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Astro Viz: Nearby Stars Article for grades 6 through 12 We see only a fraction of the stars in our Milky Way Galaxy when we gaze at the night sky. Find out why the stars that appear brightest to us are not necessarily the closest to Earth. |
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Interferometry: Sizing Up the Stars Article for grades 9 and up Discover how a revolutionary set of star-seeking telescopes is taking precision to the next level, allowing astronomers to spot details the size of a nickel seen from 16,000 km away. |
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Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Mapping the Universe Article for grades 6 through 12 What does it take to plot a universe's worth of galaxies, clusters, quasars, nebulae, stars, dwarfs, and supernovae? See how the Sloan telescope is casting the widest net yet on the cosmos. |
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3-D Model of the Big Dipper Curriculum Materials for grades Kindergarten through 8 In outer space, you might not recognize the Big Dipper. The stars that form this constellation exist in 3-D not 2-D—so the star pattern changes with your viewpoint. Take another look at the Big Dipper. |
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 PDF [plugins: Adobe Acrobat; filesize: 160kb] [pages: 6] More about this Resource |
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Cosmic Chemistry Article for grades 3 through 12 What happened after the Big Bang? This comic strip explains the interactions that lead to the creation of stars, planetary nebulas, and supernovas. |
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| PDF [plugins: Adobe Acrobat; filesize: 1300kb] [pages: 1] More about this Resource |
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Modeling a Constellation in Two and Three Dimensions Curriculum Materials for grades 3 through 12 Models allow astronomers to closely study and make predictions about their faraway subjects. Learn about the scientific power of models by creating your own for the constellation Orion. |
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| PDF [plugins: Adobe Acrobat; filesize: 5100kb] [pages: 7] More about this Resource |
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Parallax and Luminosity: Developing a 3-D Model of the Galaxy Curriculum Materials for grades 6 through 12 As viewed from Earth, the universe can look as flat as paper. That's why astronomers build models—so they can see firsthand how the universe's objects fit together in our three-dimensional world. |
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| PDF [plugins: Adobe Acrobat; filesize: 5300kb] [pages: 11] More about this Resource |
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Olber's Paradox: Why Is The Sky Dark at Night? Article for grades 9 through 12 In the midst of a forest, all you can see is a wall of tree trunks. So why, then, don't we see a wall of starlight when we look up at the forest of stars in the night sky? |
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Cecilia Payne and the Composition of the Stars Article for grades 9 through 12 What are the stars made of? At 25, Cecilia Payne answered this fundamental question in her Ph.D. thesis. Her pioneering work also made it possible to read a star's surface temperature. |
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Friedrich Bessel and the Companion of Sirius Article for grades 9 through 12 Bessel discovered Sirius' unseen companion star long before technology allowed us to see Sirius B and even longer before quantum mechanics explained the nature of white dwarfs. |
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Our Star: The Sun
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Sunscapes Exhibition Materials for all ages Telescopes capture the Sun's ultraviolet light as beautiful images that are full of information about solar processes. This spectacular interactive photo gallery portrays the turbulent Sun in action. |
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One-on-One with the Sun Article for grades 3 through 8 Crack reporter Stella Stardust holds another cosmic celebration, this time with the Sun. Meet the medium-sized star with a big following. |
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Astro Viz: Earth's Magnetic Shield Article for grades 6 through 12 Light and heat aren't the only things the Sun emits. Tiny particles also stream away from the star. What threat do these solar winds pose to the Earth's magnetic shield? |
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Detecting UV Light Curriculum Materials for grades 5 through 8 You can't see the Sun's ultraviolet rays with your eyes—you just see their results on your freckled, tanned, or sunburned skin. Build a bracelet that immediately detects these invisible rays. |
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| PDF [plugins: Adobe Acrobat; filesize: 84kb] [pages: 4] More about this Resource |
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How the Sun Works Activity for grades 9 through 12 Talk about a long-term power source. For billions and billions of years, the Sun has been giving off energy that equals 4 x 1026 watts. What keeps the Sun burning so bright? |
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Seasonal Cycle Evidence and Analysis for grades 6 through 12 If the Earth turns all the way around every 24 hours, then why are some days longer than others? And why do we have winter and summer? See the answers for yourself—in a matter of seconds. |
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Seeing the Light Activity for grades 6 through 12 This simple experiment eases the task of understanding daily and seasonal cycles of day and night. See firsthand why the length of daylight changes along with your location on Earth. |
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| PDF [plugins: Adobe Acrobat; filesize: 976kb] [pages: 5] More about this Resource |
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Using Solar Energy Activity for grades 6 through 12 After having students conduct a simple solar energy experiment, challenge them to build a better water heater with this classroom competition. |
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The Abundance of Elements in the Sun Activity for grades 9 through 12 What’s the universe made of? Scientists tackle this puzzle by studying the composition of the different objects contained in the universe. In this activity the object is the Sun, and the tools are the periodic table and a graph. |
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The Formation of the Solar System Article for grades 3 through 12 About 4.6 billion years ago, our solar system came into being. This comic strip explains the processes that led to the creation of the planets and the asteroid belt. |
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| PDF [plugins: Adobe Acrobat; filesize: 1300kb] [pages: 1] More about this Resource |
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