420 astronomy-space results | sort by:
return to subject listingExplore the Cosmos - The Planetary Society
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Make this site a link on your class web page during a unit on space or all year round. Gifted students and those with a passion for space will find endless discoveries. Include this site as a research source when assigning projects about space or the planets. If you have more able students in upper elementary or middle school, use this site as a differentiated alternative for them to research at a higher level. Inspire students to read in content areas by sharing space-related "current events" articles from this site. These selections would work well on interactive whiteboards for practice using highlighters to find main idea, context clues, and other comprehension skills. No whiteboard? No problem! Use your projector and eMargin, reviewed here, to highlight and annotate as a class. If you assign portions of the site to the entire class, you may need to assign "reading buddies" for weaker readers and they can use eMargin together. Challenge students to narrate space image galleries (search for the blog entry on the "New Flickr collection of historical NASA photos") or design and explain their own devices for space exploration on Thinglink, reviewed here.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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The Universe - A & E Television Network
Grades
7 to 12In the Classroom
Use this resource as part of an astronomy unit or to discuss how technology allows us to understand more about the science of the universe around us. Show whole or portions of the videos in the classroom or on stand alone computers as part of a learning center. Share portions of this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Challenge cooperative learning groups to investigate a specific topic at this website and share parts of this web page, images, recipes, passages of text, and more using a site such as Lino, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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NASA flickr pictures - NASA
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
Use the information in the pictures to create a timeline of missions. Research how technology of spacecraft and launch controls have changed over time. Modify student learning by challenging them to use a site such as Time Graphics Timeline Maker, reviewed here, to create and share interactive timelines. Use the links provided to find out more about specific missions and people involved. Assign a writing assignment to go with the pictures. Have students pick a particular picture that is of interest to them and explain why it captures their attention. Challenge students to create a talking avatar using the photo. Extend student learning and use a site such as Blabberize, reviewed here. Create poems, newscasts, or other forms to showcase information and thoughts.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Physics To Go - APS, AAPT, and NSF-NSDL
Grades
7 to 12In the Classroom
Use this site to encourage your students to read about science outside of the classroom. Share the link on your website or class wiki. Start by assigning an article to students and have them highlight and annotate important information and questions they have and discuss it in class or on a blog. Have students use a digital tool like Hypothesis, reviewed here, for highlighting and annotating. If you are beginning the process of integrating technology, have students create blogs sharing their learning and understanding using Weebly, reviewed here. Or, if you are teaching a unit on something specific, such as Earthquakes, once students have learned essential vocabulary, have them read the issue and follow the links on the page. Have students discuss in class what they have learned. Then, have small groups create "Top Five Facts" to summarize what they have learned. Challenge students to create a talking avatar using a photo or other image (legally permitted to be reproduced). The avatars can be used to explain the "Top Five Facts" the group wishes to share with the class. Use a site such as Blabberize, reviewed here. Reading teachers can also use the articles on this site for reading comprehension practice with nonfiction selections.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Study Jams Science - Scholastic
Grades
3 to 8In the Classroom
Use this site as an anticipatory set or "activator" to introduce a Science unit or lesson on a projector or interactive whiteboard. Share the videos and/or karaoke with your students. Have students sing along and learn more about science. Especially younger students will enjoy this feature. Create a link to the site on your classroom website or blog for students to use for review and practice at home. Include a link on your classroom newsletter so that parents can use the site at home with their student. Make a shortcut to this site on classroom computers and use it as a center. View the videos on your interactive whiteboard, print out the quizzes for students to take as an assessment.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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SETI Institute - SETI
Grades
8 to 12In the Classroom
Try adding a this link to your website or wiki. Assign students to listen to it on their own time and start an online discussion of extraterrestial life and what it could look like, etc. Create a class wiki for students to share their online discussions. Not comfortable with wikis? Have no wiki worries - check out the TeachersFirst's Wiki Walk-Through. Have cooperative learning groups investigate a topic at this site and create a multimedia presentation. Have your students create an interactive online poster using Lucidpress, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Sixty symbols - The University of Nottingham
Grades
9 to 12Caution: Be sure to preview the videos before sharing them with your students. Our editors found one that included alcohol in the experiment, all others appeared appropriate.
In the Classroom
Use on a whiteboard or projector for the entire class to see if You Tube is blocked for student but not for teachers. Assign the viewing of a specific video as a homework assignment. Have students take notes on the topic for further discussion in class or to apply the information to laboratory activities or demonstrations in class. Encourage students to follow these clever videos to develop their own videos for teaching concepts to other students in and out of their school. Challenge students to create a video and share using a site such as SchoolTube (reviewed here).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Science Animations - Sumanas, Inc.
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Share the interactives on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Have small groups view the animations together and create online multimedia presentations to share the topics they learned about with their peers using Swipe, reviewed here.Use as an introductory activity with or without accompanying questions you create to get kids thinking. Discuss as small groups or a class what is happening throughout the animation and what they notice. Follow with lab activities or building their own models to demonstrate understanding out of simple art materials. Use this activity to reinforce complex and difficult to see concepts.
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Windows to the Universe - National Earth Science Teachers Association
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
You will want to preview the categories and levels your students are to explore. Investigate categories with your students, using your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have small groups of students choose a subcategory to further explore. Have your students create an interactive online poster using Marq (formerly Lucidpress), reviewed here to share what they learn.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Build your own space mission - NASA/Jet Propulsion Lab/CalTech
Grades
K to 5In the Classroom
Use during a unit of astronomy or space or before beginning the unit to gather information about space exploration. Nonreaders will need help with the text explanations. Use video clips and the vast array of other space exploration websites to continue your discussion. Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Turn the sound on and off with the small speaker icon, or use headphones for students navigating the site on their own!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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New York Times Science Lesson Plans - New York Times
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Scan the lessons. Choose topics appropriate to your content, and then incorporate into your classroom at will. Break lessons apart into both classroom and online discussions for students. A little disclaimer: some of these cutting edge science topics can be controversial so make sure to adequately prepare your students before embarking on these learning adventures.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Watch Know Learn - Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Search for videos relevant to your upcoming units or share the link with older students to search on their own. Use clips as engaging openings to units or as a review at the end. Have students identify the main points in the video and relate it back to class information. Students can use the examples on the site to create their own videos about a topic they have studied that could be beneficial to others.If you do join the site to submit videos (for more adventurous technology users), we recommend uploading, commenting, and participating in the project (the creation and growth of WatchKnow) as a whole-class collaborative activity. If your students create videos, critique them locally before submitting them to the site as the "bests" from your class.
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ScribbleMaps - Scribble Maps
Grades
2 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Students and teachers will want to keep a written record or map URLS and passwords for future reference. Model this for students so they do not lose hours of work! Teachers can prepare partially-made maps or maps for students to make corrections and changes by giving the students the URL, then having them SAVE the map with a NEW ID. To SAVE the map with a new name and URL, click "Save map" in the menu, then enter your OWN map ID. Students could use a code including their initials, such as SJ12-3-09 for a map made by Sally Jones on Dec 3, 2009. Teachers should PASSWORD protect their originals so changes can only be saved under a new name. Similarly, if a student saves the map with a map password, they don't have to worry about other students vandalizing their work. But they DO need to remember the password! Wise teachers will keep a class list of maps and passwords for forgetful students! In primary grades, make maps of your local community together on your interactive whiteboard as you teach basic map skills. Create your own "key" with symbols you choose for playgrounds, etc. Have students help map locations of favorite playgrounds, grandparents' houses, stores, etc. as they gain basic understanding of map skills. Make sure you allow students to operate the tools! Save the map and share it as a link from your class web site (or embed it there). Keep names generic so it is "safe." Other ideas to challenge gifted student beyond the curriculum or elevate challenge for small groups include: natural resource maps, immigration maps, maps of civil war battles day by day, maps of key sites in the life of a famous person, artist, or author, maps of the settings in a novel, landform maps of a continent or state, "My life" maps of places important to an elementary student's family, annotated watershed maps of pollution sources, maps of the water cycle, maps of constellations in the night sky created by students to demonstrate understanding, maps of a dream community to be built in a vacant area (desert), including the water sources, etc. that will be needed, maps of a redesigned city/town on top of its current map. Teachers can provide map challenges or templates to be completed or corrected, including maps where students must label distances and cardinal directions between points (using map scale and skills). Or provide a teacher-created map with labels in the wrong places for students to correct the landforms, resources, etc. What will YOU do with Scribble Maps?Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Toys from trash - Arvind Gupta
Grades
K to 10In the Classroom
Share this site on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Use the simple directions and pictures for students to make their own manipulatives. After creating and observing, students can share their observations and the math and science processes can be uncovered. Use these to uncover misconceptions and dispel myths that undermine understanding of processes. Group students to choose one manipulative and present the concept to the class. Challenge cooperative learning groups to create their own "Toy From Trash." Have the groups create videos to share their "toys" and instructions. Share the video clips using a site such as Teachers.TV reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Geometry Games - Jeff Weeks
Grades
K to 12Be sure to check with your technology department about the ability to download these applications to school computers. Many districts have restrictions on the ability to download. Click on each game icon to read a description of the games included and some uses. Games are Mac and Windows compatible. Read their FAQ link with each set of games for the most asked questions about the shareware. Once downloaded, to "stop" a program, click Esc. If you are not allowed to install software on your own, share these powerful games with your math or art supervisors so they can advocate for you with the tech folks.
In the Classroom
Use many of the images as an introductory inquiry activity to get students thinking about shapes and space. In art class, use the tiling activity and others on a projector before having student create their own on paper. Share the activities on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Provide images to groups to explore and identify the underlying math concepts present in the artwork. Provide an opportunity for some groups to create their own work with a geometric shape that they are investigating. Follow up with student projects of the geometric shape or photographs of geometric shapes in nature and man-made structures.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Equinox, Eclipse, & Space Vocabulary - Myvocabulary.com
Grades
5 to 12In the Classroom
Use this site to enhance your astronomy lessons. The word bank could easily be used as vocabulary words for students to research on their own. Share the word puzzles on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students attempt to create their own word puzzles about an astronomy topic that your class is studying. Use an online puzzle creation tool such as Just Crosswords reviewed here or Puzzlemaker, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Science Fair Projects World - Solar System 3D Simulator - Science Fair Projects World
Grades
2 to 12In the Classroom
Users will need the skills of downloading and finding and managing applications. The software is easy to use and has a wonderful interface for finding great information about the planets. The only safety concern is whether your school's policy allows you to install this free software. If not, try approaching an administrator or department head to show them the descriptions and request installation at least on you teacher computer for sharing on projector and/or whiteboard.Use this free model to understand the physics of the universe or learn astronomy. Use as a science fair project, to ask questions or find answers, and to create material for presentation online or in class. Share the model on your interactive whiteboard or projector.
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Scientific American slideshows - Scientific American
Grades
2 to 12In the Classroom
Use these beautiful images without copyright worries by accessing this site live in class. Make science come alive visually as an activator or anticipatory set to your lessons. With younger students, share simply the pictures! Share the relevant slideshows on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Follow the slideshows with reading of related articles and topics. Challenge students to reflect and discuss as groups or individually in a blog post or conventional writing assignment. Relate material in the slideshow or articles to other material discussed in class or in the current news headlines. Assign one student a week to share a "science in our world" two-minute synopsis of his/her slideshow choice on interactive whiteboard to highlight the use and excitement of real science in the world today, sort of "current events" for science class.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Hubble Heritage Project - The Space Telescope Science Institute
Grades
3 to 12In the Classroom
Provide students Hubble pictures of various objects. Have students brainstorm similarities and difference among objects prior to telling them the names of the objects. Have students present their thoughts to the class, provide the names and allow time for students to do additional research. Place the information in a blog or wiki or even create an interactive book using a tool such as Bookemon explained here. Use an interactive whiteboard or projector to present the aspects of various objects in space.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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StarDate Online - McDonald Observatory
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Use the activities in the Classroom resource section to provide background material for understanding Astronomy. Many activities may already be known to the teacher, but these are thoroughly explained. Students could even teach the concepts to their classmates and use these activities as a demonstration.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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