6-9 Rising Stargirls Teaching and Activity Handbook. Constellations (page 13). Introduces students to what constellations are, to their subjective nature, and to the range of cultures that have named constellations. In Make Your Own Constellation (page 15) students are given an introduction to some constellations in the night sky and create their own constellations. Rising Stargirls activities are a part of a 10-day workshop dedicated to encouraging girls of all backgrounds to learn, explore, and discover the universe through interactive astronomy using theater, writing, and visual art. This provides an avenue for individual self-expression and personal exploration that is interwoven with scientific engagement and discovery. together, both science and the arts can create enlightened future scientists and imaginative thinkers. Rising Stargirls. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54d01d6be4b07f8719d7f29e/t/5748c58ec2ea517f705c7cc6/1464386959806/Rising_Stargirls_Teaching_Handbook.compressed.pdf
6-12 Formation of Galaxies. This engaging three-day lesson uses the 5E approach to have students explore gravity and the formation of galaxies through a variety of methods, including a gravity simulator. This lesson develops students’ understanding of the early universe and how galaxy formation is driven by initial conditions, gravity, and time. This sample lesson is part of the Voyages through Time Curriculum: Cosmic Evolution. SETI . http://www.voyagesthroughtime.org/cosmic/sample/lesson5/z_act1.htm
6-12 Astrobiology Math. This collection of math problems provides an authentic glimpse of modern astrobiology science and engineering issues, often involving actual research data. Students explore concepts in astrobiology through calculations. Relevant topics that support the origin of the universe include Counting Galaxies with the Hubble Space Telescope (page 103) and Our Neighborhood in the Milky Way (page 113). NASA . https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/637832main_Astrobiology_Math.pdf
6-12 Dawn: Find a Meteorite. This online activity (45-90 minutes) introduces the importance of meteorites to the understanding of the origin of the Solar System. Learners use a key to determine if samples are meteorites. Finding meteorites can be difficult because most meteorites look like Earth rocks to the casual or untrained eye. These lessons require multiple computers for individuals, pairs, or small groups. JPL /NASA. https://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/Meteorite/
7-12 Cosmic Times. In this blast from the past, students go through an online newspaper that chronicles the events surrounding the Big Bang. The articles and pictures provide a glimpse of the evidence and possible hypotheses involved in the Big Bang Theory in order to evaluate possible solutions. NASA http://cosmictimes.gsfc.nasa.gov/
7-12 Cosmic Questions. This collection of eight 30-45 minute lessons was developed to support the information in the informal education exhibit Cosmic Questions. The lessons include subjects such as the Big Bang Theory and its evidence. Each lesson is stand-alone. The activity “Comparing Optical and X-Ray images” (page 31) provides students with the opportunity to compare shreds of an exploded star and a star ejecting matter as it expands. In the activity “Modeling the Expanding Universe,” students visualize the universe expanding in all directions during the Big Bang (page 39). Harvard-Smithsonian/NSF/NASA. https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/seuforum/exhibit/resources/CQEdGuide.pdf#page=18
8-10 SpaceMath Problem 416: Kepler probes the interior of red giant stars. Students use the properties of circular arcs to explore sound waves inside stars. [Topics: geometry of circles and arcs; distance=speed x time] https://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov/stars/7Page80.pdf
8-10 SpaceMath Problem 121: Ice on Mercury? Since the 1990’s, radio astronomers have mapped Mercury. An outstanding curiosity is that in the polar regions, some craters appear to have ‘anomalous reflectivity’ in the shadowed areas of these craters. One interpretation is that this is caused by subsurface ice. The MESSENGER spacecraft hopes to explore this issue in the next few years. In this activity, students measure the surface areas of these potential ice deposits and calculate the volume of water that they imply. [Topics: area of a circle; volume, density, unit conversion] https://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov/Geometry/4Page23.pdf
8-10 SpaceMath Problem 124: The Moon’s Atmosphere! Students learn about the moon’s very thin atmosphere by calculating its total mass in kilograms using the volume of a spherical shell and the measured density. [Topics: volume of sphere, shell; density-mass-volume; unit conversions] https://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov/moon/4Page26.pdf
9-11 SpaceMath Problem 181: Extracting Oxygen from Moon Rocks. Students use a chemical equation to estimate how much oxygen can be liberated from a sample of lunar soil. [Topics: ratios; scientific notation; unit conversions] https://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov/moon/5Page28.pdf
9-12 SpaceMath Problem 483: The Radioactive Dating of a Star in the Milky Way! Students explore Cayrel’s Star, whose age has been dated to 12 billion years using a radioisotope dating technique involving the decay of uranium-238. [Topics: half-life; exponential functions; scientific notation] https://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov/stars/9Page5.pdf
9-12 SpaceMath Problem 482: Exploring Density, Mass and Volume Across the Universe. Density is an important feature of matter. Students calculate the density of various astronomical objects and convert them into hydrogen atoms per cubic meter in order to compare how astronomical objects differ enormously in their densities. [Topics: density=mass/volume; scientific notation; unit conversion; metric math] https://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov/stars/9Page4.pdf
9-12 Kinesthetic Big Bang. In this one-hour activity students model the time after the Big Bang when the first nuclei of hydrogen and helium were created. The students move and display cards that show the elements that are formed. The creation of these initial elements is the foundation for later star and planet evolution. NASA . https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/190387main_Cosmic_Elements.pdf#page=22
9-12 Cosmology and Big Bang Primer. This website presents foundational information and concepts about Cosmology and our current understanding of the Universe. This is more useful for educators than most students. The information includes the Big Bang theory and evidence for it. NASA . http://wmap.gsfc.nasa.gov/universe/
9-12 Dying Stars and the Birth of Elements. In this student software-based interactive lesson, students use a simulator of an orbiting X-ray observatory to observe a supernova remnant, the expanding gas from an exploded star. They take X-ray spectral data, analyze them, and answer questions based on that data. Supernovas create elements that make up planets and life, so this lesson supports the study of the origins of the universe. XMM -Newton Education and Outreach Sonoma State University. http://xmm.sonoma.edu/edu/clea/XRaySNR_Manual.pdf
