The Best of ClickSchooling!® Science - Astronomy

By Diane Flynn Keith

ClickSchooling is a free e-newsletter that provides a daily review of an educational website that parents and teachers can use to help children and students learn every subject imaginable. Diane Flynn Keith has been publishing ClickSchooling since 2000.

Astronomy

Virtual Planetarium
Grades: K-12 and up
This site, maintained by Chabot Space & Science Center in the Oakland Hills in the San Francisco Bay Area, is sure to delight the stargazers in your family. It offers a Virtual Planetarium! View the StarDome and see the sky as it is right now. Learn about constellations and how to locate them. Ever wonder about the really bright stars in the night sky? Here you will not only find out their names (and learn how to pronounce them!) - but you will learn their location, magnitude, distance, and surface temperature as well.

Want in-depth information about the planets? Find each planet's polar and equatorial diameter, rotation period, orbital period, distance from the sun and earth and more! You will also find a guide to Meteor Showers at this site. Discover the shower name, active period, and peak activity. When you are through exploring the Virtual Planetarium do take the time to poke around this site by exploring other menu items like the Virtual Observatory. This site is a wealth of information that is beautifully presented and easy to understand - with something for all ages.

U.S. Naval Observatory: Lunar Eclipse Computer
Grades: 4-12
A lunar eclipse does not occur very often, but it's a heavenly event that's not to be missed! This website will tell you the exact time you can expect a lunar eclipse where you live. You simply key in some location information and the computer provides a list of dates and times when you can observe this lunar phenomenon. You can even discover the dates and times of past total lunar eclipses.

StarChild
Grades K-6
This is a wonderful site for introducing kids to astronomy. Colorful, animated pictures and an audio option make exploration of the universe fun and interesting. The site offers two levels of study for the same topics. So, beginners start with level 1 and then progress to level 2 for more in-depth learning. Those who already know a little about the solar system and space can start with level 2. The topics explored in each level are:

• Solar System - A complete description of the solar system including the sun, planets, comets, asteroids, and more. Includes links to more facts, trivia, and includes some interactive Q & A. (Level 2 offers a movie courtesy of NASA.)



• Universe - Learn about galaxies, The Milky Way, stars, quasars, black holes, cosmology, and dark matter. Listen to a song about the Doppler effect. (Level 2 offers "Universe Activities" that include interactive puzzles and art.)



• Space Stuff - Great information on astronauts, space suits, space travel, space probes, the Hubble Space Telescope, and Who's Who in Space - along with “Space Activities.”

Imagine The Universe
Grades 9-12
Leave it to NASA to develop one of the finest websites about astronomy and astrophysics for students doing high school level work. It contains a great deal of basic scientific information on everything from the light spectrum to black holes. However, it doesn't presume a certain level of knowledge, but rather offers a science page where you can get the basics, and an advanced science page for those who already have the basics down.

In addition, this site is set up like a news desk so that you can read stories and see images about the latest findings in space. All of the news features are archived for access anytime. This site also introduces a scientist in a particular field of astronomy and explains their current research project. There is an archive of all previously featured scientists too. The site has interactive lessons too.

In fact, they feature a regular exhibit that asks students to be the astrophysicist by solving an astronomical puzzle or mystery using good scientific methods and resources found online. There is so much at this site that you could probably create an entire science curriculum from the offerings available. It is well worth a visit if you want to develop or enhance a science curriculum - or if you are just an arm-chair astronomer who enjoys a virtual cosmic journey.

Nova Online Hunt for Alien Worlds
Grades: 6 and up
This is a fascinating site to explore, based on information from the Nova series on PBS. Find out the latest scientific theories on whether or not there is other life in the universe. Get tips on how to stargaze with your naked eyes - as well as tips for the amateur astronomer on using a telescope. Find out why constellations are such good guides for navigating the night sky. View a star map of the Northern Hemisphere with "landmark" constellations. Find out where other planets in other solar systems are located and learn how scientists find and identify them.

There is also a great activity at this site called "Signs of Life". You are given an assignment to find Jupiter based on atmospheric readings, temperature, and mass. Once you find it, you get to explore nearby planets like Saturn and Uranus too.

You will also find many resources at this site for further exploration including information on how to contact organizations that are currently involved in detecting planets in other parts of our universe.

This site is geared for older students to explore on their own and contains scientific terminology that might stump younger students. However, the site is designed for the curious lay person and is definitely user-friendly. Younger students who like astronomy will enjoy playing the Signs of Life game with their parents. It's a good spot for the whole family to visit together.

Virtual Space Tour
Grades: All
This site that provides a multimedia tour of space. Beautiful photographs, text, narration, and music make this journey of our solar system a real treat for the whole family. When you get to the site click on one of two buttons:

• Let's start the multimedia tour! - This version has all of the bells and whistles. As you click on each section of the solar system you wait a minute or so for a download and then sit back and enjoy the tour.



• Skip the tour, just show me text. - This version is for those who just want the facts without all of the hoopla (or for those with computers that can't accommodate the high-tech pace). Click on a topic and read the text about planets, asteroids, etc., and look at stunning photographs too!

When you are through with the tour, check out the rest of the site - it has fascinating articles and pictures of every aspect of space including space flight, science, astronomy, and technology.

National Geographic's Asteroids Deadly Impact
Grades: 4 and up
This website makes the science of asteroids, meteors, comets and lesser space rocks just too much fun! Be prepared to click on the screen images that pop up until you are welcomed to the Department of Extraterrestrial Phenomena.

You are asked to enter your code name and then the "Mission: Impossible" style game begins. You are now an official "Agent" and are promised that a secret film file of a deadly asteroid impact will be revealed if you can solve the four assigned cases based on evidence and your knowledge of asteroids, meteors, comets, and space debris. The cases are real incidences where it is suspected or known that one of the hurtling space rocks crashed into Earth.

You are given a case profile with known evidence and you determine what kind of a space rock perpetrated the damage. You may be given a selection of four items, for example: asteroid, meteorite, comet, or meteor. You solve the case by choosing the correct answer. If you are not sure, you can click on any one of the choices before transmitting your answer, to see a description and verify that it fits the profile.

If you choose and transmit the wrong answer you are taken to task for bumbling the case and advised to try again. Once you solve all four cases, you get to see the film clip.

During the course of play, you can click on buttons to get more information that will take you to a list of links to websites where you can explore this subject in depth. This is the only drawback of the game: the fact that it isn't always clear where individual buttons lead - so you may have to randomly click on buttons to get to where you want to go and suffer mild frustration when you pick the wrong one. As long as you are familiar with the [Back] button on your computer you can bypass these side-trips fairly quickly and get back into the game.

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