Small groups of students form imaginary travel agencies and use Hubble images to plan the "trip of a lifetime" to ten celestial destinations. The activity acquaints students with the repository of Hubble images and encourages them to think about... (View More) what it would be like to visit the celestial objects. The students must provide a scientific as well as a “tourist” justification for each sight. Includes instructor notes, worksheets and sample answers. (View Less)

This collection of math problems is based on a weekly series of space and Earth science problems distributed to teachers during the 2013-2014 school year. The problems were intended for students looking for additional challenges in the math and... (View More) physical science curriculum and were created to be authentic glimpses of modern science and engineering issues, often involving actual research data. Includes information for teachers and answer key. (View Less)

The H-R diagram is a scatter graph of stars, a plot of stellar absolute magnitude or luminosity versus temperature or stellar classification. It is an important astronomical tool for understanding how stars evolve over time. Stellar evolution cannot... (View More) be studied by observing individual stars as most changes occur over millions and billions of years. Astrophysicists observe numerous stars at various stages in their evolutionary history to determine their changing properties and probable evolutionary tracks across the H-R diagram. In this activity, students plot both maxima and minima with corresponding stellar classifications for several variables, and then identify the type of variability: Cepheid, RR Lyrae, Mira or Semiregular. This activity includes background information, a teacher guide, a student activity, and accompanying worksheets. The American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) and The Chandra X-Ray mission have collaborated to develop this activity. (View Less)

In this activity, students will use a simulator of an orbiting X-ray observatory to observe a supernova remnant, the expanding gas from an exploded star. They will take X-ray spectral data, analyze them, and answer questions based on that data. This... (View More) resource consists of a manual and software for the Introductory Astronomy Lab Exercise, from CLEA (Contemporary Laboratory Experiments in Astronomy). The manual includes introductory activities for students, background information, an instructor's guide, a student handout, an answer key, a software user's guide, and a glossary. The student section of the activity starts on page 13. See Related & Supplemental Resources for a link to download the software. Note: the software is only available for Windows. (View Less)

In this activity, students experience a demonstration of light scattering that explains the blue colors in the Intersetllar Medium (ISM) nebulae, and the reddening of stars viewed through the ISM. It also explains the blue appearance of the sky on... (View More) Earth and the reddish appearance of the Sun during sunsets. The demonstration is best done before or during a lesson on the ISM when light scattering is discussed. This activity is one of two supporting the scientific investigation of the ISM, and is linked to reading material, reading review questions and problems, a teacher answer sheet, and glossary. (View Less)

In this activity, students build a model of an active galaxy. From this, they will learn about the geometry of the components of an active galaxy and develop an understanding that different viewing angles can lead to dramatically different... (View More) interpretations of a galaxy's appearance. The activity includes background information, glossary, essential questions, extension activities, transfer activities, adaptations for visually-impaired students, and an answer key. Additional materials needed to do this activity include a compass. This is activity one of three in the Active Galaxies education unit. (View Less)

Using real data from NASA's Fermi satellite, students determine the size and energy of an active galaxy flare region. This activity includes background information for teachers, student worksheets, procedures, adaptations, extensions, an assessment... (View More) rubric, and related resources. This is activity 3 of 3 in the "Active Galaxies Educator's Guide." (View Less)