This slide set focuses on evidence of a binary star that passed within 0.8 ly of our solar system. It is one of a series of short, topical presentations on new developments from NASA astrophysics missions, relevant to introductory astronomy topics.... (View More) These resources are intended to help instructors include the latest discoveries (not yet in their textbooks) into their courses. The slide sets are constructed to be easily included as a lecture supplement including synopsis, references, and graphics. (View Less)

This series of posters illustrates the universality of physical laws by connecting the concepts of rotation, speed, distance, pressure, time, mass, density and acceleration to both Olympic competitions and cosmic phenomena. Each poster includes both... (View More) a definition of the physics term and its units of measurement, and features an image of an Olympic/Paralympic athlete, a cosmic event, and a common everyday item as examples of the application of that physics concept. The posters, offered in English, Portuguese, and/or Spanish, are available to download and post in after-school facilities, community centers, libraries, science centers as well as classrooms. (View Less)

Comparing and contrasting images at two different scientific scales- the microscopic and the macroscopic- show remarkable similarities in patterns and textures. While the 8-dual images on this poster look very similar, the descriptions and actual... (View More) measurements that accompany them reveal the sources of the images to be surprisingly different natural objects. (View Less)

Students will use educational materials from NASA's Cosmic Times to create their own mash-up (an image, audio or video created by combining two or more sources of media into a new work). This lesson offers the opportunity to use media mash-up... (View More) technology, to acquire knowledge through differentiated instruction, and for students to present their knowledge, ideas and individual perspectives. The lesson includes links to handouts, procedures, and introductory mash-up videos. (View Less)

This web-based curriculum focuses on basic introductory astronomy concepts. The material is presented through interactive exercises, animations, and videos. Adopters can choose any combination of the ten chapters for a particular class. Each chapter... (View More) includes authentic student interaction with actual data where possible. Students master the scientific concepts and reasoning processes that lead to our current understanding of the universe through interactive tasks, prediction and reflection, experimentation, and model building. (View Less)

Cosmology is an enormous field and the number of educational resources can be a bit overwhelming. This annotated guide includes a sampling of non-technical materials – online and in print - that Astronomy 101 instructors around the U.S. have been... (View More) using. Items were selected based on their level of difficulty (Astro 101 level and below), the likelihood of their being easily available for a college audience, and their potential usefulness for teaching and learning. (View Less)