These guides showcase education and public outreach resources from across more than 20 NASA astrophysics missions and programs. The twelve guides - one for each month - contain a science topic, an interpretive story, a sky object to view with... (View More) finding charts, hands-on activities, and connections to NASA science. The guides are modular, so that educators can use the portions that are the most useful for their audiences/events. Following is the theme for each month: January - Betelgeuse, February - Orion Nebula, March - Pleiades, April - Pollux; May - Hubble Deep Field, June - Hercules Cluster, July - Ring Nebula & Veil Nebula, August - The Search for Habitable Worlds, September - Milky Way Galaxy, October - Upsilon Andromedae, November - Andromeda Galaxy, and December - Crab Nebula. (View Less)

In this hands-on activity, students learn about the different realms of the Universe and explore their sizes and relative scales. They will be guided through a process that uncovers the immense sizes of the Sun, Solar System, Solar Neighborhood,... (View More) Milky Way, Local Group, Supercluster, and the observable Universe. The full version of this activity involves students doing simple math computations, however it can also be done without the math. There are some inexpensive materials involved, as well as a powerpoint presentation. It is intended for grades 8-12, but can be adapted down for lower grade levels. (View Less)

This lesson provides a way for students to determine the relationship between the distance from a light source and its brightness. Once students discover the relationship, they can begin to understand how astronomers use this knowledge to determine... (View More) the distances to stars and far away galaxies. (View Less)

In this activity, students compare two images of the Crab Nebula taken more than 40 years apart. By measuring the motion of some of the knots of glowing gas in the neubla, students will be able to determine the date of the supernova explosion that... (View More) set the Crab Nebula into motion. This is Activity 2 of the "Supernova Educator's Guide" developed by the XMM-Newton and GLAST E/PO programs. The guide features background information, assessment rubrics, student worksheets, extension and transfer activities, and alignment to national education standards. Note: In 2008, GLAST was renamed Fermi, for the physicist Enrico Fermi. (View Less)

How big and how old is the universe? This culminating telescope investigation for high school students has them first taking images of galaxies near and far; then measuring and calculating their distances; then predicting how they might expect... (View More) galaxies to be moving based on various models of gravity; and then comparing their results with the galaxy velocity measurements in a NASA database. From this data, students explore the concept of an expanding universe and can actually determine an estimate for the age of our universe. This activity is part of a DVD that is a professional development resource for educators. Many new astronomy learners, students and adults alike, are unfamiliar with the universe beyond the solar system. Instructions for obtaining the DVD and registering for the professional development workshop are contained on the website. (View Less)

In this activity, students use rulers to measure distances between hypothetical galaxies and then use these distances to calculate the velocities of the galaxies. This activity is part of the "Cosmic Questions" educator's guide that was developed to... (View More) support the Cosmic Questions exhibit. This activity can be in conjunction with, or independently of, the exhibit. (View Less)

In this activity, students examine the first line of evidence, galactic motion, for the notion of an expanding universe. By examining the spectrum of light from a galaxy, students can determine whether a galaxy is moving toward or away from us, and... (View More) how fast. Students will look at optical images of four galaxies, compare the emission spectra from these same four galaxies, and measure the wavelength of the red hydrogen line for each galaxy. This activity is part of the "Cosmic Questions" educator's guide developed to support the Cosmic Questions exhibit. This activity can be used in conjunction with, or independently of, the exhibit. (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)

This is a lesson about sampling and estimation. Learners will make an object called a sampling window through which they will first count the number of stars on a printed page and estimate the total number of stars on the page, then count and... (View More) estimate the number of letters on a newspaper page, and finally count and estimate the number of stars in the nighttime sky. While most of this activity can be done in a classroom, the final part of the activity requires access to a darkened sky location at night. This is Actividad 7.1 as part of El Universo a Sus Pies, a Spanish-language curriculum available for purchase. (View Less)

This is an activity about the Doppler effect. Learners will use long springs or ropes to examine the frequency and wavelength of various waves. Then, they will observe a demonstration of the Doppler effect for sound waves, using this understanding... (View More) to investigate the shifted spectra of sample galaxies. Finally, learners will user their data to create a graph of distance versus recession speed, illustrating Hubble’s Law regarding the expansion of the Universe. This is Activity H-8 of Universe at Your Fingertips 2.0: A Collection of Activities and Resources for Teaching Astronomy DVD-ROM, which is available for purchase. (View Less)