![[kids at scope]](images/kids.jpg)
Photo courtesy of The Albuquerque Astronomical
Society
ADC for Students &
Educators
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Special Note: Today there
are very many fine Web sites for Astronomy Education. We cannot
and should not duplicate those pages here, nor can we include
links to all of them. Instead, this page includes information on
using ADC resources and links to selected external resources for
learning about or teaching astronomy. If you have suggestions for
additional links, please send them to the curators at the e-mail
addresses listed at the bottom of the page. We regret that we may
not be able to accommodate every such request. THE ADC IS NOT
RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT OF EXTERNAL SITES LINKED FROM THIS
PAGE.
Educational Uses of
ADC
Educational Resources from the ADC:
How can I use the ADC in my classroom?
The Astronomical Data Center specializes in
archiving and distributing collections of data that have been
published by professional astronomers. Most of these data sets
are in the form of computer-readable tables of numbers, rather
than images. (Check out our ADC CD-ROMs which contain
hundreds of astronomical catalogs.)
In spite of our emphasis on serving professional
astronomers, we have data that can be used by educators for
hands-on astronomy learning. Examples of the kinds of questions
that students could address are:
- Make a model of the stars within 20 light years of the sun.
Make the balls to size and color them appropriately.
- Make another model to show the positions of these stars
10,000,000 years from now.
- Make a series of drawings to show how the appearance of the
Big Dipper changes with time at 10,000 year intervals.
- What color (spectral type) are most variable stars with
periods longer than 200 days? Is the answer the same for stars
with periods less than 1 day?
- Are there any variable stars you might be able to see from
where you live without a telescope? At what time of the year? How
frequently would you have to look at them to see them vary? To
plot a light curve?
- In what direction, with respect to the sun, do stars with
radial velocities larger than 100 km/sec move?
- Among the stars nearer than 200 light years, do any appear to
be approaching the sun? If so, how close to the sun will each
come? When?
Where can I find:
Astronomy Education
Themes
Exploring the Night Sky
Our Solar System
Planets Around Other Stars
Mysteries of Our Galaxy and the
Universe
Astronomers and What They Do
Observatories on Earth and in
Space
Science Fiction vs. Science Fact
Careers in Astronomy and the Space
Sciences
Astronomy as a
Hobby (See Also: ADC for
Amateur Astronomers
Ancient Astronomy
Space Exploration
Space Games
Space Pictures
Selected Web Resources for
Educators
Your comments and suggestions are welcome. For
your convenience, use our Feedback
Form.
Author: James E. Gass
Last Revised: September 30, 2002