Northern Lights Video

Aurora Borealis @ Tibbitt Lake, NWT from Michael Ericsson on Vimeo.

All Eyes on Vesta

NASA's Dawn spacecraft obtained this image of the giant asteroid Vesta on July 9, 2011. More details on the Dawn spacecraft mission here.

It's always a good idea to keep your students "up" on what spacecraft NASA currently has floating around "up there!" Check out the NASA website for a wealth of information on several current missions.

Example: The Final Mission of the Space Shuttle.

Go here for a search engine for educator materials for teachers, all grades!

First & Last Shuttle Launches - Fun Perspective!

Check out the article that goes with this fun photo!

Messenger's Mercury Photos

"MESSENGER has delivered its first image since entering orbit about Mercury on March 17. It was taken...by the Mercury Dual Imaging System as the spacecraft sailed high above Mercury’s south pole, and provides a glimpse of portions of Mercury's surface not previously seen by spacecraft. The image was acquired as part of the orbital commissioning phase of the MESSENGER mission. Continuous global mapping of Mercury will begin on April 4."

Click here to visit NASA's Mercury webpages.

Shuttle Countdown Clock

Today is the last launch of the Discovery space shuttle. EVER.

Click here for the countdown clock.

From NASA:
"During space shuttle Discovery's final spaceflight, the STS-133 crew members will take important spare parts to the International Space Station along with the Express Logistics Carrier-4."

Big Night in Astronomy TONIGHT!

2000 Leonid Meteor Shower

Great Vodcast from BBC about this year's Leonid Meteor Shower:



This year's Leonid Meteor Shower will occur on November 17th.

Encourage your students to watch!

Click here for details.

Click here for how to observe.

Click here for a fun Fact Sheet about Leonid Meteor Showers.

Find out how light pollution has changed the way we view the night sky.

Go to StarDate Online for short video.

Close Call Asteroid

"A newly discovered asteroid designated 2009 VA, which is only about 7 meters in size, passed about 2 Earth radii (14,000 km) from the Earth's surface Nov. 6 at around 16:30 EST. This is the third-closest known (non-impacting) Earth approach on record for a cataloged asteroid."

Click here for the article.

Video on asteroids and comets:


Video about asteroids and asteroid belt:


CAUTION: I would caution you about discussing this topic with your students. Be sure you are prepared for some of them reacting strongly to this! They seem quite grown-up at the middle-school level, but many still carry a child within and may get "creeped out" by this type of scenario.

No Moon Crash Photos???

NASA photo

Interesting...

No good photos of the crash plume are available.

Click here for a good article on just this occurrence, or non-occurrence, from Yahoo News.

Might be an interesting discussion with your students about the unexpected results of an experiment. How we all make assumptions and then wonder what happened when it doesn't work out that way. How this is actually how many important scientific discoveries occur. Not in a planned experiment, but in the ANOMALY that shows us the truth.

NASA Probe crashes into Moon!!!

On purpose!

And Why? "NASA hopes the impact will kick up enough dust to help the LCROSS probe find the presence of water in the moon's soil." --CNN Report

And Why does that matter? "NASA has said it believes water on the moon could be a valuable resource in the agency's quest to explore the solar system."--CNN Report.

While your students were still sleeping or standing on the corner waiting for their bus, the Great Moon Bombing occurred. Scientists across the country, both amateur and professional, watched the live action.

Here's a NASA animation:



Here's a video that shows before, during, and after impact. No really good photos yet. Hoping to find some later today:



Click here for the latest news reports.

Click here for the LCROSS page at NASA's site.

What fun!

Water on the Moon

"NASA scientists have discovered water molecules in the polar regions of the MOON. Instruments aboard three separate spacecraft revealed water molecules in amounts that are greater than predicted, but still relatively small."

Click here to read the rest of the NASA press release.

Tranquility Base

Did you know that Neil Armstrong never publicly stated how he FELT about being the first human on the moon? This song was written from that perspective. Great footage of the Moon Landing!

From Eric Brace:

"Forty years ago on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong stepped out of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module and onto the surface of the moon. As the first man to walk across the lunar surface, one would expect Armstrong to have a lot of profound thoughts about it all. Curiously, he's never talked about how he felt, satisfied to discuss the event only in engineering terms.

I thought that was pretty strange, and one night under a bright moon, all the questions I had for Armstrong arranged themselves into a song. With the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing coming up, I headed into Eric Fritsch's East Nashville studio and recorded Tranquility Base, with Mike Webb (keyboards), Fred Eltringham (drums), Eric Fritsch (electric guitar, bass, organ), and Charlie Rauh (electric guitar).

Tranquility Base is streaming on the Red Beet Records website and is available for download on iTunes. The video is the creation of another fine East Nashvillian, Stacie Huckaba, who managed to get some very cool footage from NASA. You're welcome to forward it, embed it, share it with your mom."

Solar Eclipse - July 22, 2009

Wednesday will be another big day in Astronomy: a Solar Eclipse with a path of totality that crosses over China. The eclipse will last more than six minutes - the longest for several hundred years - and won't be surpassed until 2132.

Here are some sites worth checking out:

1. Live Cast from Japan - be watching if you are teaching summer school!
   
2. Exploratorium has a nice video about Eclipse Chasers.
3. Try This from Exploratorium.
4. NASA's Eclipse Page. So far I haven't been able to get on this one! Too busy!
5. July 22, 2009 Solar Eclipse Wikipedia Entry.

Email me if you want to see my Solar Eclipse PowerPoint. Too big to upload to my site.

Here's one from Exploratorium of a Solar Eclipse in Turkey in 2006. Bailey's Beads and Diamond Ring are mentioned in this video.

Apollo 40th Anniversary!

It will be a very special day tomorrow. The 40th Anniversary of the first humans to land on the moon. Check out NASA for some wonderful activities, videos, etc. And even if you don't have a class this summer, collect a few ideas while visiting the site and include them in your Earth Science or Astronomy or whatever! class this fall.

We remember where we were when Neil Armstrong landed, if we are old enough, that is! Check out the restored video showing this momentous occasion.

Here's one narrated by Walter Cronkite. It really catches the suspense of that moment. Worth showing your students!

Happy Anniversary!

The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth

"The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth hosts the best and most complete online collection of astronaut photographs of the Earth."

Nothing fancy. No slideshows or PPTs. Just gorgeous photos of Earth taken by astronauts.

Here is the main page.

Here is the archive page where photos are grouped according to some kewl titles, such as Cities at Night, The Art of Science, Auroras Dancing in the Night.

Also a fun Where in the World? Image Quiz.

Search for Photos:
They have a nice search feature at the top of the main page. So if you needed a photo for a certain PPT, enter something in the search form and see what comes up!

Also here:
Where is the ISS?

Also Collections (see top of main page):
Mission Highlights
Earth from Space
Cities Collection
Whole Earth
IPY
Weekly Top 10.

To see Education Collection
Go from Collections to Education:
Earth Systems from Space
How to Find Mt. Everest
Canyons, Craters, and Drifting Dunes

Magnetic Tornadoes on Mercury!

How kewl is this!

New Online Science Magazine in Video Format!

From the National Science Foundation. You can watch full screen in HD video. Wonderful. First edition is Astronomy-related. Download the full version so you can save it to show your students next year!

Galaxy Flashcards and Lesson

If your students can figure something out by themselves, let them.

Too often, teachers give a lecture and take all the fun out of the process of discovery.

Teaching about Hubble's classification system for galaxies is a good example.

Instead of giving the Galaxy Lecture or the Worksheet about galaxies, do this activity instead:

1. Give each small group a set of cards with photos of the different types of galaxies. Have them "play" with them, moving them around on the table. After they are somewhat familiar with the cards, you'll notice they naturally start separating the cards into groups. Encourage any group to do this if they don't start on their own. Once they have them separated, ask them to make labels for each group. (Give them blank squares for labels.) Don't offer any suggestions. Many will know some of the names, such as Spiral, etc. Just let them know it's okay to use the correct term if they know one.
2. Have each group share their system. You might have different arrangements and it would be good to discuss the differences. Just make sure they all know they did a good job! No wrong answers!
3. Then show them Hubble's Classification System! Hand them the Hubble Tuning Fork card. Have them rearrange their cards using the Fork card as a guide. Give them the correct terms and have them redo their labels. An extra pat on the back for those who came close!
4. Fun time to show a PowerPoint on Galaxies, or a YouTube clip. For BONUS POINTS, they could number a piece of paper and record the name and type of galaxy for each slide. Or you could make this required.

By the end of this lesson, your students show be able to identify the type of Galaxy when given a picture of a galaxy.

NOTE: Email Marcia for a Dropbox download of my complete Galaxies Lesson!

Hubble Photo Montage from CNN

CNN has put together a beautiful Hubble photo slide show on Galaxies. This can be shown once moving through the slides fast, then go slide by slide using the arrows, viewing the captions (click "View Captions.") Can be projected full screen without ads. Make sure you turn up the sound! Fun music accompanies the photos. REALLY NICE!

Click here to go directly the the CNN Hubble Slide Show.

Star Trek: Real or Not?

Capitalize on the latest Star Trek movie, which many of your students have probably seen. Show this series of slides from MSNBC that cover 10 sci-fi wonders. Are they Fact or Fiction?

Click here for the slide show.

Have your students take out a piece of paper and fold in thirds, hot dog-bun style. List the 10 Innovations down the left column, skipping a line each time. Put Fact and Fiction at the top of the other two columns. Then show the slide show. They can either check the correct column for a basic required 10 points, or add words in the correct column to show why that innovation is a reality or not. Make that worth 15-20 points.

Ten Innovations:

1. Teleportation
2. Tricorder
3. Deflector Shield
4. PHaSER
5. Holodeck
6. Tractor Beam
7. Communicator
8. Universal Translator
9. Cloaking Device
10. Warp Drive

What fun!