Helpful Online Resources
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Classroom Research
Incorporating real research in the classrom is one of the best ways to get your students excited about science. Here are some places to help get you started:
— The Nature of Science
— Real research in the classroom (Debbie French's PPT)
— arXiv, a free publication-preprint server
— Planting Science
— Science and Technology Enhancement Program
— Research Experience for Teachers -
Online News
When it comes to the Universe, things often go bump in the night. Whether two galaxies collide, a star explodes in a brilliant supernova, or a meteor hits a massive planet, science journalists are working around the clock to keep you up to speed. Here are a few of our favorite news sites, which provide the facts behind the headlines:
— Sky & Telescope Magazine
— Astronomy Magazine
— Universe Today
— SPACE.com
— Phil Plait's (a.k.a. the Bad Astronomer's) Blog
— Sean Carroll's Blog
— NPR's 13.7: Cosmos & Culture Blog -
Online Citizen Science Projects
Today private citizens all over the world can make meaningful contributions to science. With as little as a computer and some curiosity, you can help scientists classify galaxies or look for new exoplanets. Some projects, like the famous SETI@home application, simply use your computer's down-time to sift through vast quantities of data. Here are some of our favorite citizen science projects:
— Be a Martian
— Citizen Sky
— Galaxy Zoo
— Meteor Counter
— Moon Mappers
— Planet Hunters
— SETI@home -
Observing the Night Sky
Observing the vast starry sky can be daunting when you're just a beginner. Here we provide a few of our favorite tools that helped us recognize the constellations, find the planets, and even take a deep sky tour with a small telescope:
— Stellarium
— Earth Sky -
Further Activity Ideas
It seems like new projects are popping up on a daily basis. Scientists, educators and journalists are constantly coming up with new creative ideas to engage the everyday citizen in science. Here are a few ideas thrown in for fun:
— Ideas from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
— Ideas from Hubble
— Measure the distance to the moon!
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Favorite Apps
There's an astronomical number of phone apps that will help you identify exoplanets, birds, and night sky objects on the go. Here are a few of our favorites:
— Exoplanet App
— Merlin Bird ID App
— Starwalk App