Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Think about creating a curriculum link between art and science using this site as a foundation. Original sketches and chromolithographs of celestial events created by French-born artist and amateur astronomer E.L. Trouvelot are contrasted with contemporary photographic images from NASA.

tag(s): stars (71)

This site presents the history, mythology, and current scientific knowledge of the planets and moons within our solar system. Take an express tour or select the specific section of the solar system you wish to investigate. The site contains an astounding amount of information that is well organized and ranges from the basic to the complex. Text images, movies, and audio clips make this an entertaining as well instructive site. Use as a teacher refresher or as a comprehensive source for student research. Because of the sheer volume of information, make sure you design a basic Web hunt to guide younger students.

tag(s): planets (113), solar system (110), sun (71)

Take an interactive 3-D tour of the solar system or the International Space Station, investigate the latest images from Mars, or use amazing images of auroras, galaxies, meteor showers, and other phenomena to enrich an astronomy unit. Click the Collection tab on the top menu bar to find more. This highly animated site explores a wealth of space-related topics from the past, present, and future. Games and quizzes for fun and learning are also provided.

tag(s): solar system (110), space (222)

Terra is an Earth Observing System designed by NASA to monitor, measure, and protect the Earth's environment and climate system. This site contains breathtaking, up-to-date satellite images of our planet, and interactive experiments that can be done in the classroom to illustrate how NASA uses Terra's remote sensing to understand how and why the Earth changes. Comprehensive and extensive information on the earth's atmosphere, oceans, land, life, heat and energy is provided. Because the site is updated daily, it can serve as a continually evolving visual aid for earth science classes.

tag(s): maps (220)

Britain's Open University offers this very nice interactive astronomy tool that shows the night sky in the northern hemisphere on whatever date you choose. From there, you can zoom in to view details on stars, planets, galaxies, and other celestial objects, all with printed annotations. It's a star-gazing tool with lots of possibilities.

tag(s): planets (113), solar system (110), stars (71)

The home page for the mission of the Sprit and other rovers offers a variety of up-to-date mission reporting, background material for all user levels, and a collection of current images. If NASA is true to form, additional sections will appear as the missions progress.

tag(s): mars (26), planets (113), solar system (110)

This one's far better than first appearances might indicate. Click one of the many links to see surprisingly detailed, documented images of earth and the moon, complete with full data on location and time. Many of the images include zoom capabilities and other nifty features.

tag(s): latitude (10), longitude (9), maps (220)

How big is big? How small is small? Using a remarkable series of images, this site lets students begin a tour far outside our galaxy and finish up looking at things infinitesimally small. It's all done with "powers of ten."

tag(s): exponents (35)

Turn a unit on space into something unforgettable with this amazing site that explores infrared astronomy and brings it back to earth. Start by learning how to navigate within the site by clicking on the "help" tool. (It's quite useful for first-time visitors!) Then start exploring the offerings that include cosmic games, galleries of outstanding infrared educational videos and images, classroom activities, and an "ask an astronomer" link. An infrared tutorial provides excellent background information about infrared waves. Students can visit the Infrared Zoo to literally "see" the difference between warm and cold-blooded animals, find out if people glow in the dark, participate in a variety of interactive on-line activities, and learn about the connection between infrared waves and astronomy.

tag(s): light (56)

Geography and earth science teachers will drool over NASA's collection of earth images made from the International Space Station. Use them to illustrate topographic formations and features, then move on to special sets that cover more specific areas. You'll need to make your own connections, but there's plenty of raw material in this one.

tag(s): biomes (110), earth (184), images (263), landforms (39)

Nothing fancy about this site, which offers a surprisingly digestible set of comparisons of the distances from here to there in the cosmos. The author abandons scientific notation in favor of long strings of zeros in the numbers, and it has the intended effect. The images, of course, are of the sort that NASA does best.

tag(s): moon (73), planets (113), solar system (110), sun (71)

This retrospective on 20th century scientific advances is particularly strong in its information on the scientists who made the discoveries. Teachers interested in presenting the scientific process by which these advances were made will find the information here a useful addition. Good information; not a lot of "whiz-bang."

tag(s): scientists (67)

The NIST Physics Laboratory offers this condensed history of time measurement, which chronicles the evolution of time-keeping from ancient calendars through the establishment of time zones and atomic clocks. The text is readable and the graphics are interesting while still loading quickly. Depending on the amount of detail you want to absorb, this one would work well for upper elementary through secondary students.

tag(s): time (91), time zones (7)

The American Chemical Society offers a complete series of activities for grades K-8, all based on hands-on experience. Click Education in the middle of this opening page find programs and units for Elementary through Graduate School. Also offered is a section for careers in science. This is a great resource for science teachers who need additional chemistry content or activities.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): chemicals (39), energy (133), experiments (55), inquiry (24), matter (45)

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory offers this page as a starting point for several of its programs to learn more about Mars through remote sensing, robotics, and imaging. Try it as a resource for lesson planning or students interested in learning more about the red planet.

tag(s): mars (26), nasa (30), solar system (110), space (222)

This site provides a sampling of activities from a larger web-based curriculum on Astrobiology. Developed in conjunction with NASA's astrobiology institute, this site provides a detailed teaching guide alongside activities aimed at creating a dynamic curriculum through internet resources. The site's activities include an exploration of different types of stars, and possibility of life in different parts of the galaxy.

tag(s): space (222)

This site presents teachers with a searchable index of natural sciences resources contained within the museum's site. Scroll down the page and click Resources for Learning. You can browse the web-sites, activities, and experiments by sub-topic, grade level, or resource type. Current subtopics include anthropology, astronomy, biology, earth science, and paleontology. Special collection exhibits present theme-based activities that cover additional topics and change occasionally. Be sure to check out the the Past Exhibitions for topics such as Biodiversity, Antarctica, and deep sea explorations, and much more. This is a great site for sorting out all the wonderful resources the museum has to offer. There are over 1,000 resources currently available on countless subjects.

tag(s): amphibians (17), biodiversity (36), brain (56), climate change (99), darwin (13), dinosaurs (43), diseases (66), diversity (40), fossils (41), light (56), mammals (22), natural disasters (18), oceans (149), paleontology (28), poisons (2), space (222), volcanoes (55)

This NASA resource offers a nice upper elementary-level introduction to aeronautics and airplane design. It includes sections on history, aircraft components, and propulsion systems.

tag(s): aeronautics (11), air (101), aircraft (16), flight (34)

Here's a site that elementary teachers will like because of its great images, and secondary teachers will find useful for it's detailed explanations of the planets in the solar system. Users with high-speed connections can also view animations of many of the planets. You can also read some of the journals about Apollo 13 that gave a factual basis to the popular movie. Note: We're listing this one despite the fact that it launches annoying popup windows. Ignore them.

tag(s): moon (73), planets (113), solar system (110)

Here's a nice little test-your-knowledge game for students at elementary and middle school levels. Users can set the difficulty levels, and if you miss one, the game is over. Try this one as a refresher for a unit on stars, constellations, or space. It's simple enough that even younger students should be able to use it.

tag(s): solar system (110), stars (71)