Astronomy Curriculum Guide
for the North Carolina Standard Course of Study

Grade 9-12 Earth/Environmental Science

Supported by the NASA Education Public Outreach Project
PI - Dr. Donald Ellison

Curriculum Guide Created by Tracy Weigold

Competency Goal: Understanding the earth in the solar system and its position in the universe.

• http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/EdActivities.html
  A FIVE STAR SITE. Activities listed in table of content type format that includes symbols to indicate appropriate grade level, space science topic and time required for each activity. Each activity includes learner objective, National Science and Math Education Standards that are met, great background information and step by step lesson plans.
  
  
• http://origins.stsci.edu
  NASA’s origins education outreach website. Includes FAQ that address many of the following objectives for the physical science course.
  
  
• http://www.astronomynotes.com
  Good resource material for astronomy education.
  
  
• http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  Archive of astronomy picture of the day sorted by space science subject. Lots of great pictures for student and teacher use.
  
  
• http://www.earthkam.ucsd.edu/
  Photos of Earth from space. Great pictures.
  
  
• http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/teachers/teachers_corner.html
  NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center(GSFC) sponsored site for teachers of 9^th-12^th grade students. Includes lesson plans, links to other resources and ability to subscribe to email updates.

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Objectives:

6.01 Analyze the theories of the formation of the universe and solar system.

• http://www.seds.org/billa/tnp/origin.html
  Current theory of the events in the history of the solar system in easy to read outline format.
  
  
• http://origins.jpl.nasa.gov/library/poster/planetsys.html
  Discusses planetary system formation
  
  
• http://www.windows.ucar.edu
  Once user "enters the site", the link to our solar system provides a discussion on solar system formation
  
  
• http://origins.jpl.nasa.gov/library/poster/poster.html
  Timeline of the Universe poster with links to major chain of events that led to life on earth starting from the Big Bang theory.
  
  
• http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/universe/
  Introduction to cosmology, the study of the universe’s origin.

6.02 Analyze planetary motion and the physical laws that explain that motion:

• Rotation.
• Revolution.
• Apparent diurnal motions of the stars, sun and moon.
• Effects of the tilt of the earth's axis.

• http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/Newton.html
  Discusses the relationship between Kepler’s laws and Newton’s laws of motion. Good research material for student use.
  
  
• http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/58Orbits/58orbits.html
  Activity to demonstrate that planetary motion obeys Kepler’s and Newton’s laws. Includes learner objective, National Science and Math Education Standards that are met, great background information and step by step lesson plans.
  
  
• http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/Faces/faces1.html
  Students model rotation to introduce how rotation rates are determined for a spinning object. Apply this to objects in our solar system using NASA images. Includes learner objective, National Science and Math Education Standards that are met, great background information and step by step lesson plans.
  
  
• http://www.astronomynotes.com
  Good resource material for astronomy education. The motion of the sun is discussed in The Astronomy Without a Telescope chapter.
  

6.03 Examine the sources of stellar energies.

• Life cycle of stars.
• Hertzsprung – Russell Diagram.

• http://origins.jpl.nasa.gov/library/poster/elementform.html
  Element formation of stars from birth to death of stars
  
  
• http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/teachers/lifecycles/LC_title.html
  Birth, life and death of stars and how a star’s mass determines its life cycle.
  
  
• http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/LifeCycle/stars1.html
  Put images from Hubble telescope in correct sequence from birth formation to stellar death.
  
  
• http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~soper/Stars/hrdiagram.html
  Thorough discussion about HR Diagram formats with links to actual HR diagrams.

6.04 Assess the spectra generated by stars and our sun as indicators of motion and composition (the Doppler effect).

• http://www.sdsc.edu/ScienceWomen/cannon.html
  Biography of Annie Jump Cannon who developed spectral classification of stars.

6.05 Evaluate astronomers' use of various technologies to extend their senses:

• Optical telescopes.
• Cameras.
• Radio telescopes.
• Spectroscope.

• http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/MtnQuest/mountainquest.htm
  Student research teams make recommendations for building an observatory.
  
  
• http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/obsintro.html
  Electronic "field trip" to various observatory locations with a link to the observatory’s home page.
  
  
• http://origins.jpl.nasa.gov/technology/
  NASA’s origins program goal to develop lightweight telescopes to explore the possible formation of other solar systems.
  
  
• http://www.seds.org/billa/bigeyes.html
  World’s largest optical telescopes with links to home page for each. Good for student research on specific telescope.
  
  
• http://www.meade.com/support/telewrk.html
  Discusses how telescopes work. Good for student research.
  
  
• http://www.exploratorium.edu/spectroscope_nf/
  Instructions for building a spectroscope.
  
  
• http://www.astronomynotes.com
  Good resource material for astronomy education. Detailed section on telescopes.

Astronomy Curriculum Main Page