astronomy

**Mrs. Law's Astronomy page**


 * == Lunar Colonization - Human Exploration Resources: == ||  ||
 * [[image:hillegifted/moon_rotating.gif]][[file:Scale Conversion Table.doc]]
 * [|NASA's Apollo 11 video library]
 * [|Earth/Moon comparison data]
 * [|What if we lived on the moon?]
 * **SHELTER DESIGN:**
 * -[|Making a home on the moon]
 * -[|Moon hole might be suitable for a colony] -- CNN news
 * -[|Inflatable Habitats]-- advantages & disadvantages
 * -[|NASA tests lunar habitat in Antarctica]
 * -[|Lunar Habitat hauler] -- watch this NASA video to see how astronauts might transport their habitat
 * -[|Virtual 3D moon base] -- check out the Desert Rats work on Moon exploration (you will have to download a player from the website to view the 3D environment)
 * [|Sickening Solar Flares]
 * [|EARTH'S MAGNETIC FIELD CAN AFFECT THE MOON!]
 * [|The Sky is Falling] -- Every day more than a ton of meteroids hit the moon!
 * [|Structural Design of a Lunar Habitat] -- For good readers... this is a long paper, but it includes everything you'd ever want to know about how engineers are planning to build habitats on the moon. Good diagrams are included! (Thanks, Anthony B for finding this article for us:)

> [|NASA - Plants in Space]
 * **SUSTAINABILITY:**
 * [|Could plants grow in alien soils?]
 * [|Short NASA video about plants in space] (how they grow & why do we need them)
 * [|Water on the Space Station] -- How can we conserve water during space exploration?
 * [|NASA's News Page] -- Is there water on the moon?
 * [|Breathing Moonrocks] -- How can we get oxygen out of the rocks on the moon?
 * [|How is waste handled in space?] Check how the plumbing works on the space station
 * [|Moon Colony Resources]


 * **TRANSPORTATION:**
 * [|How We'll Get Back to the Moon] (Be sure to click on the animation in the "learn more" menu on the right)
 * [|lunar flight plan]
 * [|Infrastructure & Transportation]
 * [|How Lunar Rovers Work] (click on the other links listed at the top of the page to see the next pages)
 * [|NASA testing next-generation rover in Arizona]
 * [|Wikipedia article on Moon colonization] (Look for the transport section section about 1/2 way down the page)
 * [|Clickable Space Suit] -- Nasa lets you investigate the parts of their $12 million space suit design.


 * **ENERGY CONSIDERATIONS:**
 * [|Nuclear Power & Space Exploration]
 * [|Solar & Nuclear Energy in Moon Colonization]
 * [|Moon Colony Resources]
 * [|Energy Kids Solar Basics] -- Did you know that solar power can be used in many ways? Be sure to read all the way down the Energy Kids page to find out how!

[|NASA's moon page] [|Moonrise & Moonset times for Chicago] [|NASA - What will the moon look like tonight?] [|ECLIPSE ANIMATIONS]: Many good animations on this site -- [|TIDES ANIMATION 2] (you can stop this animation as the Earth & moon move through their orbits) [|WHY ARE THERE 2 TIDAL BULGES INSTEAD OF JUST ONE?] -- Good animation from NOVA
 * **EXTRA !!!**
 * --[|Gravity Hurts] -- Find out about the strange things that happen to the human body in space
 * --[|bone loss medication might help astronaut]
 * [|Magnetic Moondust] -- NASA's got an idea to deal with all that moondust!
 * [|Make a Moon "Flick Book"]
 * [|Make a Moon "Flick Book"]
 * PHASES OF THE MOON:**
 * [|What is today's phase of the moon?]
 * [|Phases of the Moon] - good video & interactive activity
 * [|Phases of the Moon Interactive]Click on the box to start the interactive Activity 1 and 2 - Can you figure out how the phases occur in space?
 * [|Lunar Cycle Challenge] -- Try this game on phases
 * [|Animation -- Phases of the Moon]
 * [|Bill Nye Video on Phases -] Part 1 on Teacher Tube
 * [|Bill Nye Video] - Part 3 on Teacher tube
 * Bill Nye Video - Part 2 on Youtube
 * Check out the eclipse interactive. Use your mouse to move the moon through lunar & solar eclipses.
 * Also check out the lunar phases animation. Use your mouse to move the moon through its orbit & watch what happens to the phases (as seen from earth).
 * [|TIDES ANIMATION:]**

[|Animation -- Impact Theory of the Moon's formation] ||  ||
 * [[file:Colony site_info.pdf]]<-- CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A REAL-LIFE ACTIVITY FROM NASA SCIENTISTS: Here are the facts about the environment, the geology, topology, resources & other advantages/disadvantages of 5 different sites that NASA is considering for our first lunar colony. Investigate all 5 and tell us which you would choose! ||


 * [[image:http://www.geocities.com/clipart/pbi/pictures/Sanrio/badtz_twinkle-stars.gif height="138"]] ||  || ==**Web Resources for Solar System Info:** ==
 * [|NY Times Graphic] explaining the "Goldilocks Zone" where we think life is possible in the universe
 * [|Exploratour]-- Life in the solar system (click "next" to page through this slide show to find your planet or moon. There will be an overview of whether life is expected there or not.)
 * [|KidsAstronomy.com] (find out about the planets & moons of our solar system)
 * [|The Nine Planets]
 * [|The Nine Planets for kids]
 * [|Kids Cosmos.org] (click on your planet/ don't forget the table of info at the bottom)
 * [|Ask an Astronomer for Kids]
 * [|Enchanted Learning] (info on planets, scroll down the whole page)
 * [|JPL Planet Profiles]
 * [|NASA Solar System Exploration] (click on the left for each planet... moons are found on a tab on it's planet's page)
 * [|NASA World Book]
 * [|Did you know our magnetic field protects us from space?]
 * [|Sun Trek] (check out all the links on the left to learn more about the magnetosphere)
 * [|Surviving Space] (dangers of radiation)
 * [|NASA Design A Planet interactive] (find out what a planet needs in order to support human life) Listen to the instructions first and then try to design a planet that has what it takes!
 * [|Could life exist on Europa?]
 * [|Exploratour]-- The Surface of Europa (click "next" to see all the slides)
 * [|Exploratour] -- Does Europa have an ocean? (click "next" to see all the slides)
 * [|Europa Page] (good links at the bottom too)
 * [|Article: Jupiter's moons have oceans] (good info on Europa, Callisto & Io)
 * [|NASA - Saturn's moon Titan]
 * [|Article: NASA discovers life on Titan]
 * [|NASA - Possibility of life on Callisto?]
 * [|Temperature Converter] (do you need to change Kelvin or Celsius to Fahrenheit?)

[|Check out an example of a Glogster page about Europa] ||

DIFFERENTIATION:
 * If you want a challenge, check out [|this slide show about Astrobiology]... start on slide 20 because the first part has some difficult information about the Drake equation that might be confusing to you. The rest of the presentation is pretty interesting if you are a good reader.
 * [|NY Times Article]: "Hot on the Trail of 'Just Right' planet"
 * [|Video analysis]: Check out this time lapse video of all of the asteroids that have been discovered from 1980 to 2010. Use the numbers on the side to make a visual timeline of the patterns. (You can capture screen shots for illustrations on a Mac with the shortcut shift+command+4)

=**SPACE SURVIVOR GAME!** = **//Outwit * Outplay * Outlast//** **//in Outer Space!//**  ||  ||
 * =**ASTROBIOLOGY** =
 * Investigate the possibility of extraterrestrial life on Mars or Europa, then design a believable alien that could survive in that environment. ||  ||

=Generally Cool Info:=
 * [[image:http://www.geocities.com/clipart/pbi/pictures/Sanrio/badtz_spaceship2.gif height="118"]] ||  || [[image:http://www.geocities.com/clipart/pbi/pictures/Sanrio/badtz_space_pandaba.gif height="79"]] ||< * [|Scale of the Universe] -- very cool animation! Click "start" & then go BOTH ways on the sliding scale to see the size of things as tiny as quarks & as big as the universe!
 * [|Sky & Telescope (astronomy info & how-to use telescope)]
 * [|Dr. Sky(lots of astronomy links here)]
 * [|Astronomy Interactives] (animations of eclipses, escape velocity, seasons, etc.)
 * Another [|good animation for Earth's seasons])
 * [|Astronomy Picture of the Day] ||

||  || [|Multicultural Astronomy] [|Interactive Atlas of World Astronomy] ||  || [|Space Hopper Constellation Game]
 * ==For Those Curious About Constellations==
 * ==For Those Curious About Constellations==
 * ==For Those Curious About Constellations==
 * ==For Those Curious About Constellations==
 * [|Frequently Asked Questions:] ||  ||   ||
 * [|What is Ascension & Declination?] ||  ||
 * [|Stories of the Constellations] ||  ||
 * [|Interactive Night Sky] ||  ||
 * [|Cultural Astronomy] (interactive map & stories)
 * [|Multimedia Gallery] (good animations on this site) ||  ||   ||   ||


 * ==Check out t **hese Mars links: [[image:hillegifted/mars_animated.gif]] ** == || * [|University of Chicago-FAQs about Mars] =
 * [|Drive a Mars Rover]
 * [|NASA's Space Place Games]
 * [|Destination Mars Animated Games] = ||  ||




 * [[image:http://www.geocities.com/clipart/pbi/pictures/Sanrio/badtz_twinkle_planet.gif height="82"]] ||  || [[image:http://www.geocities.com/clipart/pbi/pictures/Sanrio/badtz_photo-space.gif height="74"]] ||   || ==Build your own model of the solar system:==
 * [|Solar System Model Meta Page]
 * [|Build your own Solar System Model] ||  ||

Cool video about sunspots! media type="custom" key="9670902"



Picture of rotating moon from NASA's picture of the day website: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051113.html || ||