Astronomy and Space Sciences

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 05.04.01

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Introduction
  2. Objectives
  3. Standards
  4. Overview
  5. Lesson Plans
  6. Lesson Plan 2
  7. Cited Materials
  8. Teacher Bibliography
  9. Student Bibliography
  10. Illustration 1
  11. Illustration 2
  12. Illustration 3

Mathematical Tools to Obtain Astronomical Knowledge

Barbara C. Burton

Published September 2005

Tools for this Unit:

Teacher Bibliography

Bryant, Greg. "The Distant Night Sky." Sky and Telescope February, 2005: 63.

This article discusses distance measurement of objects in the sky.

Cowen, Ron. "Sizing up Small Stars." Science News December 14, 2002: 381.

This article discusses advancements allowing for accurate measurement of the size of small stars.

Croswell, Ken. "A Milestone in Fornax." Astronomy October, 1995: 42+.

This article discusses the continuing effort to estimate the Hubble constant.

Croswell, Ken. "How Far to Virgo?" Astronomy March, 1995: 48+.

This article also discusses the continuing effort to estimate the Hubble constant.

Finkbeiner, Ann K. "Cosmic Yardsticks." Sky and Telescope September, 1998: 38+.

This article discusses the use of Type Ia Supernovae as the standard candle for measuring the Hubble Constant.

Flowers, Charles. A Science Odyssey 100 Years of Discovery. William Morrow and Company, Inc. 1998.

This is a book that accompanied a PBS series. The first chapter in the book is a review of Astronomy in an easy to read form for high school students.

Freedman, Roger A.and Kaufmann, William J. Universe. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company, 2005.

This is my primary source for information on the Stars.

Ridpath, Ian. Stars and Planets. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 1998.

This is a book readily accessible to high school students with basic information about stars.

Schaff, Fred. "Savoring a Season of Dimmer Stars." Sky and Telescope November, 2004: 50.

This article is a discussion of dimmer stars.

Science News "X Rays Trace Fierce Stellar Winds." September 15, 2001: 174.

This is an article discussing stellar winds and how they heat up surrounding gas.

Science News "Galactic RAVE." June 14, 2003: 380.

This article discusses a project that will measure the movement of stars toward or away from the Earth.

Sky and Telescope "Cosmological Age Crisis Renewed?" August 1998: 21.

This is an article about measuring distances to stars.

Suits, Frank. "Astronomical Lengths with Simple Instruments." Sky and Telescope September 2004: 93+.

This is an article for students to show that amateurs can measure distances with limited accuracy without having to have expensive equipment.

Van Doren, Heather L. "Measure for Measure." The Sciences. July 2000: 9.

This is an article about the Chandra X-ray Observatory and its impact on distance measurement.

Websites

http://amazing-space.stsci.edu

This website provides educational materials for teachers and students.

http://hubblesite.org

This website provides access to pictures taken from the Hubble Telescope.

http://yahooligan.yahoo.com

This website provides educational materials for teachers and students. This is the source of the movie, "The Life Cycle of Stars" that will be used on Day 1.

Comments:

Add a Comment

Characters Left: 500

Unit Survey

Feedback