Committees

Astronomy Education Resources

Resource Author/Attribution Description Lesson Plan Type Grade(s) Source Topics NGSS License
Color Magnitude using Gaia and IRSA using Python James Newland

Learners create color-magnitude diagrams using data from the Gaia database stored within the Infrared Science Archive at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at Caltech. This data science driven introductory computational essay asks learners to use data from the IRSA archive to produce plots from which science inferences can be drawn. The questions are designed as a way to assess knowledge about cluster formation and evolution in the Milky Way galaxy. The activity uses Google Colab/Jupyter Notebook as the format to explore mathematical understanding of data related to stellar clusters.

Labs/Experiments, Simulations, Data Analysis, Interactive Activity 9 - 12, Undergraduate Non-Major stellar cluster formation, data analysis, stellar cluster properties HS-ESS1.A: The Universe and Its Stars https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Hertzsprung Russell Diagram Exploration using Python James Newland

This Google Colab/Jupyter Notebook computational essay asks learners to use Python code in a scaffolded exploration of introductory concepts surrounding the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. It was designed for high school astronomy or astro 101 courses.

Labs/Experiments, Simulations, Data Analysis, Interactive Activity 9 - 12, Undergraduate Non-Major HS-ESS1.A: The Universe and Its Stars https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
UCAR Classroom Activities

Lesson plans for activities related to Earth and weather.

Lesson Plans, Labs/Experiments, Interactive Activity K-12 University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
Indiana University Bloomington Mini-Lab Activities

A collection of documents worksheets meant for students to complete during class time or as homework. Some worksheets relate to online resources.

Interactive Activity Undergraduate Non-Major Indiana University Bloomington Department of Astronomy
NASA's Eyes

3D visualizations of the solar system, asteroids, exoplanets and Earth.

Simulations K-12 Solar System, Asteroids, Exoplanets, Earth Systems, Earth History, Earth Dynamics
NASA's Universe of Learning

Articles, lesson plans, activities, simulations, and other resources connected to NASA data and discoveries.

Lesson Plans, Simulations, Data Analysis, Interactive Activity K-12
Globe at Night

A citizen science project in which participants observe and submit reports of the brightness of their night sky to contribute to awareness of light pollution.

https://globeatnight.org/resources/ Citizen Science K-12, 3 - 5 NOIRLab Light Pollution MS-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity, ESS3.C Human Impacts on Earth Systems, 3-5-ETS1 - 2 Engineering Design
JPL K-12 Educator Resources

Lesson plans, videos, activities and articles related to a variety of STEAM topics.

Lesson Plans, Interactive Activity K-12 Jet Propulsion Laboratory
LabXchange

Teaching guides, simulations, and other resources on topics in life sciences, earth and space science, and physical sciences. Aligned to NGSS.

Lesson Plans, Labs/Experiments, Simulations, Guide, Interactive Activity 9 - 12 Harvard Online
NASA eClips

Videos and lesson guides on a variety of space and Earth science topics.

Lesson Plans, Guide K-12
ComPADRE Portal

Database of teaching resources for high school and undergraduate physics.

Lesson Plans, Labs/Experiments, Simulations, Guide, Interactive Activity 9 - 12, Undergraduate Non-Major American Association of Physics Teachers
Center for Astronomy Education Classroom Materials and Resources Ed Prather

Slides, ranking tasks, polling questions, exam banks and lecture-tutorials.

Lesson Plans, Interactive Activity Undergraduate Non-Major University of Arizona
Project CLEA Project CLEA, Laurence A. Marschall

Computer-based labs; software still available for download.

Labs/Experiments, Simulations, Data Analysis Undergraduate Non-Major, Undergraduate Major Gettysburg College
Java Lab Astronomy Simulations Javalab, DongJoon. Lee

Free interactive science simulation(Virtual lab) written by JavaScript. Includes content related to Physics, Chemistry, Earth, Astronomy, Biology, Measurment, and Mathmatics.

Simulations All Rights Reserved
Kings' Center for Visualization in Science Applets King's Center for Visualization in Science

Online-available science visualization tools.

6 - 8, 9 - 12, Undergraduate Non-Major, Undergraduate Major CC-NC-SA
Astronomy Visualizations Kevin Healy

Data-scraped and simluation-based astronomy, physics, and mathematics interactive visualizations

Simulations, Data Analysis 9 - 12, Undergraduate Non-Major, Undergraduate Major
Fowler's Physics Applets Michael Fowler

Astronomy and Physics applet simulations.

Labs/Experiments, Simulations 9 - 12, Undergraduate Non-Major CC-SA
Open Source Physics Open Source Physics

Open Source Physics and Astronomy Lesson Plans and software hosted at COMPADRE, the database maintained by American Association of Phyics Teachers.

Lesson Plans, Labs/Experiments, Simulations, Guide, Data Analysis, Interactive Activity 9 - 12, Undergraduate Non-Major, Undergraduate Major GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2
GLEAS Project at NMSU Online Astronomy Labs Nicole P. Vogt

Web-based applets and online sourced labs for astronomy

Lesson Plans, Labs/Experiments, Simulations, Data Analysis Undergraduate Non-Major, Undergraduate Major All RIghts Reserved
University of New Mexico Astronomy Applets Kevin Dilts

Javascript applets written at the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of New Mexico by Kevin Dilts

Simulations 9 - 12, Undergraduate Non-Major, Undergraduate Major All Rights Reserved
Earth Space Lab Václav Černík

Selection of simulations relating to astronomy and space science.

Simulations K-12, Undergraduate Non-Major, Undergraduate Major All Rights Reserved
City College of New York Science Simulations Catalog James Hedberg

Prof. James Hedberg of City College of New York has a selection of simultions focused on a variety of sciences including Astronomy, Physics, Electronics, and Mathematics.

Simulations 9 - 12, Undergraduate Non-Major, Undergraduate Major
Zooniverse

Interactive public-engaged citizen science data classification workflows with educational scaffolding.

Labs/Experiments, Data Analysis, Interactive Activity, Citizen Science 6 - 8, 9 - 12, Undergraduate Non-Major
Vera Rubin Observatory Investigations

Virtual, browser-based, astronomy investigatory labs with scaffolding questions for users.

Lesson Plans, Labs/Experiments, Guide, Data Analysis, Interactive Activity Undergraduate Non-Major, Undergraduate Major Vera Rubin Observatory CC 4.0
IAU AstroEDU Labs/Experiments, Interactive Activity K-12, Undergraduate Non-Major
GLAS Education Resources

3D print models and tactile graphics for a variety of astronomy topics and public outreach.

Interactive Activity 6 - 8, 9 - 12, Undergraduate Non-Major GLAS Education
Boston University Physics Demonstration Simulations Andrew Duffy Simulations 9 - 12, Undergraduate Non-Major, Undergraduate Major CC NC SA 4.0
CCNMTL (Columbia University) Astro Simulations Columbia University

HTML5 astronomical education simulations hosted by Columbia University

Simulations 9 - 12, Undergraduate Non-Major, Undergraduate Major CC-BY
Stellarium

Night sky finder for browser and mobile based, interactive planetarium-style software.

Simulations K-12, Undergraduate Non-Major, Undergraduate Major Stellarium night sky
University of Nebraska, Lincoln Astronomy Education Kevin Lee

A website including astronomy simulations, applets, interactives, mobile apps, and an interactive editor. New development on this website has stopped.

Labs/Experiments, Simulations K-12, Undergraduate Non-Major, Undergraduate Major Permission granted for non-profit use.
Foothills College AstroSims Geoff Mathews, Baba Kofi Weusijana, Chris Achenbach, Safi Mohammed, and Andrew Tran

Compendium of simulations curated by Foothills College Astronomer Geoff Mathews.

Simulations 9 - 12, Undergraduate Non-Major CC-SA-NC
PhET Interactive Simulations University of Colorado

Free research-based science and mathematics simulations.

Lesson Plans, Simulations K-12, Undergraduate Non-Major PHET All CC BY 4.0