This video segment adapted from First Light explains why the highest peak in the Pacific, Mauna Kea, is an ideal site for astronomical observations. Featured are new telescope technologies that allow astronomers to explore the universe in more depth.

Lesson plans and activity composed of a three-part questionnaire that launches students on discussions about where objects in space are located, and when they were formed- an introduction to the concepts of structure and evolution of the universe. This astronomical image-sorting activity lays the groundwork for discussions about the size, scale and history of the universe. Use it as a front-end assessment of how students understand the universe. Recommended for teachers of Grades 6-12 and informal educators.

Use a telescope during the day! This simple trick allows you to use a telescope even if you are not outdoors at night.

This is a comprehensive science textbook for Grade 10. You can download or read it on-line on your mobile phone, computer or iPad. Every chapter comes with video lessons and explanations which help bring the ideas and concepts to life. Summary presentations at the end of every chapter offer an overview of the content covered, with key points highlighted for easy revision. Topics covered are: atomic combinations, energy and bonding, intermolecular forces, solutions and solubility, atomic nuclei, thermal properties and ideal gases, quantitative aspects of chemical change, energy changes in chemical reactions, types of reactions, the lithosphere, the atmosphere, vectors, force, momentum, impulse, geometrical optics, lenses, telescopes, microscopes, human eye, longitudinal waves, sound, sound waves, physics of music, electrostatics, electromagnetism, electric circuits, electronic properties of matter, conduction. This book is based upon the original Free High School Science Text series.

The main scientific instrument on the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) is the Large Area Telescope (LAT). This interactive computer-based educational activity allows students in grades 11-14 and informal web users to see the results when gamma-ray photons of different energies and incident angles hit the LAT. The photons convert into electron-positron pairs which travel through 19 interleaved layers of silicon into the cesium-iodide calorimeter. Background information about GLAST and the LAT is also provided, which is part of the Virtual Visitor Center site for the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.

The HOU Middle School Curriculum, Solar System Science (previously Hands-On Solar System or HOSS), lets your students use images from professional telescopes along with image processing software developed for use in the classroom, to learn key concepts in astronomy, mathematics, and technology. Solar System Science blends content learning with critical thinking skills and processes such as data interpretation, measurement techniques, and using appropriate tools for exploration.

Background for and techniques of visual observation, electronic imaging, and spectroscopy of the Moon, planets, satellites, stars, and brighter deep-space objects. Weekly outdoor observing sessions using 8-inch diameter telescopes when weather permits. Indoor sessions introduce needed skills. Introduction to contemporary observational astronomy including astronomical computing, image and data processing, and how astronomers work. Student must maintain a careful and complete written log which is graded. In this seminar we explore the background and techniques of visual observation and imaging of the Moon, planets, and brighter deep-space objects using 8-inch telescopes. (Some sample images appear in our "photo album".) Telescope work begins with visual observing, then we advance to CCD (charge-coupled device) cameras. Each class observing session meets one evening a week. Whenever weather conditions permit us to observe outdoors we do so! In cloudy weather we'll try some astronomical computing and image processing indoors instead. Either way, virtually all the work for the seminar is done during the evening sessions, so students must attend section every week in order to pass. Past experience has been that if you're really enthusiastic about hands-on out-under-the-sky astronomy, enough to be willing to deal with dressing warmly, tinkering with equipment, and committing one evening a week, 12.409 is great fun! One student wrote, "Unlike most seminars, you will earn your units and, unlike most other MIT courses, you will look forward to doing it!" But we'll be direct: 12.409 is not for everyone, and in past years many whose interest was merely casual found themselves unwilling to devote one entire evening every week to the class. If your interest is only casual then consider whether a more typical astronomy survey subject might be a better choice, since it'll have more outside preparation time that you can rearrange at your discretion and less in-class time that you can't.

Quantitative introduction to physics of the solar system, stars, interstellar medium, the Galaxy, and Universe, as determined from a variety of astronomical observations and models. Topics: planets, planet formation; stars, the Sun, "normal" stars, star formation; stellar evolution, supernovae, compact objects (white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes), plusars, binary X-ray sources; star clusters, globular and open clusters; interstellar medium, gas, dust, magnetic fields, cosmic rays; distance ladder; galaxies, normal and active galaxies, jets; gravitational lensing; large scaling structure; Newtonian cosmology, dynamical expansion and thermal history of the Universe; cosmic microwave background radiation; big-bang nucleosynthesis. No prior knowledge of astronomy necessary. Not usable as a restricted elective by physics majors.

Build a simple refractory telescope.

A brief biography of Paolo Sarpi (1552-1623).

This Web site, created to complement the museum's Rose Center for Earth and Space, offers a virtual visit to the museum, complete with text, photos, and video.

This is the table of contents listing for the NASA booklet "Shedding a New Light on the Universe". Each item in the table is a link to a specific topic. Topics include such items as the electromagnetic spectrum, frequency, wavelength, and energy activity, the multiwavelength Milky Way, the Crab Nebula in different energies, spectroscopy, satellites and their parts, and the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). The linked pages feature text, photographs, scientific illustrations, and remotely sensed imagery.

Use simple materials to explore the use of lenses and telescopes.

This unit looks at how telescopes and spectrographs are designed to improve our ability to observe the universe. You will examine how different technologies have been developed over the last four hundred years to enable us to look deep into space.