Who hasn’t looked into the night sky and wondered about the stars and the universe? But upper elementary and middle school may be the last chance for many students to study or be exposed to concepts in astronomy. Earth and space science is not offered in many high schools or it not chosen by college-bound students. And yet, astronomy is a science that can be pursued and enjoyed even beyond one’s school days.
The articles in this month’s Science and Children provides teachers with many ideas for getting student started on a lifelong learning adventure. Secondary teachers can get ideas for working with students who do not have much background in astronomy.
Several of the articles have SciLinks codes: SC090801 for Exploring Mars; SC090802 for Moon Phases; SC090803 for the Other Planets; and SC090804 for What Causes Day and Night. Members can explore other topics by typing “astronomy” or “universe” as a SciLinks keyword.
It’s hard to study astronomy during the school day, but fortunately there are lots of websites that can be used to get students (and teachers) interested in the topic. Here are some ones worth checking out:

• Astronomy – Our Place in Space is an “ology” site from the American Museum of Natural History. This is well organized with lots of information, but I found the cartoonish illustrations of the planets (with human faces and appendages) to be unnecessary. These objects have a beauty of their own!
• Go beyond the planets with Capture the Cosmos that has lots of information, graphics, and simulations on black holes, comets, galaxies, and other phenomena.
• NASA calls Starchild “a learning center for young astronauts.”
• Don’t be put off by the title of Fundamental Physics in Space. Upper elementary and middle level students (and teachers) can learn about the big bang and other topics (and no higher math knowledge is necessary to read and learn from this site).
• Astronomy and Space is an overview of space research for advanced students or teacher’s background knowledge.
• For some content refreshers for teachers, check out NSTA’s Science Objects related to earth and space science. Each object takes 1-2 hours to complete. They’re very good as a refresher (or introduction). Topics in include the Universe, the Solar System, and Earth, Sun and Moon
• Astronomy with a Stick is a classic!
• A recent issue of Edutopia describes how a teacher uses a free desktop program called “Celestia” to study space from the desktop. The article also has links to other desktop astronomy programs, including the popular Google Sky. Playing with Celestia is next on my list of things to do!
• I just learned about Galaxy Zoo from a Scientific American podcast. This is another example of citizen science, in that volunteers log in and classify images of galaxies.

If anyone has used either of these last two resources, please let us know what you think!