Posts Tagged "space"

Interactive Transit of Venus Model

Posted on May 16, 2012 in Games and interactives, Science Resources | 0 comments

The folks over at the Sun Aeon website have put together a cool simulation of the 2012 Transit of Venus. which takes place on 5-6 June. It’s a neat way to demonstrate what’s taking place when Venus passes in front of the Sun in ths very rare astronomical event.

Take a look at : http://www.sunaeon.com/venustransit/

You can even get an embed code to host the model on your own school website or learning platform.

Magnifying the Universe – visualise the big and the small

Posted on Apr 22, 2012 in Digital Media, Games and interactives, Numeracy Resources, Science Resources | 0 comments

Here’s another cool tool to visualise objects and their relative sizes – from the very small to the massively large. Magnifying the Universe accurately illustrates the scale of over 100 items within the observable universe ranging from galaxies to insects, nebulae and stars to molecules and atoms. Numerous hot points along the zoom slider allow for direct access to planets, animals, the hydrogen atom and more. As you scroll, a handy dial spins to show you your present magnification level.

This would be very useful for both Science and Maths teachers. Would work well on an IWB but it’s flash-based so won’t work on iPads.

You can even get an embed code to use on your on class blog or VLE.

Try it out now at www.numbersleuth.org/universe/

And if you like this, also check out The Scale of the Universe tool too!

SunAeon – a solar system simulator for your IWB

Posted on Mar 18, 2012 in Games and interactives, Interactive Whiteboards, Science Resources | 0 comments

SunAeon is a new solar system simulator from the makers of Solar System Scope and Sun Moon Scope.

It allows you to explore the solar system, look at each of the planets up close and see how they move relative to each other. The planets are rendered beautifully although there are no moons (even our moon). I hope these will be added later. There’s also no additional information about any of the planets.

You can switch between seeing it as a model with large planets that are easy to see, or as a “real” representation with planets correctly sized relative to each other.

It would be good to have a full-screen mode to remove the adverts, like you can in Solar System Scope.

This would be great to use in any lesson about the Solar System from KS2 up. Take a look now at http://www.sunaeon.com/, and if you like that, also take a look at Solar System Scope and Sun Moon Scope.

Let me know what you think in the comments.

New and Updated Scale of the Universe Tool

Posted on Feb 9, 2012 in Digital Media, Interactive Whiteboards, Science Resources | 2 comments

There’s a great new Scale of the Universe tool from the people who brought you the original Scale of the Universe tool that I wrote about last year.

This one is clickable – and tells you a litle more about the different planets and objects you can see as you drag the slider to view bigger or smaller objects.

I loved the original version, but this one is even better. Will work really well on an IWB in a science lesson.

Take a look at http://www.htwins.net/scale2/

Space and Moon Animations

Posted on Sep 29, 2011 in Interactive Whiteboards | 1 comment

McGraw-Hill have produced some very interesting animations and interactives on the subject of Space and Earth/Moon. They appear to be aimed at KS5 and above, but you will find that quite a few can be used to demonstrate concepts lower down the school such as this Lunar Phases Interactive

View the Animations here, and the interactives Here.

Thanks to @jobadge and @psychemedia for the link via Twitter

For KS2/KS3 don’t forget to take a look at Earth Moon and Sun, The Childrens University of Manchester and also the Day/Night Demonstrator from ICT Games.

Explore Moon Phases with Sun Moon Scope

Posted on Sep 15, 2011 in Interactive Whiteboards, Science Resources, Useful Links | 0 comments

Sun Moon Scope is an interactive tool looking at the Sun and Moon from the makers of Solar System Scope.

It allows you to show the positions of the Sun and the Moon relative to an observer on the Earth, plus show what the phase of the Moon will be. You can play the animation to show what the moon will look like on any date. It’s possible to switch off the moon and/or the Sun, plus jump straight to certain dates such as the Summer Solstice or Vernal Equinox.

One feature that’s missing is a full-screen button, which I find very useful in their Solar System Scope – particularly as the makers have crammed the screen full of adverts which are distracting in a classroom. Full screen would also make it easier to see and use on an interactive whiteboard.

Would also be nice to have a mode where the compass disk is replaced by a globe. Just as an option.

This tool would be useful for anyone who wants to teach about phases of the moon. As an alternative you might also want to take a look at the Childrens University of Manchester who do a nice animation of this.

Visit Sun Moon Scope at : http://www.sunmoonscope.com/

And if you haven’t already seen Solar System Scope you can find it at : http://www.solarsystemscope.com/

As always, let me know what you think in the comments.

Space infographic

Posted on Aug 20, 2011 in Science Resources | 0 comments

Just a quick post. Saw this infographic yesterday and thought it was cool.

Click to embiggen….

Solar System Scope : A 3D Space Model

Posted on Apr 5, 2011 in Interactive Whiteboards, Science Resources | 1 comment

Solar System Scope is  an amazing interactive 3D Model of our Solar System. You can zoom in and move the planets around the Sun to see how they move in relation to each other.

You can switch between an heliocentric view, geocentric view or a panoramic view of the Solar System. Earth centred view is great if you then use the play controls to move the time forwards as you can see the how day/night changes across the surface. Heliocentric view is good for showing how we get seasons as well as demonstrating the movement of the Moon around the Earth in the course of a month. The scales of the planets in relation to each other is not accurate – nor is the distance apart, but they’re necessary changes to make the whole thing fit on a screen and be useable!

Click on any planet to “visit” that planet and explore its surface – or get more information about it.

It’s a truly fabulous application -and every Science teacher should add it to their bookmarks for their next Space lesson alongside Google Moon, Mars and Sky. All of which are fantastic on an Interactive Whiteboard.

Visit it now at : http://www.solarsystemscope.com

Thanks to Stephen Baxter for tweeting the link.

Space Shuttle Launch Video

Posted on Mar 31, 2011 in Activity Ideas, Resources, Science Resources | 0 comments

I’ve been trawling the internet looking for some good videos to use in my PGCE science session next week. I want a good example of space shuttle or rocket launches to use as a scene setter – to give them an idea of something they could use with their pupils.

And I found this rather amazing HD video of the Shuttle Atlantis being launched, which is just beautiful:

I also found a few videos that include the countdown, including this one of Atlantis:

And also this one that puts you in the cockpit with the astronauts before and during launch:

I also found this video montage of high resolution photographs of Apollo 11 on the moon:

All of these videos could really help to put a space lesson in context – or be the spark for some creative writing based on what they have seen. What must it be like to be in that Shuttle as it takes off? How would it feel?