New and Updated Scale of the Universe Tool
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/
Read MoreSpace and Moon Animations
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.
Read MoreExplore Moon Phases with Sun Moon Scope
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.
Read MoreSpace infographic
Just a quick post. Saw this infographic yesterday and thought it was cool.
Click to embiggen….
Read More
Solar System Scope : A 3D Space Model
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.
Read MoreSpace Shuttle Launch Video
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?
Read MoreScale of the Universe
Thanks to Drew Buddie (@digitalmaverick on Twitter) for sharing a link to a great resource that demonstrates the scale of the universe.
Scroll from the entire universe, down to the Solar System, a human, and then even smaller, down to sub atomic particles. It’s a great way to visualise aspects of scale.You can see it here.
This reminds me of a similar resource that I blogged about last year, the Cell Size and Scale interactive from the Genetic Science Learning Centre, University of Utah, takes you from a coffee bean down to a carbon atom.
Both are great visual tools for Science and Maths teachers. Thanks again to Drew for sharing!
Read MoreTop 100 Astronomy Images
The European Southern Observatory has just posted their Top 100 Images online. Science teachers should definitely check it out!
Each of the images is displayed as a taster thumbnail, and each links to a page with more information and larger versions of the image.
If you are looking for “wow” images to use in lessons, or just want some different desktop backgrounds, then go take a look: http://www.eso.org/public/images/archive/top100/
Read MoreNational Schools Observatory
The National Schools’ Observatory (NSO) allows UK schools to make free use of a professional robotic telescope designed for scientific research. The telescope is located on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, and is known as the Liverpool Telescope.
When the Liverpool Telescope was in development, it was decided to allocate 5% of the observing time to schools in the UK and Ireland. As it is no easy task to control a robotic telescope, the National Schools’ Observatory was created to act as a link between schools and the telescope. In essence, the NSO allows teachers and students to request, download and analyse images of objects in space taken by the Liverpool Telescope.
In addition the NSO website also provides news updates, astronomy related projects and activities, teaching resources and an astronomy textbook, which is hopefully written in a language that students can understand.
In order to register with the National Schools’ Observatory, you must teach at a school in the UK or Ireland. Once registered, teachers can create individual user accounts for students at their school. All registered users gain access to the Liverpool Telescope, all NSO software and the entire telescope image archive.
School registrations are currently supported by Liverpool John Moores University, which means that schools in the UK and Ireland can join for free, which is an excellent opportunity.
Even if you don’t use the telescope, there are some useful resources for teachers of maths and science here.
Read More
About Me
Buy the book!
