The activity begins with information on general characteristics of stars and the criteria used to classify of them into four stellar groups. Learners are then provided with “Star Status” sheets that provide both factual information and... (View More) anthropomorphic descriptions of six stars representing the stellar groups. Learners use the information on the sheets to “act out” the star, while others guess the star class that is being represented. This activity was designed for use in a library program. (View Less)

In this card game, players compete to be the first to build the Fermi satellite and use it to observe five astronomical targets. Eighty-six custom-designed cards contain information on the various Fermi components, science and education teams, and... (View More) astronomical objects. In Stage I, the players build their satellite by collecting component and experience points cards, and in Stage II they collect astronomical target cards. There are also offensive cards used to slow an opponent's progress and defensive cards to counter the "attacks." The game teaches players about the components of a satellite, the roles of individuals working on a satellite mission (including educators), and the obstacles that can occur in their construction. (View Less)

This board game challenges players (ages 10+) to build a spaceship and fly to a black hole. The game provides opportunities for understanding phenomena based on current black hole research. During the game, players will experience the dangers and... (View More) excitement of a real space mission, and learn about the nature of black holes by launching scientific probes. The game can be played competitively or as a team (instructions are also provided for playing in large groups. Black Hole Explorer consists of: Game Board, Game Rules, Spacecraft Data sheets, Science Briefing Room document, Event cards (28), Probe result cards (12), Energy tokens (140). Game components are available as PDF downloads; dice and game pieces must be provided by the user. NOTE: tokens and cards need to be cut to size from letter-size cardstock. (View Less)