This article contains a series of kinesthetic activities, explaining and demonstrating why stars twinkle and what astronomers can do to minimize it. The activities can be used to demonstrate how Earth's atmosphere distorts starlight and how advanced... (View More) telescope technology (adaptive optics) is used to compensate for this distortion. (View Less)

Gamma-ray bursts are distant explosions that briefly outshine the rest of the gamma-ray universe. In this lesson, students will follow the same procedures used by today's astronomers to determine two basic facts about gamma-ray bursts: their... (View More) distance from Earth and their power. (View Less)

This activity is intended as a review of the concepts presented in the previous activities as well as an assessment of student understanding of the activities. Learners use the review information from the activities as they answer question and then... (View More) view the image of an object that even astronomers had difficulties classifying. Learners make their own interpretation of the object and then compare their answers to the astronomers' interpretations. This is activity four of four in the Hubble Deep Field Lesson Package which includes color lithographs, student worksheets, background information, a glossary, as well as national science education standards. Request a paper copy of the HDF package through the "contact us" page of Amazing Space - be sure to include your mailing address. (View Less)

In this activity, learners classify selected objects from the Hubble Deep Field based on their color and shape. They then compare their classification with a chart made by astronomers. This is activity two of four in the Hubble Deep Field Lesson... (View More) Package which includes color lithographs, student worksheets, background information, a glossary, as well as national science education standards. Request a paper copy of the HDF package through the "contact us" page of Amazing Space - be sure to include your mailing address. (View Less)

In this activity, the problems and difficulties of determining the distances between Earth and objects in space is addressed. Learners attempt to arrange five objects from the Hubble Deep Field according to their distances from Earth. After making... (View More) their determination, based on visual observations alone, learners compare their answers with those of astronomers and try to explain why they differ. This is activity three of four in the Hubble Deep Field Lesson Package which includes color lithographs, student worksheets, background information, a glossary, as well as national science education standards. Request a paper copy of the HDF package through the "contact us" page of Amazing Space - be sure to include your mailing address. (View Less)

In this activity, learners practice estimation skills as they begin to explore the Hubble Deep Field image. They first give a rough estimate of the number of objects and then follow several steps, using representative sampling techniques, to improve... (View More) upon their original estimates. Finally, learners calculate the number of similar objects in the universe based on their estimate. This is activity one of four in the Hubble Deep Field Lesson Package which includes color lithographs, student worksheets, background information, a glossary, as well as national science education standards. Request a paper copy of the HDF package through the "contact us" page of Amazing Space - be sure to include your mailing address. (View Less)

This interactive, computer-based activity presents a series of inquiries that allow students to discover how the colors, masses, and luminosities of stars are related. Students also investigate how these characteristics influence the life cycle of... (View More) the stars. The concluding activity allows students to use the information learned in the previous activities to determine the eventual fate of our Sun. The activity is part of the Space Mysteries series. (View Less)