This news story highlights Hubble's infrared image of the Horsehead Nebula. Students will discover why astronomers are interested in this nebula and how they study the nebula using infrared light. The reading identifies and defines vocabulary that... (View More) may be new to students. Discussion questions help to focus student attention on important information and to challenge students to more deeply explore star formation. (View Less)

This lithograph features an image from the Hubble Space Telescope, showcasing a colorful view of the star-forming nebula N90, located in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The accompanying activity, In Search of...the Electromagnetic Spectrum, is a... (View More) curriculum support tool designed for use as an introductory inquiry activity. In this activity, students will use the lithograph image and text to generate questions about the electromagnetic spectrum, and then research the answers to those questions. Students will then create a presentation to demonstrate their understanding of the material. (View Less)

This series of visual presentations illustrates common physics principles across vastly different scales, using human-scale photographs, earth science and astrophysics imagery. The products look at such topics as shadows, wind, bow waves and... (View More) collisionally-excited gas. The intent is to show how familiar processes on Earth are connected to more exotic and less well-known phenomena across the Universe. These laws apply here (in daily life), there (around Earth and the Solar System), and everywhere (throughout the cosmos). The poster set is part of the Here, There, Everywhere (HTE) collection. (View Less)

In this activity, students are introduced to light and colored gels (filters). Students make and test predictions about light and color using gels; learn about the importance of gels (filters) to astronomers; then analyze images taken with regular... (View More) and infrared cameras to see that objects opaque to light at one wavelength, may be transparent to light of a different wavelength. Section 1 of the activity guide includes teacher notes, information on materials and preparation, student misconceptions, and a student pre-test. Each activity section also includes teacher notes, student activity sheets, and answer keys. This activity is the first of four activities in Active Astronomy, which are designed to complement instruction on the electromagnetic spectrum, focusing on infrared light. (View Less)

In this activity, students build a photocell detector, and use it to detect different colors of light in a spectrum. Then they place the detector just outside the red region of the visible light spectrum and see that the detector detects the... (View More) presence of light there, even though there is no color visible. Students learn that invisible light exists and that we can detect this light with instruments other than our eyes. In a final part of the activity, students investigate the infrared signals emitted by TV and VCR remote controls. The activities build upon each other and are best taught in order. Section 1 of the activity guide includes teacher notes, information on materials and preparation, student misconceptions and a student pre-test. Each activity section also includes teacher notes, student activity sheets, and answer keys. This activity requires some special materials (e.g. a small solar cell, alligator clip leads, plus common classroom materials (e.g., overhead or slide projector). This activity is the second of four activities in Active Astronomy, which are designed to complement instruction on the electromagnetic spectrum, focusing on infrared light. (View Less)

In this activity, students learn that infrared light is reflected in the same manner as visible light. Students align a series of mirrors so that they can turn on a TV with a remote control when the remote is not in a direct line with the TV. As a... (View More) result of their experiment with reflection, students deduce that infrared light is another form of light and is a part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Section 1 of the activity guide includes teacher notes, information on materials and preparation, student misconceptions and a student pre-test. Each activity section also includes teacher notes, student activity sheets, and answer keys. This activity requires a TV and remote control. It is the third of four activities in Active Astronomy, which are designed to complement instruction on the electromagnetic spectrum, focusing on infrared light. (View Less)

In this activity, students learn that light carries information. Students also discover that infrared (IR) radiation is a form of light that in some cases behaves like visible light and in other cases behaves very differently. For example, some... (View More) objects that block visible light allow infrared light to pass through. This activity requires the use of both common classroom materials (e.g., laser pointer) and special materials (e.g., photocell). It is supported by teacher notes, information on materials and preparation, background information on student misconceptions, an activity sheet, an answer key, and a pre-assessment activity. This activity is the last of four activities in the "Active Astronomy" educator's guide. Activities in the guide are designed to complement instruction on the electromagnetic spectrum with a focus on infrared light. The activities build upon each other and are best taught in order. (View Less)

This activity introduces the electromagnetic spectrum. A riddle is proposed and users stroll through an imaginary amusement park to identify the object being described. During the journey, they discover the different types of electromagnetic energy... (View More) and learn about telescopes that see the universe in these different parts of the spectrum. (View Less)

This interactive, web-based activity allows children to see the universe in many different wavelengths of light - light our eyes can and cannot see. To use the viewer, first select a celestial object (planet, galaxy, etc.), then select an... (View More) electromagnetic wavelength range to view it (e.g., visible, ultraviolet, infrared). Images are from various ground- and space-based telescopes. In addition, background information is provided on the electromagnetic spectrum and selected telescopes designed to detect specific regions of light. (View Less)

This lesson provides a way for students to determine the relationship between the distance from a light source and its brightness. Once students discover the relationship, they can begin to understand how astronomers use this knowledge to determine... (View More) the distances to stars and far away galaxies. (View Less)