Teachers.netAmazing Solar System
Amazing Solar System Projects You Can Build Yourself introduces readers ages 9 and up to the basic elements of the solar system with over 25 hands-on building projects and activities. Readers learn about the sun, the planets and their moons, meteors and comets, and the amazing tools that astronomers and astronauts have used to study the solar system over the years. Amazing Solar System Projects provides detailed step-by-step instructions and diagrams for creating the projects, which include making a greenhouse to see what happens on Venus to constructing a model of the phases of the moon to demonstrate why the moon has phases. Fascinating facts and anecdotes, biographies, and trivia are interspersed with the fun projects to teach readers all about the solar system.
Astronomy is a fascinating subject, but it can be tricky at times. An excellent way to illustrate astronomical concepts such as how far the earth is from the sun is to show students through projects. In this book, Lopez presents numerous projects to help beginning astronomers understand the basics. It is divided into three sections: "What Is the Solar System?," "Astronomy and Exploration Tools," and "Beyond the Solar System." The book also includes a timeline, a glossary, and other useful references. Some of the projects include building a greenhouse, making craters in sand, making an asteroid jigsaw puzzle, and constructing a Newtonian telescope. Each of the projects includes detailed instructions and illustrations. Lopez also includes enough astronomy information that both seasoned astronomy students and those new to the field can understand the basics behind the projects. Both the history and the future of the field are explained in easy-to-understand detail. Even if the projects were removed, the book would be an excellent text on astronomy. Amie Rose Rotruck Children's Literature.
"Amazing Solar System Projects You Can Build Yourself is a fun way for kids to explore science and the worlds around them without ever having to leave our home planet. This great collection of fun facts and activities is a perfect way to give kids a first-hand feel for important concepts and discoveries in planetary science and space exploration." —Jim Bell, NASA Mars Exploration Rover Project
Books
Andronik, Catherine M. Great Minds of Science: Copernicus, Founder of Modern Astronomy. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 2002.
Berger, Melvin. Discovering Jupiter: the Amazing Collision in Space. New York: Scholastic, 1995
Brown, Duncan, Ed. The Visual Dictionary of the Universe. New York: DK Publishing, 1993.
Campbell, Ann Jeanette. Amazing Space. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1997.
Carson, Mary Kay. Exploring the Solar System. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2006.
Couper, Heather and Herbest, Nigel. How the Universe Works. London: Dorling Kindersley Ltd., 1994.
Croswell, Ken. Ten Worlds: Everything That Orbits the Sun. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press, 2006.
Davis, Kenneth C. Don’t Know Much About Space. New York: Harper Collins, 2001.
Dickinson, Terence. Night Watch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, 1998.
Ford, Harry. The Young Astronomer. New York: DK Publishing, 1998.
Fradin, Dennis Brindell. Is There Life on Mars? New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 1999.
Fradin, Dennis Brindell.The Planet Hunters. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 1997.
Gallant, Roy A. The Planets: Exploring the Solar System. New York: Four Winds Press, 1982.
Hightower, Paul. Galileo: Astronomer and Physicist. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 1997.
Kerrod, Robin and Sparrow, Giles. The Way the Universe Works. New York: DK Publishing, 2002.
Krull, Kathleen. Giants of Science: Isaac Newton. New York: Viking, 2006.
Lasky, Kathryn. The Librarian Who Measured the Earth. New York: Little, Brown and Co. 1994.
Lippencott, Kristen. Eyewitness Science: Astronomy. New York: DK Publishing, 1994.
Mechler, Gary. First Field Guide to the Night Sky. New York: Scholastic, 1999.
Miller, Robert and Wilson, Kenneth. Making and Enjoying Telescopes. New York: Sterling Press, 1995
Pasachoff, Jay M. Peterson First Guides: The Solar System. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990.
Rey, H.A. The Stars: A New Way to See Them. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1952.
Ride, Sally and O’Shaughnessy, Tam. Exploring Our Solar System. New York: Crown Publishers, 2003.
Roza, Greg. The Incredible Story of Telescopes. New York: Rosen Publishing Group, 2004.
Sobel, Dava. The Planets. New York: Penguin Books, 2005.
Schaff, Fred. Planetology: Comparing Other Worlds to Our Own. New York, Franklin Watts, 1996.
Scott, Elaine. Close Encounters: Exploring the Universe with the Hubble Space Telescope. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 1998.
Steele, Philip. Galileo: The Genius Who Faced the Inquisition. Washington, DC: National Geographic Books, 2005.
Stott, Carole and Twist, Clint. 1001 Facts about Space. New York: Backpack Books, 2002.
Summers, Carolyn and Handron, Kerry. An Earthling’s Guide to Deep Space. New York: McGraw Hill, 1999.
Websites
Amateur Telescope Makers http://www.atmsite.org/
Astronomy magazine site http://www.astronomy.com
National Aeronautics and Space Administration http://www.nasa.gov/
NASA site on the search for other planets http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm
NASA site about rocketry http://exploration.grc.nasa.gov/education/rocket/shortr.html
NASA site that tracks spacecraft http://science.nasa.gov/Realtime/JTrack/Spacecraft.html
National Association of Rocketry http://www.nar.org/
The Planetary Society http://planetary.org/home/
The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence http://www.seti.housenet.org/
S.E.T.I at Home http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/
Space.com http://www.space.com
Sky and Telescope magazine site of what is visible tonight http://skytonight.com/observing/highlights
Museums
Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum Chicago IL http://www.adlerplanetarium.org/
American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY http://www.amnh.org/
Buffalo Museum of Science Buffalo, Buffalo, NY http://www.sciencebuff.org/
California Science Center, Los Angeles, CA http://www.californiasciencecenter.org/
Center of Science and Industry, Columbus, OH http://www.cosi.org/
Cleveland Museum of Natural History Cleveland, OH http://www.cmnh.org/site/atthemuseum_planetariumandobservatory.aspx
Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Denver, CO. http://www.dmns.org/main/en/
Fernbank Science Center, Atlanta, GA http://fsc.fernbank.edu/
Franklin Institute Science Museum, Philadelphia, PA http://www2.fi.edu/
Kopernik Observatory and Science Education Center Vestal, NY http://www.kopernik.org/
Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston, TX http://www.hmns.org/
Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, CA http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/
LodeStar Astronomy Center at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Alburquerque, NM
http://www.lodestar.unm.edu/shows.html
Miami Museum of Science and Planetarium Miami, FL http://www.miamisci.org/
Montshire Museum of Science Norwich, VT http://www.montshire.org/
Museum of Science, Boston, MA http://www.mos.org/
Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, IL http://www.msichicago.org/
Pacific Science Center, Seattle, WA http://www.pacsci.org/
Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, San Diego, CA http://www.rhfleet.org/
Saint Louis Science Center, St. Louis, MO. http://www.slsc.org/
Science Museum of Virginia, Richmond, VA http://www.smv.org/
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC http://www.nasm.si.edu/
Shawn Braley, Shawn Braley is an award-winning illustrator. He attended the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art, Inc. He specializes in cartoon and editorial illustration. Braley is also a world traveler, musician, cat owner, and comic art collector. He lives in Southern Vermont. http://www.shawnbraley.com
For this activity, you need to get your lenses together. You can cut fake lenses out of clear plastic, but they won’t focus the light at all.
