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Astrophysics
The Unit 2 planning document prepared by Gary Bass contains numerous activities and many useful websites.
PowerPoint presentation used by Keith Burrows at STAVCON 2003 and PHYSCON 2004 and since updated. See the 'notes' section for added comments. It is divided into four sections for ease in downloading: Part 1 (1 MB), Part 2 (955 kB), Part 3 (1.4 MB), Part 4 (680 kB).
Text Resources
Ellyard, D 2001, Sky Watch: A Guide to the Southern Skies, ABC Books, Sydney
Freedman, RA & Kaufmann, WJ 2002, Universe, 6th edn, WH Freeman and Company, New York.
Pasachoff, JM 2001, Astronomy from the Earth to the Universe, Brooks/Cole, New York.
Wyatt, P 1996, Astronomy for the Southern Hemisphere, CSIRO Series, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne.
Audiovisual Resources
It is recommended that teachers should view any video before purchase.
Marcom Projects: Modern Physics & Cosmology, Origins Back to the Beginning 1 & 2, Origins, Where are the Aliens 1 & 2, Starlight, Stars of the Universe, What are Stars?
VEA: Stars: Birth to Death, The Big Bang, Destination Cosmos
Classroom Activities
Astronomy Resources (updated Feb 2004) A list of various books and lab resources and Astronomy websites that may be of use in implementing the Astronomy and Astrophysics Detailed Studies in the new curriculum.
Astrophysics is an updated (Feb 2004) version of the text of the talks given by Keith Burrows at St.Kevins (Sept 03) and STAVCON (Nov 03) and Physics Teachers conference (Feb 04). It describes an approach to teaching this detailed study.
Light Intensity and Distance practical activity submitted by Russell Downie. This prac uses a photographic slide of many dots that are projected onto a target of a set size. The slide set is available from Peter Mansell Fax 9808 5998 at a cost of $8. For further details about this prac contact Russell at rdownie@plc.vic.edu.au.
Parallax practical activity submitted by Russell Downie.
Cepheid Variables Spreadsheet activity. A spreadsheet with the data of apparent visual magnitudes for a series of Cepheid Variables in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Instructions are on the spreadsheet.
Astronomers use a special file format for their images. This format is 'Flexible Image Transport System' or FITS/FTS. This system allows information about the image (where, when and who took the picture as well as calibration information about the telescope etc. to be encoded into the file itself. To view these images (available from most astronomical image databases), a FITS compatible viewer is needed. There are several free FITS viewers and image analysis programs available on the Internet. Download one of the following FITS image analysis programs and investigate the available analysis routines. Concentrate on the routines that look at POSITION and INTENSITY of the image. a FITS program from RIT, a FITS program from Harvard. FITS images may be downloaded from the following image website.
Lesson plans on the Sun and Sun spots
Sampling activity on how many stars there are in our galaxy
Remote Control Telescope: Charles Sturt University in WA; Faulkes telescope through Swinburne University
Excursions: Victorian Space Science Education Centre at Strathmore Secondary College offers programs for VCE Physics students. Swinburne Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputingoffers virtual 3D tours; a regional program is available.
Assessment Ideas
The Wright Centre for Science Education at Tufts University has an excellent site of information and resources for teachers including assessment items.
Useful Websites
Australia National Telescope Facility (ATNF) Outreach website for students and teachers.
CLEA website includes good downloadable exercises)
Victorian Space Science Centre.
A comprehensive site prepared for NASA
Galaxy activities
Activity on Mass of the Milky Way
Edwin Hubble website
Supernova Acceleration Probe: SNAP web page for educators
Type 1 Supernovae
Set of lecture notes with images from Arizona University (0ver 50 files)
Cosmic Evolution
IT Applications
A range of effective applets on navigation.
Applets from Demos and Animations for Teaching Astronomy
HR diagram applet
Black body radiation applet
Eclipsing binaries applet
Orbiting binary stars applet
Stellar Evolution applet
applet on binary stars
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