Great Educational Resources

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These are useful websites for students and teachers. These links and internet sites are provided as resources, but in no way reflect endorsement by the Observatory.

International Dark-Sky Association

Community Science light pollution project

Leap into Science

Distributes materials and training to libraries and community centers

NRAO (National Radio Astronomy Observatory)

Intro information about radio astronomy, stars, galaxies, and the mysteries scientists are still working to solve

NSF (National Science Foundation) Science Zone

Podcasts, videos, pictures, and stories about NSF-funded science

PSC (Pulsar Search Collaboratory)

Opportunity for high school students to engage in observational radio astronomy research with WVU faculty and GBO staff

SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence)

Podcasts, K-12 science curricula, and development opportunities for students and teachers

WV SPOT (West Virginia Science Public Outreach Team)

Presentations and activities for grade-level students, and opportunity to invite a WV SPOT ambassador from a local university into your classroom

44 Closest Stars and How They Compare to our Sun

A fascinating look at 44 of the closest stars, and their relative sizes. (Shout out to Hannah, an inquisitive Girl Scout, for finding this infographic).

ASP (Astronomical Society of the Pacific)

Activities for early and grade-school learners, kits for classroom activities, and professional development for teachers

Astronomy Center

Digital resources for college-level faculty and students, by the American Association of Physics Teachers and the National Science Foundation

Cool Cosmos

Multi-wavelength astronomy images, videos, and activities, from the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at Caltech

Milky Way Explorer

Interactive map of the galaxy from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory

NASA STEM Engagement

Activities, opportunities, videos, and more, delineated by age

NOAO (National Optical Astronomy Observatory)

Course materials, research guides, and citizen science opportunities for astronomy educators

NSO (National Solar Observatory)

Free printables and lesson plans about the Sun

Square Kilometre Array

Lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, and hands-on engineering outreach activities

SalsaJ

Student-friendly software to display, analyze, and explore real astronomical data

SSDS Voyages

Activities for astronomy students using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey database

StarDate

Radio show and podcast, stargazing advice and events, and activities and lesson plans

Academo

Interactive STEAM demonstrations and tools

Code.org

Website for teaching grades K-12 to code

Exploratorium

Educational media and classroom activities for all subjects and grade levels

howtosmile

Aggregation of hands-on STEM activities to use in the classroom or at home

JINA-CEE (Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics – Center for the Evolution of the Elements)

Atomic and quantum lesson plans and activity guides for grades K-12

Minecraft: Education Edition

Project-based lessons in coding, biology, history, math, and more

PHET

Interactive science and math simulations from the University of Colorado at Boulder

Zooniverse

Collection of online citizen science projects for all ages

SARA (Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers)

Conferences, grants, advice and resources for designing, building, and taking data

Open Source Radio Telescopes

Database and collaboration center for radio telescope construction at any level

PICTOR Telescope

A free-to-use radio telescope based in Greece. Get your feet wet in radio astronomy!

APOD (Astronomy Picture Of the Day)

Great daily astronomical images and a searchable database of past APODs

Astrometrica

Astronomic data reduction of FITS and SBIG image files

DS9

Free FITS viewer and image processor

Heavens Above

Satellite tracker; editable and printable sky chart

Sky & Telescope Magazine

Find a local astronomy club

Sky Maps

Free monthly stargazing printable

Star Wheel

Printable make-and-take planispheres

StarDate

Radio show and podcast, stargazing advice and events, and activities and lesson plans

Stellarium

Free, open-source planetarium software for PC, Mac, and Linux

ADS (Astrophysics Data System)

Searchable collection of astronomy and physics abstracts and full articles, by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory at Harvard

NED (NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database)

Searchable database of extragalactic objects from the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at Caltech

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information

Archived space weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

SIMBAD (Set of Identifications, Measurements, and Bibliography for Astronomical Data)

Searchable database of data, cross-identification, and measurements for objects outside the Solar System by the Strasbourg Astronomical Data Center

Skyview Virtual Observatory

NASA’s database of astronomical images in all wavelengths

SSDS (Sloan Digital Sky Survey)

Searchable database of large portions of the universe

AIfA HI Surveys Server

Models an HI profiles of any portion of the sky, from the Argelander Institute for Astronomy

LST (Local Sidereal Time) Clock

Gives Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), Greenwich Local Sidereal Time, and Green Bank Local Sidereal Time, or the right ascension of any telescope at the Observatory

NED (NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database)

Coordinate, extinction, and velocity calculators, from the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at Caltech

Radial Velocity Calculator

Measures Doppler shift due to the rotation and orbit of the Earth

Radio-Sky Publishing

Sky simulator, sidereal clock, chart recorder software, and more

Aladin Sky Atlas

Interactive sky atlas