In the list below, the following codes are used to indicate audience/grade levels where this Teachnique, instructional tool, or item may be educationally suited:

P = Grades K-3 E = Elementary Grades 4-6 M = Middle School Grades 7-8
H = High School Grades 9-12 C = College or University I = Informal/Public Outreach
G = General Audiences

ASTRONOMY, CELESTIAL OBJECTS, AND TOOLS

History

Using Kepler’s Harmony of the Worlds to show planetary distances, eccentricities, and more for the visually impaired with sound, and to create the sounds (notes and chords) for the non-impaired – 4 HCIG
Cultural Astronomy in Your Hometown – 6 IG
An Antikythera Replica for the Classroom – 6 HC
A Historical Method Approach to Teaching Kepler’s 2nd Law – 17 C
We Know the Way: Learning the Secrets of Celestial Navigation from Ancient Travellers – 18 HC
Astronomer Birthday Calendar – 30 G
AAS: Audio Diaries of the Cosmos – 44 GI
Gravity Rules! (A STEM Story) [Da Vinci Measured Gravity First) – 47 GH
Why Does the March Equinox Time Spring All Over the Clock? – 48 G

General Observing

Start the School Year with Some Observations – 8 EMHCIG
Just Look Up (What can you see with just your eyes) – 11 EMHCIG
Astrophotography with a Smartphone – 12 IG
(IAU-Shaw) What Can You Do With Spectra? (Matchbox Spectroscope) – 13 EMHCI
Sky Lessons (Measuring Planet Separations in the Evening Sky) – 14 GI
{An App on Star Trails/Motions, within Smartphone Universes article) – 15 HC
Sky Lessons (Eyeball “Spectroscopy”) – 20 G
The Value of a Marathon (Naked Eye Messier Marathon) – 22 G
Planets All In A Row, In The Sky – 27 G
The Planetary Ecliptic Zone (Planets Are Not On the Ecliptic, and There are 14 More Constellations They Go Through!)- 28 HC
USNO Sky Information – 30 G
RAP Sheet – What Hides Within a Photograph: Analysis of a Light Curve in the Classroom – 30 HC
When the Sun and the Moon Look the Same Size, How Big is a Shadow? – 38 EMH
Ecliptic Constellations Sizes and Borders – 39 GMH
Constellations are Electrifying (Making Constellations in electric circuits) – 40 HC
Lessons with A Half-Day Border Crossing – 48 G
Magnitude and Color of Mars (Comparing It as Saturn Passes Castor and Pollux) – 48 GI

Sun

What Color is the Sun? Or Any Other Star? – 9 EMHCG
Low Tech Ways to View the Sun – 12 EMHI
{An App on Eclipses, within Smartphone Universes article) – 15 HC
Mind Your Beeswax! (Things you can do with a Sun course, astronomical and cultural) – 16 GC
Ecliptic Motions of the Sun and Moon – 21 G
Heliophysics Big Year – 29 G
RAP Sheet: Total Eclipses of the Sun as Depicted in the Modern Popular Novel – 29 G
A Touch of Space Weather (Models for BVI and Sighted Students) – 36 HC
Make Your Own Sun – 41 P

Solar Eclipses

Eclipse Photography (and Out of Eclipse, too) – 3 G
Galileoscopes for the Upcoming Eclipses – 39 G
Replicating a 1930s Experiment—Animals and Eclipses—The Modern Way – 45 GI
A Funding Opportunity from NASA – 45 G
What Can You Learn With a Ring of Fire? – 45 G
AAS Solar Eclipse Sessions) – 46
– Prices on Solar Galileoscopes Revealed – G
– Solar Eclipse Things to Talk About – G
– How Many Will See The Eclipse? – G
– Guides Available – G
– The Eclipse at Your Library GI
– Live Streaming The Eclipse I
More on the Upcoming Eclipses, Travel – 48 G
– New Maps of the Eclipses’ Paths
– Twice the Eclipses! (Places That Will See Two Solar Eclipses)
– Places to Visit While You Are There

Solar System – General, Motions

Demonstrating Gravity on Other Worlds – 8 MHC
Using Jupiter to Demonstrate an Example of Kepler’s Third Law – 8, 41 HC
Using the Calendar to Demonstrate Two Examples of Kepler’s Second Law; – 9 G
Programming Ozobots to Show Planetary Motions – 11 MHC
How Eccentric is Earth’s Orbit and Where is the Sun? (Misconceptions Check) – 13 C
{An App on Solar System Motions, within Smartphone Universes article) – 15 HC
Ecliptic Pachinko (Delineating the Ecliptic with Planetary positions and motions in December 2021/January 2022) – 15 GI
Ecliptic Motions of the Sun and Moon – 21 G (Sun-Redux – 22 G)
Using Phobos’ Eclipse of the Sun to Find the Sun’s Size – 23 G
Editorial – The Real Lesson to Learn from Comet SW3 and the Meteor ‘Storm’ – 27 G
Pluto in Crisis (Using Characters as Stand-ins for Concepts in Videos) – 37 G
Magnitude and Color of Mars (Comparing It as Saturn Passes Castor and Pollux) – 48 GI

Earth – The Planet and Its Motions

Determining Earth’s Size on Any Given Day – 2 HC
Earth’s Rotation Video, from its surface – 3 G
How the Earth Tilts (as seen from space) – 4 G
A Call to Join a Zooniverse Activity on CO2 effects on Mars and Earth – 4 G
LandSat Art – 5 GI
Teaching about No Planet B – 5 G
Observing Daily and Yearly Motions in the Sky – 11 PEMI
Low Tech Daytime Astronomy – Determining Earth’s Size; Sky Color and Sun’s Color – 12 MHI
An Observational Project for a Large Class —Determination of the Duration of the Sidereal Day – 17 C
The March Equinox (Worksheets, Information, Apps) – 22 CHMG
Why Does the March Equinox Time Spring All Over the Clock? – 48 G

Moon

A Flat Moon? (A Demonstration to Show if the Moon is Flat or Spherical – 10 HC
What the Moon’s South Pole Looks Like (NASA Video, Project Artemis) — 12 G
The November 19th Nearly Total, Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse – What Can You Do Educationally? – 13 HCIG
(IAU-Shaw) The Moon – 13 G
We–Had–An Eclipse (Cell Phone Photography of Eclipse) – 14 G
All the Moon’s Motions, and to Scale! – 15 G
– Which One Is More Effective in Teaching the Phases of the Moon and Eclipses: Hands-On or Computer Simulation? – 18 G
Measuring Lunar Distances (And Those on Other Objects) With Google Earth Pro, Smartphone Photos and Spherical Geometry – 19 HC
Ecliptic Motions of the Sun and Moon – 21 G
Measuring the Moon’s Size and Distance with a Ball and a Total Eclipse – 25 GI
Results of Measuring the Moon’s Size and Distance during the March Eclipse – 26 GI
RAP Sheet – Grade Level Influence in Middle School Students’ Spatial-Scientific Understandings of Lunar Phases – 30 M
RAP Sheet–Observation of Libration and Change in Apparent Diameter of the Moon with a Pinhole Camera – 33 G
Education With November’s Total Lunar Eclipse – 38 G
Photo of Earth-Moon to Scale from the Lucy Probe – 43 G

Comets and Meteors

Sky Lessons: The Difference Between Comets and Meteors (Perseids and Comet K2, Summer 2022) – 33 G
Sky Lessons: The Orionids and What Kinds of Questions Can You Get from Making Craters from ‘Meteors’? – 37 GMHC
Meteor Radiants Aren’t Stationary – 38 G
Comet 2022 E3 ZTF in January/February 2023 – 41 G

Asteroids

Rotating Potatoes (and light curves) – 6 HC
Rotato Redux! – 7 HC
Near-Earth Asteroids Students Can Research – 32 C

Mars and its Probes

A Call to Join a Zooniverse Activity on CO2 effects on Mars and Earth – 4 G
A Tool For Comparing Mars and Earth – 8 G
What Can You Do With a Martian Eclipse? – 23 G

Satellites and Space Telescopes

Webb Telescope – VR Program – 3 HCIG
NASA StarShade Origami for Home Use – 7 G
Locating the James Webb Telescope at L2 – 16 HC
Searching Gaia – 42 C

Telescopes, Earth Based

Virtual Radio Observatory Tours – 3 G
Virtual Goddard Tours – 10 G
Astronomy Remotely (Column) – 1. Remote Observing, Generally – 11 G
Astronomy Remotely – Observing with iTelescope, Part 1 – 13 G
Astronomy Remotely – What Kinds of Research Can You Do (RTSRE Report) – 30 G
Astronomy Remotely – Robotic Astronomy for Neophytes, Part 1 – SLOOH – 31 MHG
Astronomy Remotely – Robotic Astronomy for Neophytes, Part 2 – LCO – 32 EM
Planetary Radar for Students – 32 C
Astronomy Remotely – Thoughts to Consider from the Robotic Telescope Science Research and Education Conference (for courses that use Robotic Scopes, and those that don’t) – 33 G

Nebulae

Hubble’s Field Guide to Nebulae – 13 IG
Hubble’s Name That Nebula Game Site – 19 MH
Light Echo Video from NASA – 39 G

Stars, General

Brightness, Color, Location – 1 G
Estimating Star Distances with a Light Bulb – 9 HC
Sound of a Supernova’s Structure – 10 IG
Teaching Activities Using Stellarium – 10 MHCG
Additional Exercises and Resources Using Stellarium – 10 MHCG
IAU-Shaw: Making Constellations Using Rubber Bands – 14 G
Students LOVE Black Holes and Destruction (Hubble Video) – 14 G
Observing Algol’s Eclipses with Brute Force Plotting – 17 G
Timing Pulsars: An Exercise in Statistical Analysis and the Scientific Process – 17 HC
Sounds of Black Holes (and other things) – 26 G
Wonderful Mira (Observing its 2022 Peak) – 28 G
A New HR Diagram – 29 HC
Stellar and Planetary Brightness Differences – 38 G
AAS: SDU–Sensing the Dynamic Universe (Sonification of Time-Domain Astronomy – 44 G

Stars with Exoplanets

Kepler’s Harmony of the Worlds adapted to Exoplanetary Systems–How many can you hear? – 5 G
What Hides Within a Photograph: Analysis of a Light Curve in the Classroom – 42 HC
AAS: Citizen Science Options–Exoplanet Watch – 44 I

Extraterrestrials and Life Elsewhere

NASA’s CoLD protocol for announcing Life and ETs – 12 HCG
AAS: Citizen Science Options–Are We Alone in the Universe (Searching with Radio) – 44 HIC

The Milky Way and its Contents

When is the Milky Way not a Candy Bar? – 2 G
A Progression of Star Cluster – 18 GMHCI
Galactic Structure in the Winter Sky – 19 GIMHC

Cosmology and Other Galaxies

Educational Design Framework for a Web‑Based Interface to Visualise Authentic Cosmological ‘Big Data’ in High School – 8
(IAU-Shaw) What Can You Do With Spectra? (Hubble Expansion with Elastic Tape) – 13
IAU-Shaw: Tactile Galaxies, for Sighted and Visually Impaired Together – 14 G
Zooming Through the Hubble Ultra Deep Field Simulation – 17 G

Other

First Webb Photos’ Look-Back Times and Distance – 32 G
NASA Goddard’s 2022’s Greatest Hits – 33 G
IAU Shaw: Astro News For Kids – 40 EM

Other Sciences and Society

Art and Science

Life on a Pale RED Dot (Using Infrared Photography to Simulate Life on planets around M Dwarf stars) – 6 HCG
From Science to Stanzas, Astronomy Education Poetically Written, Part 1 – 25 MHC
From Science to Stanzas, Astronomy Education Poetically Written, Part 2 (Worked Out Examples, Poetic Forms and Example Usages) – 26 MHC
RAP Sheet: Teaching Mars Literature – 29 GC
RAP Sheet: Total Eclipses of the Sun as Depicted in the Modern Popular Novel – 29 G
IAU Shaw: Looking for Astronomy Storybooks? Look Carefully… – 39 EM

Astronomy in Society

RAP Sheet: Teaching Mars Literature – 29 GC
From the Smartphone to the Universe – 36 MHC
Astronomy for Families (at Libraries in the UK) – 37 I
Using Astronomy to Teach About Climate Change – 42 G
Economic Impacts of Space – 47 G

Physics and Mathematics

Physics for the Masses: Teaching Einsteinian Gravity in Primary School – 10 EMH
IAU-Shaw: Gravity and Space-Time (Demonstration Devices with Stretched Sheets) – 14 MHCGI
Gravitational Wave Demonstrator – 14 I
The Inverse Square Smartphone – 15 HC
An Observational Project for a Large Class —Determination of the Duration of the Sidereal Day (Measurements and Statistics) – 17 C
Timing Pulsars: An Exercise in Statistical Analysis and the Scientific Process – 17 HC
Measuring Lunar Distances (And Those on Other Objects) With Google Earth Pro, Smartphone Photos and Spherical Geometry – 19 HC
“Bend It Like Dark Matter!”– Gravitational Jelly Lensing – 20 MH
A Comparison of Short and Long Einsteinian Physics Intervention Programmes in Middle School – 23 M
Math on Earth or in Space -and- Math On Other Worlds Beyond (4 items total) – 40 MHC
IAU Shaw: Gravitational Wave Resources – 40 GHC
Powers of Ten Cards – 41 MH
ISS Water Drops – 42
Gravity Rules! (A STEM Story) [Da Vinci Measured Gravity First) – 47 GH
Plasma Video – 47 G

Editorial and Comments

Cosmos + 41 (How far have we come in Astro Ed, and Not) – 11
Editorial – The Real Lesson to Learn from Comet SW3 and the Meteor ‘Storm’ – 27 G
Commentary on MSU Shooting – 46

EDUCATION IN GENERAL

Teaching Techniques

Tactile Printing. Not Just for the Blind Anymore -2
Active Learning Basics – 2
Words, and How You Show Them, Matter -3
Tell Me a Story, Professor!  The use of historical stories in Physics (and Astronomy) – 4
Advice for External Teachers – 6
Virtual Primary Schooling Advice–Get Up and Dance! – 6 PE
Science Outreach with Seniors – 6 I
COVID-19 Precautions for Public Astronomy Education Sessions – 9 I
Smartphone Universes (Astronomy Apps for teaching specific concepts) – 15 HC
Students Learning Through Teaching (Teaching Units on Astronomers, a Concept, a Cosmic Place as a Tourism Spot) – 15 CG
Two RAP Sheet articles on Learning science through Drawing – 15 PEMH
Better Ways to Use Journal Clubs (RAP Sheet Article) – 16 GC
Assessing Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Understanding of Science Practices Using Children’s Astronomy Storybooks – 17 E
“Making What Already Exists Accessible,” Astronomy Labs for the Blind and Visually Impaired – 18 C
An Outdoor Project-Based Learning Program: Strategic Support and the Roles of Students with Visual Impairments Interested in STEM – 21 MH
Designing Physics Board Games: A Practical Guide for Educators (Includes Astronomy Game References) – 23 G
From Science to Stanzas, Astronomy Education Poetically Written, Part 1 – 25 MHC
From Science to Stanzas, Astronomy Education Poetically Written, Part 2 (Worked Out Examples, Poetic Forms and Example Usages) – 26 MHC
The Write Stuff (Writing as a Success Strategy in Courses) – 29 C
An Outline for Doing an Astronomy Course for Mastering Skills – 30 C
Brightness, Color, Location for Blind and Visually Impaired…and Sighted(!) Students – 31 G
How NOT to Do Tactile Astronomy (Education Teachniques) – 32 G
NAM: A Course on Cosmic Clocks (and Archaeoastronomy, and with a Planetarium) – 33 G
RAP Sheet: Evaluating the Content Accuracy of Augmented Reality Applications on the Solar System – 33 G
RAP Sheet: Sonification and Sound Design for Astronomy Research, Education and Public Engagement (with a large collection of links) – 34 GHC
Improving Your Online Interactivity – 35 G
A Touch of Space Weather (Models for BVI and Sighted Students) – 36 HC
Accessible Universe (from Chandra and NASA Universe of Learning) – 36 G
Not All Color Graphics Are Equal (Reds and Blues) – 37 G
Pluto in Crisis (Using Characters as Stand-ins for Concepts in Videos) – 37 G
IAU Shaw: Ten Strategies for a Successful Primary Curriculum – 39 P
AAS: Storytelling the Story of Astronomy – 43 G
AAS: Astronomy Media Literacy – 43 G
AAS: Citizen Science Options–Are We Alone in the Universe (Searching with Radio) – 44 HIC
AAS: SDU–Sensing the Dynamic Universe (Sonification of Time-Domain Astronomy – 44 G
AAS: School-Sized Radio Telescopy – 45 HC
Distances in the Universe: An Inquiry Lab Sequence Taught in West Africa and North America – 47 HC

Planetariums

How College Planetariums are Used – 7 C
Periodicity and Change: Talking about Time Inside the Planetarium Dome – 10
Taking Your Planetarium Virtual – 35 GC
The Next IPS Meeting (Berlin and Jena in 2024) – 35 G
The One Sky Project (Cultural and Indigenous 2D and Full Dome Films) – 35 G
Who Is Under The Dome? (A Preliminary Report on a Global Demographic Survey of Planetarians) – 35 G
Astro Visualizations – 36 G
IAU Shaw: A Full Dome Planetarium Curriculum – 40 P

Calls for Assistance

An Imaging Tool for Color Impaired Students Needs Testers – 5
Testing Rubin Observatory Activities – 10
NASA’s UNITE Citizen Science Project Seeks Telescope Users – 42

General – Miscellaneous

IAU’s Official List of Astronomy’s Connections to Other Human Endeavors – 4
The Gateway Science: a Review of Astronomy in the OECD School Curricula,
Including China and South Africa – 10 (Redux, in more detail – 22)
IAU-Shaw: Miscellaneous Things Noted (3D Printed Planets, Students Conceptions of Star Motions, Korean Teacher Training) – 14 G
The First Paragraph is as Good as it Gets (Wikipedia Articles) – 14
What Kids Think Activities are Like Real Science/Scientists – 15 E
History of Astronomy Education Journals, and the RAP Sheet – 17 G
Hubble’s Your Birthdate Photo Site – 19 G
A Deep Dive Into the WorldWide Telescope – 21 G
Making a WorldWide Telescope Tour – 23 GC
Planets All In A Row, Educational Activities – 27 G
A Space Game for Grandpa/Grandma? – 28 G
What to Know about Astronomy in Community Colleges – 29 C
AstroPix – 29 G
RAP Sheet: Science Cafés: Exploring Adults’ Motivation to Learn Science in a Community Space – 34 I
Astro Visualizations – 36 G
Three+ Virtual Realities – 36 G
Perceptions of Outreach (Survey Results Among Planetary Scientists) – 37 GC
IAU Shaw: Astronomy is Universal—The Gateway Topic (multiple stories) – 40 EMHC
La Ciencia del Cielo – Science of the Sky (Spanish Zoom Seminar) – 47 G

Travel

Planets All In A Row, on Earth (Model Solar Systems) – 27 G
Collated List of Model Solar Systems 1.0 – 28 G
The Hawaiian Movable Model Solar System – 31 G
More on the Upcoming Eclipses, Travel – 48 G
– New Maps of the Eclipses’ Paths
– Twice the Eclipses! (Places That Will See Two Solar Eclipses)
– Places to Visit While You Are There

Events

Global Astronomy Month 2021 – 1
Global Astronomy Month 2022 – 23
Inspire Girls During World Space Week – 10
An Astronomy Cafe for Teens, and Soon for Teachers – 20
Observing Workshops for Undergraduates and HS Grads at Mt. Wilson – 23 C

Standards

Next Generation Science Standards in Astronomy, Part 1 – General Description – 4
Next Generation Science Standards in Astronomy, Part 2 – The Whole Course, and Mistakes – 5
Next Generation Science Standards in Astronomy, Part 3 – Some Physics – 6
Next Generation Science Standards in Astronomy, Part 4 – The Paradigms of Skills – 7
Next Generation Science Standards in Astronomy, Part 5 – The Missing Matters – 8

Teachers’ Understandings

Understanding of Teachers on Phases of the Moon and the Lunar Eclipse – 8
Teachers’ Conceptions About Science and Pseudoscience Distinguishing Astronomy from Astrology – 19
Recorded Workshops With Authentic Data (Teacher Workshops Online) – 47

Link and Resource Collections

Dr. Andrew Fraknoi’s List of Free Astro Labs – 9 G
(Above Revised, Indexed, Annotated) – 23 C
Massively Resourceful Collections (BIG Resource Collections: Center for Astronomy Education, Astronomycenter.org, Andrew Fraknoi’s Resource Guides, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Apps and Simulations, Foothill College AstroSims) – 15 CG
Color Image and Video Collections – 16 G
RAP Sheet: Sonification and Sound Design for Astronomy Research, Education and Public Engagement (with a large collection of links) – 34 GMC
Need Some Astronomy PowerPoints? – 39 G
AstroEDU Teacher Peer Reviewed Resources – 41 G

Assessments

Knowledge of Sun and Star motions – 1
MOOCs – 1
QuaRCS – 3
Motivations and Attitudes of Attendees at Public Science Event Observing Sessions – 4 I
What works better for vocabulary? VR, 360 Annotated, or 2D? – 5
Science Center Visitors’ Interactions with Exhibits – 5 I
Observing Diaries for Astro 101 Classes – 7 C
Don’t Use That Clicker, Hand Me a Laser! Huh? – 12 C
How Eccentric is Earth’s Orbit and Where is the Sun? (Misconceptions Check) – 13 HCG
Development and Application of a Concept Test on the Subject of Stars – 14 C
Elementary School Children’s Explanations of Day and Night; An Interpretation Based on an Inferential Approach to Representations – 19 PE
Identifying Students’ Mental Models of the Apparent Motions of Sun and Stars (an In-Dome Assessment) – 23 HC
Extracting Information from the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram: An Eye-Tracking Study – 40 C
Students’ Scientific Evaluations of Astronomical Origins – 47 HC
The Method of Observation in Science Education – Characteristic Dimensions from an Educational Perspective – 47 HC

Strictly for Students

A LARGE List of Summer Internships – 32 C