Other
Center for Science Education: Eye on the Sky: What Makes Day and Night?
This activity will allow you to model day and night cycles. A rotating student holding a map (provided) models the earth. A lamp is used to model the sun. Numerous worksheets (pdf) and additional website resources are also provided.
Other
Bscs: Globe at Night Dark Skies
In this self-directed activity, students investigate what contributes to light pollution using data from locations around the globe. A handout with everything the student needs to complete this activity is available as a PDF or Google...
California Institute of Technology
Cool Cosmos: Ask an Astronomer
Explore the night sky with some help from Cool Cosmos. This site provides a list of the most frequently asked questions about the things we can see at night. Click on the question link and delve into the beauty of evening.
PBS
Pbs: Rough Science Island Observatory
PBS site asks users to imagine that they are stranded on a tropical island. Provides experiments for users to calculate time at night and to identify what is in the night sky.
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Moon and Sun
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart could be a unit plan. It is broken down to observing and comparing the day and night sky, comparing the properties of the moon and the sun, and observing the pattern of the moon phases.
Albright-Knox Art Gallery
Albright Knox Art Gallery: 3 D "Special Space" Painting
Jim Dine's Child's Blue Wall combines sculpture and painting. It is both a realistic depiction of a child's bedroom and an abstract painting of a night sky. This lesson plan explores how Dine accomplished these two ideas in the same work...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Where Did All the Stars Go?
If you live in a big city or urban area it is hard to see many stars at night. In most urban areas only the most brilliant stars, planets and the moon can be seen. This is because of something called light pollution which is the...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Changing Constellations
Do you like to look up into the night sky? There are so many stars, it can be mind boggling. Some ancient people marked time by the changes in star patterns. We still use changes in constellation patterns to mark astronomical time. This...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Using a Digital Camera to Measure Skyglow
This is a great project for someone that is interested in both stargazing and photography. Bright city lights and even the light of the full moon obscure the dimmest stars, which can make identifying constellations more difficult. This...
Other
University of Leicester: Comets, Asteroids & Meteorites
Provides a general overview of comets, asteroids, and meteorites. Content includes ways to identify them in the night sky, as well as detailed information on each type of small body.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: The Moon and the Stars
When you are in the city, only a few of the brightest stars are visible. But when you are in the country, you can see many more stars than you can count. Sometimes you can even see the bright belt of our galaxy, the Milky Way. In this...
Other
Sunaeon: Solar System Scope
Experience the solar system as you've never seen it before; up close and personal. Visit each planet by clicking on it, then selecting the play button to track its rotations through the calendar year. Watch the constellations move...
Globio
Glossopedia: Stars
Many of the objects you can see in the night sky are stars, large objects in space that produce light. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, contains more than 100 billion stars. Stars are so far away that their light does not reach us for years....
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Phases of the Moon
When we look up at the night sky, why do we see the Moon's appearance changing over time from a full sphere to a crescent to nothing at all? Find the answers in this interactive resource adapted from the National Air and Space Museum.
Other
Jack Horkheimer: Star Gazer
This is a site on astronomy in general. If you are into astrophotography, you can find out what is happening in the heavens! Jack Horkheimer is also seen on PBS. You can access the 5 or 1 minute shows on this site.
University of California
Interactive Extreme Ultraviolet Skymap
A map showing a view of the night sky is given; sources of extreme ultraviolet light are marked. Visitors analyze the spectrum from these parts of the sky and attempt to determine which star type the spectrum most closely resembles.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: What Is an Aurora?
Why do we see those stunning lights in the northern- and southernmost portions of the night sky? Michael Molina explains every step of the dazzling phenomenon of the Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis. [4:10]
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: How Plants Tell Time
Morning glories unfurl their petals like clockwork in the early morning. A closing white waterlily signals that it's late afternoon. And moon flowers, as their name suggests, only bloom under the night sky. What gives plants this innate...
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: The Origin of Countless Conspiracy Theories
Why can we find geometric shapes in the night sky? How can we know that at least two people in London have exactly the same number of hairs on their head? And why can patterns be found in just about any text - even Vanilla Ice lyrics?...
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Shackleton's Antarctic Odyssey: Let the North Star Tell You Where
Through this instructional activity, young scholars will understand how to determine latitude and locate specific stars in the night sky. They will also have a chance to build and use an astrolabe.
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Phases of the Moon
This lesson will introduce the phases of the moon and why the moon appears to change shape in the night sky throughout the month.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Beyond the Milky Way
When we look at the night sky, we see stars and the nearby planets of our own solar system. Many of those stars are actually distant galaxies and glowing clouds of dust and gases called nebulae. The universe is an immense space with...
Read Works
Read Works: Stargazing
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about stars in the night sky. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Read Works
Read Works: "Fireflies in the Garden"
[Free Registration/Login Required] A poem by Robert Frost about fireflies in the night sky. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.