Sunday, June 7, 2015

Free Resources for Astronomy Study - Middle/High School





Here are a bunch of free resources I've gathered all about Astronomy!  I will be writing a separate post in this series for our week's intensive unit study plan once I've figured it out!

Here is June's monthly star calendar  (new each month)

Print a free copy of June's Skymap (you can adjust for whatever month you are doing this)

Online Star Map image 

All about moon phases with pictures at each stage 

A moon phase journal to fill out

Stars and Constellation Lapbook from Adventures in Child Rearing 



Space Lapbook from Homeschool Share 

Cindy Downes' Unit Study 

From SAS Curriculum Pathways:  FREE site for 6th through 12th grade, but you must register.

Planetary Motion activity 

Characteristics of Our Solar System 

Properties of Stars activity 



VIDEOS

The scale of planets and stars video:




On Youtube there is a series called:  Crash Course: Astronomy.  There are 20 episodes.  (There may be references to the big bang theory, please preview.  I haven't watched them all yet)



10 Astronomy Videos from Intoxicated on Life blog 

Why isn't Pluto a planet anymore?  On Youtube:


This video is SO awesome!  Watch an astronaut on the ISS make herself some dinner - in microgravity! 



INTERACTIVE SITES:

Constellation Hunt - an interactive game

Stellarium - used in planetariums to simulate the night sky



Free books on Kindle (there were others too - search 'astronomy free')

Astronomy for Amateurs 

A Field Book of the Stars

The Children's Book of Stars 

Astronomy: The Science of Heavenly Bodies 

History of Astronomy 

Myths and Marvels of Astronomy 



Resources

TONS of resources from Muses of a Mom! 

Printables for all ages 

Kids Astronomy Page 

Adventures in Space Mathematics from Nasa - geared toward 7-9th grade

June's Night Sky Discovery Guide from Nasa  (makes reference to "billions of  years ago")






Explore the solar system and beyond with these great space-focused documentaries.
Hubble: 15 Years of Discovery: Take a look back at some of the awe-inspiring images captured by the Hubble telescope in this film.

Supermassive Black Holes: While black holes are still largely mysterious bodies, you can increase your knowledge of them by watching this great documentary

3D SunThis documentary uses stunning 3D images of the sun to explain its history and phenomena.

Revealing MarsTake a look at the Mars orbiter in this film and some of the images of Mars that have been captured

Colonizing SpaceThis documentary will present some of the plans already in motion to take the first steps into the final frontier

Secrets of the SunLearn more about the star central to our own solar system in this film

International Space StationThis film will explain how the space station was built and is maintained and operated.

Saturn: Lord of the RingsThis documentary will allow you to learn more about this beautiful and mysterious ringed planet.

The Life and Death of a StarTake a look at how stars form, live, and ultimately die in this great documentary.



OTHER MISC WEBSITES:

Cosmos for Kids 

Space.com- lots of information

Planets for Kids 

Windows to the Universe 




I am linking with Weird Unsocialized Homeschooler's Weekly Wrap Up!! 


Weekly Home Wrap Up for June 6, 2015




OUR WEEK:  
Things went pretty smoothly this week.  Lots of history, biology, geography, literature, grammar, etc etc.  Not too much excitement though.  I've been reading a lot about "delight-directed homeschooling", which made me think that I need to get Emily excited about something.  She is very interested in astronomy, but she is not taking that class until next year.  HOWEVER, I've decided to do a one-week, in-depth unit study for astronomy!  We're going to ditch all other subjects for one week and everything will be astronomy related.  I will post this as it comes together.  I plan to do this the last week in June.  

Emily also finished the first week of her reading club through the Homeschool Association for American Military Families.  (Also open to civilians like us!) Pre-K through 12th grade.  






ON THE HOMEFRONT: 
Still suffering with sciatica :(  Still can't find my camera :( T

I took the girls out for Slurpees the other day!  I even had one myself!  I brought them to 5-below to each pick out a little something from mom and then took them out for dinner! ( I also found a really nice learn-how-to-draw-type book for $3.50!  It will fit right in with art lessons.) This is a rare occurrence in our home, being a single mom I generally can't afford many outings - so this was a nice change! 




WHAT I'M READING AND/OR WRITING: 
I've been reading a lot of dystopian fiction this week.  Not sure why.  If you want to see an in-depth post of what I've been reading and books I'm wishing for, you can see this post on my other blog! 


LINKS/POSTS/TWEETS/PINS TO SHARE:  

Some great stuff this week! 

From Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus:  Free Middle & HS Homeschool Language Arts.  These are amazing workbooks!  I'm so excited to have found the post today.  I will be printing out grammar sheets, etc for extra practice.  



SAS Curriculum Pathways:  Free curriculum for 6th-12th grades!  I am really amazed with all I found there.  There are single lessons that last from 60-90 minutes (I tried one out last night and it only took me 10 minutes- but then again I already knew about Christopher Columbus *smile*) This is just another wonderful free resource to either incorporate into your curriculum or use on its own! 

Discovery Education:  Free for the summer!  Streaming educational videos.