Classroom Activities

A background lesson on the physics of waves. Students use slinkies to discover the properties of transverse and longitudinal waves. Next, the teacher demonstrates wave superposition using sound editing free software and a musical instrument.

Can gelatin (like Jell-O) change the speed of light? Students investigate the refraction properties of gelatin to calculate its index of refraction and discover that as light travels through the gelatin, its speed and wavelength also change. This activity offers students a challenge to find the index of refraction of an everyday, intriguing, translucent substance outside the standard listing of materials and refraction indexes.

This activity acquaints the students with the telescopes and instruments available at an astronomical observatory: McDonald Observatory. Students serve as members of the Telescope Allocation Committee (TAC) to review (sometimes amusing) research proposals from imaginary astronomers, and then write acceptance/rejection letters to the astronomers.

In this activity, students test the “law of reflection” based on experimental evidence. However, the back-silvered glass mirrors present a twist. As light travels from air into glass, it changes direction (refracts), reflects off the shiny metal back coating, then changes direction again upon emerging from the glass. The reflected ray may not match up with students’ expectations and offers them a challenge to work out what happened as the light traveled into and out of the mirror.

In this experiment, students construct an equilateral triangle using graph paper, pencil, protractor, and a ruler. They also make a “laser triangle” using a laser pointer and front-silvered mirrors. Students can use the geometric properties of an equilateral triangle combined with their understanding of the Law of Reflection to decide how to place the mirrors at each vertex so that the “laser triangle” fits their equilateral triangle.

Students witness light refracting through air every day. On hot days, “ripples” rise from the ground or roadways. Stars twinkle in the night sky. The Sun looks squashed on the horizon at sunrise and sunset. Students can explore the interaction between air and light through this “hot air” activity in order to understand more complicated everyday phenomena.

Galaxies contain billions of stars. Students apply the concepts of scale to grasp the distances between stars and galaxies to investigate the questions: Do galaxies collide? If so, do the stars within them collide?

For thousands of years astronomers tried to model the motion of objects in the sky using circles or combinations of circles. Then in 1609, Johannes Kepler proved that the shape of planetary orbits is actually that of an ellipse. Learn to draw ellipses and calculate their basic properties using Kepler’s three laws.

What is in the sky tonight? How do you know where and when to look for a certain star? This activity introduces star maps and star wheels as tools for learning about the night sky.

What is a black hole? How do astronomers find them? What’s an event horizon? Take your students on a quest for these answers in these activities that use the Black Hole Encyclopedia.

This activity is an opportunity for students to apply their knowledge and understanding of the gas law, conservation of energy, and forces to stellar evolution. Students perform as members of an interview with our Sun at the end of its star-life, in the white dwarf stage. Students follow the life story of this white dwarf via text, plots, and pictures. For each evolution stage, they review the properties of the star and calculate a few others.

Astronomers determine the properties of white dwarfs based on observations using a telescope and light sensitive instruments. Students will follow many of the same steps astronomers do to find the basic properties of a white dwarf. During their investigation, students will draw on mathematics skills (algebra) and geometry concepts.

A white dwarf is the final stage in the life of a star like the Sun that slowly cools down by radiating light. Knowing how the white dwarf’s temperature changes with time (cooling), astronomers can deduce the age of the white dwarf. By observing lots of white dwarfs and calculating their temperatures, astronomers can estimate the age of our galaxy. Students learn about cooling curves by measuring the temperature decline in boiling water and extend those concepts to cooling white dwarfs.

Students review basic concepts about the electromagnetic spectrum, and then do activities about false-color imaging, Wien’s law, and galactic astronomy. They will combine all of this knowledge to see how observing galaxies at different wavelengths enables astronomers to gather huge amounts of fascinating information about galactic structure and composition.

Students learn the basics of galaxy classification and grouping, then use Hubble Space Telescope images to discover the “morphology-density effect” and make hypotheses about its causes.

Large telescope designs have changed significantly over the last few decades, with a growing emphasis on using segmented mirrors. This activity series consists of four challenges that students complete to discover how and why astronomers design and use segmented mirror telescopes.

Stretching across the dark night sky, not easily visible when the Moon is in the sky, is a faint irregular glowing strip of light. For thousands of years, peoples of various cultures tried to explain what they saw, sometimes using stories. In this activity students create their own stories about our galaxy, the Milky Way.

What is a spiral galaxy? How are its components arranged? Do stars collide? Do galaxies collide? Help your students explore these concepts with this hands-on galaxy activity that uses simple calculations.

Sunspots are some of the most notable features of the Sun. Use a telescope to track the changes in position and shape of sunspots over time. This activity requires adult supervision.

Students build a reflective solar cooker that uses the Sun’s energy to cook marshmallows. This activity requires adult supervision.

A spectroscope is an observing instrument that reveals the color components of a light source. Students will construct their own spectroscope as they explore and observe spectra of familiar light sources. Extension activities expand their understanding of different kinds of spectra and sharpen their observing skills.

Teacher’s Guide | PDF Standards, suggestions for implementation, and suggested applets to illustrate difficult points Student Guide and Worksheets| PDF The student guide and worksheets were written by Lyn Del Monte Onato, a teacher at Hidalgo High School in Hidalgo, Texas. […]

What are the relative sizes and distances of objects in the solar system? Students create two “mystery objects” out of playdough to learn about scale models.

One of astronomy’s first tools to measure the flow of time, a sundial is simply a stick that casts a shadow on a face marked with units of time. There are many types of sundials; an equatorial sundial is easy […]

Reference sheets that provide information to create scale models of the solar system, by distance and by size.  The size model demonstrates relative sizes of the planets in our solar system using a basketball, volleyball, softballs, marbles, and other objects.

Each student becomes the “ambassador” for a planet and prepares by researching their planet, then meets with other ambassadors to form new mini-solar systems.

In this creative activity, students learn about an object in our solar system and create a travel brochure or advertisement to attract future space tourists to their exotic destination. Engages students with both facts and imagination.

Dust is all around us: at home, on Earth, and in space. Explore the properties of dust and the astronomical research of dust in space with these three grade-appropriate, inquiry-based activities from McDonald Observatory.

Reference sheets that provide information to create scale models of the solar system, by distance and by size. The size model demonstrates relative sizes of the planets in our solar system using a basketball, volleyball, softballs, marbles, and other objects.

Using a long, thin strip of paper, students first try to guess the relative distances between the Sun, solar system members, and Pluto. Afterwards the teacher instructs them to fold the paper in a special sequence to discover the proper spacing.

Does the Moon always look the same? Does its surface look different at different times? Students explore these questions by making drawings of the moon at different times.

Students explore the Earth and Sun’s positions in relation to the constellations of the ecliptic with a small model. They explore the motions of the Earth and inner planets in a larger classroom-size model. A very interactive and fun activity.

Everything has a shadow! Shadows illustrate how three-dimensional objects can be viewed in two dimensions. Younger students learn about the Sun’s relative motion in the sky as they experiment with shadows.