The Magazine for the Teachers of Astronomy

    
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Which Candidate is Pro-Science (Education, too)?

Now that most of the seven million Republican candidates have dropped out, who do you think, among all the presidential contenders (including President Obama!) is or would be the most supportive of science, and of science education?  Does Paul support physics?   Is Santorum the solution for chemistry education?  Who would support astronomy?   Clickthis link to do the survey!

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Read by astronomy educators in the United States and 15 other countries.  Join our Universe!
The Classroom Astronomer is a quarterly PDF and printed publication designed as a practitioner journal for classroom teachers of astronomy. While centered at the high school level, it also provides tips, techniques and informative how-to articles for teachers of grades K-8 and undergraduate college "Astro 101" courses. Our mission is to increase the amount of astronomy in the school systems and improve the skills of teachers.

Current issue

Current Issue Mini-Sampler! First pages of articles, just to check things out!

Table of Contents

Discovering Astronomy Through Poetry - An outside-the-box approach to discovering astronomy  it invokes a multidisciplinary and liberal arts approach a great mediator for science. The teacher can  infuse a new appreciation of astronomy, and poetry can be an effective icebreaker in the introduction of new topics as well as a point of conclusion to a lecture.

Sketching The Moon and Galaxies - Cameras still can't record all the range and variation of details an eye can see.  To save these precious observations, and to teach patience, structure and rigor to observing, here's how to sketch our neighboring world, and  island universes far away.

Taking Spreadsheets from Dull to Dynamic With Animations -  Demonstrate astronomical concepts better with students exploring, testing, predicting, and discovering with spreadsheets enhanced with interactive animations!

Simulations on Your Online Course Pages Using HTML5 - Learn how to custom program simulations using HTML5 that can liven up the text on your course's Web pages!   

Which Toy Universe Would A Teacher Want for the Holidays? - Is there any real educational value to a toy planetarium, such as those found in toy stores or museum gift shops?  Capsule reviews of seven toy planetaria will tell you which ones actually can reproduce  the sky accurately for use in a classroom!  (Yes, we found some that worked, and a whole universe of bad science, too!)

Regular columns:

Astronomical Teach-niques -  The Planets Rule!  How to let the sky set your syllabus this spring.  

Photons Focused On - The Moon in Everyday Life - A photo story:  We love our Moon!  But What aspects of the Moon do we love more?  Here's a little survey with pictures of Moons we've seen.

 Teacher's Challenge - The Issue's Most Puzzling Terms - Our puzzle section returns, with words to be found on Planetary Configurations  and Light.
and
Why Subscribe?

"...(TCA) is notable for its infectious enthusiasm.  Give this unpretentious journal a chance." -  Magazines for Libraries

Your magazine will be a good resource both for me, and for the B. Ed. students who are taking the elementary science course...Well-done! - Terry Bridger, Queen’s University, Canada

This is truly awesome and so needed. - Donna Young, Chandra X-Ray Obs. workshop director

I just spent my lunch hour reading through it, and it's a lot of fun with some good classroom ideas ready to go. - Colin Jagoe, Kawartha Pine Ridge, District School Board, Canada

I have just subscribed to your magazine and have read the fall issue. What a great concept! What a fantastic resource! Thank you for taking your love of the skies and turning it into something that will help us teachers create a future generation of knowledgable sky observers! - Deborah J. Snow, Perrysburg Jr. High, OH

An impressive mass of interesting material! - Guy Ottewell, Author Astronomical Calendar

To Teach The Stars' Unique Sun Dial T-shirt!

Autumn SALE! ~1/3rd off! 

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NEXT ISSUE!
Educational Uses for The June Transit of Venus, and for May's Annular Eclipse!

Student Observing of Binary Stars for Science and Education

Model Solar Systems - What Can You Do with a 2-mile Display Besides Walking It?

and more!
Plus our regular   columns:

The Spring Sky Planning Calendar
for including sky events in your lesson plans.


The RAP Sheet of Astronomy-- more research you can use.

Astronomical Teachniques - how to bring the universe to the classroom.

Photons Focused on:  A Photo Story


CURRENT MOON
POPULAR ARTICLES
Finding spectra of gas tubes, street lights that cause light pollution, and the Sun with Vernier's SpectroVis

The End of the World!  What? Again? All about the 2012 Nonsense and Educational Activities to Show Why

Two Week Calendar for Planning Sky Lessons

Another Four Out of Five--And Several for History

All planets except Mercury will be visible in the evening sky at some time before midnight. Trace out the line they make and you've pretty much outlined the Ecliptic, the path of the Sun in our sky reflecting the Earth's orbital motion.
 The Moon will interfere with deep sky objects but you can still find two key objects of historical interest now--the white dwarf Sirius B and the first photographed nebular, the Orion Nebula.  Also a whimsical Moon first--Alan Shepherd drives a golf ball on the Moon.  Can you find the place Apollo 14 landed on the full Moon?

(next update ~Feb 9)
Date Event Moon Mercury Venus Mars Jupiter Saturn
Jan 29
 Su		 --

30 1883 First photograph of a Nebula by A. Common.  What would he think of cameras today!?

31 If you have a large enough telescope, look for the first discovered white dwarf (Sirius B), seen 1862.

Feb 1 1906
Birth of Pluto's discoverer Clyde Tombaugh.  Sadly his widow passed away just last week.

2

--

3 First lunar softlanding Luna 9 1966

4 --

Date Event Moon Mercury Venus Mars Jupiter Saturn
Feb 5
 Su		 1974 First closup of Venus by Mariner 10, what can YOU see with your telescope this evening?

6 1971  First golf shot on the moon.  Par not yet determined...

7 --
8 1992 Ulysses, a probe to the Sun, passes by...Jupiter?  Yes, the planet sent it over the top of the Sun.

9 --

10 Venus passes 0.3 degrees north of Uranus!  Find the nearest and farthest from the Earth planets in the sky!

11 --.

Icon Meaning Icon Meaning Icon Meaning
Moon visible for early evening studies Full Moon Night Moon visible during school hours for study in class
Visible in evening twilight setting at least 45 minutes after sunset Becomes visible, as it gets dark, sets later in the evening Visible  during the evening hours, sets before dawn
Rises during the evening, visible the rest of the night Visible in pre-dawn skies until sunrise. Visible only in dawn, rising at least 45 minutes before sunrise