Year 10 Earth and Space Sciences Resources

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Make a 3D model of the Southern Cross

The Australian Curriculum for Science in the ‘Earth and space sciences’ content area for Year 10 asks that students understand that ‘…The universe contains features including galaxies, stars and solar systems (ACSSU188)‘. Now it is one thing to show them pictures of galaxies, stars and other solar systems (474 solar systems at the time of writing this post) but another for them to understand that these features really exist. After all look at the night sky and it all seems very flat. Unlike clouds in our sky which are close enough  for our inbuilt binocular viewing system to work on (our eyeballs I am referring to), stars and the galaxies easily visible to the unaided eye are too far away for us to glance at and work out how far away they are.

I have created a model of the Southern Cross which can be quickly made using simple materials which shows the 3D nature of the night sky. By this I am referring to the fact that different stars are located at different distances away from our Solar System. This model is free to download and use for non-commercial use.

The below photograph shows the completed model which has been painted black to highlight the viewing hole. Looking through this hole with one eye shows how the stars line up in the familiar pattern known as the Southern Cross. Unlike the real thing (!) you can then look from above and discover that the stars are located at dramatically different distances. The distances have been scaled correctly with 1 mm equal to 1.28 light years.

Go here for the instructions and materials list.

Hands-On Universe (HOU) resources

(Quote from the website) ‘Hands-On Universe (HOU) is an educational program that enables students to investigate the Universe while applying tools and concepts from science, math, and technology. Global Hands-On Universe (GHOU) joins efforts from all around the world to train teachers on the use of modern tools and resources for science education and engage students in international scientific projects.

Their free software looks particularly useful (Link to Software page).

Make your own horn radio telescope

Why not get your students to make their own horn radio telescope to detect emissions from our galaxy? See a separate post on my website about what looks like a fun and challenging STEM project.

Screenshot of the Youtube video about the radio telescope.

Radio Sky Planisphere

A planisphere is normally a circular star chart that can be adjusted to display the visible stars for any time and date. Robert Minchin (astronomer at the now destroyed Arecibo Observatory) has created a free planisphere that shows what the sky would look like if we could see the sky at radio wavelengths.

Image thanks to Robert Hollow. Image from his blog post here.

You can download a southern hemisphere version of planisphere and a ‘Guide to the Celestial Features on the Radio Sky Planisphere’ from his blog. Scroll down to the bottom of this page to find the files.