Science 9: Space Science WebQuest
© 2000 -
Update: October 13, 2006
Resources
RESOURCES
General Sites
Use the general sites to begin your collection of information and images.
Be sure to collect citation information as you go. You will require the web
author, the site title, date of last update, the web publisher, the URL and the date that
you visited the site. See the Nine Planets for an sample citation. Before
you start traveling, please take time to become familiar with the resources
available on this page.
Arnett, Bill. Nine Planets. 06 February 2000. Online. SEDS Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona. Available: http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/nineplanets.html. 07 February 2000.
This site has in depth information and expandable images for the sun, each planet and their satellites, comets, asteroids and meteors. The "More About" section contains links to other sites. An interesting feature of each page is the "Open Issues" section that discusses what is not known or is in dispute. Difficult terms are linked to a glossary. History and mythology are included for the sun and each planet. There is a large library of images and movies. Students and teachers may use images and text in the classroom. You must acknowledge NASA images. Be sure to look at the list of relate links.If you find the information a little difficult to start out with, explore this page. It will give you very basic information and some experiment ideas.
The Observatorium is a link on the new NASA for Kids site. Content areas include Aeronautics, Educators' Resources, Fun and Games, Planet Earth, Space Flight, Space Science, and FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions). The Space Flight section includes a "space traveler's handbook" and an interactive space flight history game. The image gallery includes movies, landsat images, solar system and universe images. You may subscribe to an email list.
NASA Multimedia provides information in a variety of formats including video, podcasts, images, and interactive.
This site from Enchanted Learning is easy to read and has good diagrams and graphs illustrating the attributes of the planets.
This is part of the Star Child Site. The information is offered at two levels of difficulty. The site includes information on the Sun, Moon, Planets, Asteroids, Meteoroids and Comets. Be sure to read the information about printable pages before printing.
Tour the Solar System and Beyond
This is part of the NASA Space Science for Kids Site. The site gives a brief overview of each of the planets and some of their moons. There are also links to some of the nebula.
This site is part of the Star Child Site. It offers information at two levels of difficulty. Information on The Milky Way, Galaxies, Quasars, Stars, and Black Holes.
This site is much more than just images. It includes information on the sun and planets, asteroids, comets, meteroids and meteorites, space exploration and the history of astronomy.
This NASA site has basic information and some images for each planet.
This NASA site provides in depth information and superb images for space science projects. This site takes an integrated approach to the study of the universe and includes historical and cultural (literature, art, music, mythology, folktale, film) information. The twelve "galleries" also include the solar system, the universe, forces, physical science, and cool stuff. The information is presented at three levels of difficulty that can be set from page to page. Difficult words and concepts are linked to explanations.
Top of Page
Mostly Links
The Astronomy Society of the Pacific
This site includes general astronomy links as well as links to news and images.
This NASA site has excellent links to information on the planets, space science, the stars and galaxies, and space flight. You may wish to contact a scientist or astronaut. Under "Other" there are links to more NASA education sites.
This site provides a long list of links to astronomy sites and projects.
Space Science for KidsAnother NASA site, you will find information on the solar system, links to Mars exploration, and science news.
The The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory provides an excellent list of links to resources about the Sun.
Top of Page
Space Science News
This is an online Astronomy magazine. Astronomy Now is the best selling Astronomy Magazine in Great Britain.
This NASA news site is specifically designed for teachers and students. This site is an excellent resource for current space science news. Thursday's Classroom provides activities and reading guides for the news articles. Interactive activities include ask a scientist and ask a teacher. You may also subscribe to an email list. Events covered include live sky events, space weather, opportunities to participate in real NASA space science projects and daily news from NASA. There are also links to other NASA education sites.Planetary Science Research Discoveries
This site has current news items as well as many links to current space science topics and resources.
Top of Page
Specific Planets and Other Topics
If you are interested in math and wonder about calculating distances and locations of the stars, this site is for you.
This amazing site provides interactive activities. You can build your own galaxy, find out about black holes, star light, and comets. There is information on Galileo, HST and the Hubble Telescope. There is an astronaut challenge which involves planning a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. There are some great ideas and challenges on this site. You need a current version of Shockwave for some of the activities.
This is part of the Exploratorium site. It takes you on a guided tour of the aurora and offers links to other sites. Some of the text is diffucult to read because of the colour choices.
Big Bang Theory
Note: The Big Bang Theory is being challenged, do a Google search to see some of the challenges.
This site gives quite basic information. It is a good place to get started. For more information on black holes try a Google search.
Black Holes and Neutron Stars: Virtual Trips. This site has MPEG movie animations of black holes and neutron stars.
Black Holes: Jillian's Guide The blue on black text may be difficult to read, but there is good information on this site.
Find out about Canada's involvement in space exploration. In the Kid Station section of Canada and the International Space Station, try to assemble parts of the station.
Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 broke apart and crashed into Jupiter between July 16 and July 24, 1994. It has the number nine because it was the ninth comet to be discovered by Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker and David Levy. David Levy is a Canadian. This "top five" site has excellent information.
Galaxies This site defines the different kinds of galaxies and has images and links to other pages.
Images
Fotosearch Images Galaxy Images
Go to Gallery for an image library of images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. The picture at the left is a picture of Venus in untraviolet light. These are copyrighted pictures that may be used in your presentation with the correct credit.
NASA - JSC Digital Image Collection
This is an enormous collection of NASA images, including images from the space shuttle missions.
NASA's Planatary Photo Journal
There are over 2,000 photos here that you are free to use. Again, make sure that you cite your images.
This is an astrophysics site. The site looks at what we know about pulsars, black holes, supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, dark matter, magnetic fields, and quasars. It looks at how we know what we do and what there is to find out. The site includes a set of links to related sites.
The Inquirer's Guide to the Universe
This interesting site has a number of purposes. It examines what is known about the universe. It looks at the universe in Science Fiction. And it presents imaginary planets.
The image at the right is an infrared image of Orion composed by NASA's
Infrared Astrophysics Data Center. Much of what we know about the universe,
we know because of infrared imaging. This site has excellent information and
details a number of projects.
If you choose Jupiter for the focus of your project, this is a must see site.
Mars
Mars Exploration Rover Missions
This site is the official site for the Rover Missions. It contains excellent images.
This is a guide to NASA's exploration of the planet Mars. You will find current news, a Mars atlas and a very interesting section on an imaginary human mission to Mars.
Exploring MarsThis is another gateway site for the exploration of Mars.
Besides information about Mars, this site includes a simulation where you design a mission to Mars.
Meteor Showers This site has a very good image of a meteor shower and information about metoer shows that occur yearly.
Meteors and Meteor Showers This site has good explanations and diagrams.
Milky Way This site contains some images and lots of information. There are definitions for many of the scientific terms.
Milky Way This site gives brief descriptions of the components of the Milky Way.
NASA Missions and Spaceflight
An excellent site which has information on many space exploration projects. (Smithsonian National Air and space Museum)
Comprehensive sight for American Space Flight.
Find out about the astronauts and how to become an astronaut. Some of the astronauts backgrounds might surprise you.
NASA has collected all its space station information on this site. Look here also for up to the minute news.
Mission and Spacecraft Library
Visit this site to find information on some of the over 5,000 orbital spacecraft that have been launched.
Seeing and Exploring the Universe
This NASA education site supports The NASA kit "Structure and Evolution of the Universe" Kit which is available in the school library. There is a wealth of informaion on current and future missions.
The Space Shuttle Clickable Map
This is an excellent resource for finding out about the space shuttle and some of the payloads that it has carried into space.
Voyager Mission The Voyager Space Mission has visited Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Check here for summaries.
Calculate your weight on other planets.
This site is an in depth summary of the Voyager Mission to Saturn.
Find out about this mission to Saturn. The Kid's page presents good information about Saturn as well as explaining the mission.
Have you ever considered weather in space? Check out this site for information, weather forecasts and web links.
The Space Science Institute has resources on Mars, Space Weather including storms in space, the Cassini Mission to Saturn, and the Sun. Look at the curriculum resources.
Stars: An Introduction This is part of the NASA Observatorium web site.
Stars: The Birth of Stars This site has excellent diagrams of the birth of a star.
Stars: The Birth of Stars This site has excellent diagrams of the birth of a star.
Stars: Birth of Stars This site contains Hubble Space Telescope Images.
Stars: The Constellations and Their Stars This site explains constellations and offers links to other sites.
Stars: The Structure and Evolution of Stars
The Sun: A Primer on the Solar Space Environment
This site contains basic information on the sun accompanied by excellent images. It also includes information on how the sun effects the earth.
Top of Page
Authority Checklist
WHO? QUALIFICATIONS? AFFILIATIONS?
BALANCED PRESENTATION? BIAS? AGENDA?
While it is important to recognize these factors, it does not necessarily exclude the use of this
information. Consider the facts presented and verify them with other sources.
CONTENT AND SCOPE OF COVERAGE?
CURRENCY OF INFORMATION? LAST UPDATE?
ADDRESS? .EDU? .ORG? .COM? .GOV? .CA?
VERIFICATION?
Top of Page