Space: The Final Frontier

Space: The Final Frontier
An Internet Hotlist on Space

created by Gina Morrison
Grand Prairie ISD

Introduction | Resources for Teachers | Understanding the size of the Solar System | NASA Sponsored Sites | General Information

Introduction
These are sites that can be used with your students while studying the Solar System. They vary in content and level of reading difficulty. Please preview the sites before using them with your students.

The Internet Resources

Resources for Teachers

NASA Education - Here you will find everything you need to teach about space. There are links to information for educators, kids, and students.

Understanding the size of the Solar System

Build a Solar System - This site provides students with the information they need to build an accurate scale model of the solar system.
The World's Largest Scale Model of the Solar System - The Lakeview Museum Community Solar System is the world's largest, as listed in the Guiness Book of Records. It is a unique model of our Sun and its nine planets, in which both size and distance are represented on the same scale. While this site does not provide as much content specific information about the planets,it does provide a way for students to understand the real size of the solar system. This goes hand-in-hand with the 'Build a Solar System' site.

NASA Sponsored Sites

Jet Propulsion Laboratory - In depth information from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Find information on the planets, galaxies, comets, and more.
StarChild: A Learning Center for Young Astronomers - This site provides easy to understand information on the Solar System. You can choose to use either Level 1 for primary students or Level 2 for intermediate students. The site also indicates that a Spanish translation will be coming soon.

General Information

A Virtual Journey into the Universe - 'A Virtual Journey into the Universe' is an information-rich interactive, educational tour of the Solar System. It covers a range of topics from planets and their moons to theories and phenomena. This is a student-created ThinkQuest site.
Astronomy for Kids - A very kid friendly site, you will find all kinds of information about the Solar System in words kids can understand. Great facts and cool pictures too.
The Nine Planets - The Nine Planets is an overview of the history, mythology, and current scientific knowledge of each of the planets and moons in our solar system. Each page has text and images, some have sounds and movies, most provide references to additional related information. (description taken directly from the site)
Views of the Solar System - Views of the Solar System presents a vivid multimedia adventure unfolding the splendor of the Sun, planets, moons, comets, asteroids, and more. Discover the latest scientific information, or study the history of space exploration, rocketry, early astronauts, space missions, spacecraft through a vast archive of photographs, scientific facts, text, graphics and videos. (description taken directly from the site)
Virtual Solar System - This site from National Geographic provides a virtual tour of the solar system with in depth information about each planet. It has been recently updated, with eye-catching graphics. When you visit a page for the sun or a planet, be sure to click on the button that says 'stats'. This will provide an interactive look at the object and its features. Way cool!
Zoom Astronomy - Zoom Astronomy is a comprehensive on-line site about space and astronomy. It is designed for people of all ages and levels of comprehension. It has an easy-to-use structure that allows readers to start at a basic level on each topic and then to progress to much more advanced information as desired, simply by clicking on links. (description taken directly from the site)

Content by Gina Morrison, gina.morrison@gpisd.org
http://www.kn.att.com/wired/fil/pages/listspacegi.html
Last revised Mon Aug 31 13:12:37 US/Pacific 2009