Classroom Resources

Links with the National Curriculum

The Sun|trek section most directly relevant to the National Curriculum Programme of Study for KS3 (11 - 14 year olds) (/www.standards.dfee.gov.uk/keystage3/) is the Earth and Beyond, which contains subsections on the spinning Earth, the seasons, day and night, timezones, the Moon and the solar system. The science strand of the KS3 strategy encourages schools to follow a pattern of progression thought to help in building up understanding of the key ideas in science. Following this would mean that work about the solar system, including ideas about eclipses (Sun|trek section the Hot Solar Atmosphere: Eclipses), descriptions of the planets etc. would be covered in year 7 (11-12 year olds).

The concept of the Sun as our main energy source, the greenhouse effect and the role of renewable energy sources are discussed in the Sun|trek section – the Earth and Beyond: Energy. Detailed ideas about gravity, how weight changes on different planets, orbits, satellites and space travel (Sun|trek section Solar Spacecraft) are more relevant to year 9 (13 – 14 year olds). The Sun as a Star section covers the Sun in the context of other stars, which is also covered at KS4.

Many other scientific concepts, such as electromagnetic radiation, magnetic fields, sound waves, gravity, energy transfer, atoms, ions and spectra are covered in various Sun|trek sections. Amazing images and movies from the Sun|trek gallery can be used to introduce and illustrate these concepts in an engaging way. Some of the Sun|trek sections go beyond the knowledge required for KS3, parts are even outside the requirements for GCSE Science at KS4. However, these sections may well be of interest to many students at both KS3 and 4, as space is always a topic where interest levels are high, and often students want to go beyond the bare bones of the curriculum. For those students with a real sense of endeavour, the Factary provides a wealth of additional facts and interesting information.

The new 21st Century Science course provides an exciting challenge for teachers and students. The Earth and the Universe part explores such topics as the Earth’s magnetism discussed in Sun|trek section Sun Earth Connection: Earth under attack. Electromagnetic Radiation and Observing Our Universe are also key elements of the course including discussions of the wave properties of light, eclipses, telescopes, spectra and the chemical composition of stars. These topics are illustrated in several Sun|trek sections, in particular the Hot Solar Atmosphere: Fingerprints and the lifecycle of stars (Sun|trek section the Sun as a Star). What better way to bring the textbooks to life than to use REAL UV and X-ray observations of our own star, the Sun, taken from space?

Students are encouraged to learn how scientists think and work. In Sun|trek they are introduced to historical scientists, but more importantly to young Solar Guides who say a bit about themselves and how they became interested in astronomy.

Classroom Projects

In the Classroom Projects section of Sun|trek, there are different types of projects, ranging from lesson starters to more challenging projects involving science, maths and ICT. Many of the projects cover material in the Earth and Beyond part of the National Curriculum, for example: Pinhead Solar System (this can get the students outside on the playing field), Basketball Earth and Measuring the diameter of our star with a metre stick (good for a sunny day). However there are many other projects, such as Lava Lamp Sun, which explorers some ideas about solar convection. Several of the Sun|trek projects use REAL data from solar space observatories.

The Classroom Projects have been provided by various teachers and educationalists. If you have some relevant projects or resource ideas which you would like to share with other teachers, please let us know.

Other ideas for classroom resources

UV Beads

UV Beads are EXTREMELY popular, even with the older age group! These beads change colour in the sunlight (UV). You can test them out under different conditions (behind glass, with suncream etc.), make a spreadsheet and get the students to compare results. Supplier is Steve Spangler Science, UK agent the Commotion Group (www.commotiongroup.co.uk) (pack of 100 approx £6). Also, you can get a UV pen from a DIY shop and a UV light to show up the ‘invisible’ writing.

Sunspotter

The wooden Sunspotter one is very robust, but a bit expensive ($350). You can purchase it from www.starlab.com. Cheaper ones (made of cardboard) can be purchased from Solarscope (www.opticsplanet.net/solarscope-brand.html) (about $60).

Sunspotters project an image of the Sun, so that sunspots can be seen and tracked daily. These can be compared with the daily images of the Sun on the SoHO website (http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/). A Sunspotter can also be used to measure the rotation rate of the Sun (approx 24 days) and that of the Earth.

Top Trumps

Watch out for the Space Top Trumps in Smiths, Woolworths, toy shops, graden centers etc.

Spectrometers

A plastic (cheap at $25, but reasonably robust) spectrometer can be purchased again from www.starlab.com.

Solar Telescopes with a Hydrogen Alpha Filter

If you have enough funds your school could purchase a Hydrogen Alpha telescope, www.coronadofilters.com costing around $600.

This has a special filter that allows the view to use this telescope, NEVER look at the Sun through a normal telescope.

This Hydrogen Alpha telescope would enable your students to take some amazing photographs of the Sun, like the one below taken by a student (Jack Tench) at Neatherd High School.