Educational Resources

Below are some online educational resources that you can use to supplement your experience at the planetarium.

Asteroid Impact Simulator – Simulate the effects of an asteroid impact on Earth.

NASA Eyes – Free software that lets you and your students explore space.

Worldwide Telescope – Free software giving you a view of the solar system. Works in-browser.

NASA Lessons – the search engine for all of NASA’s lesson plans.

SpacecraftAR – Augmented Reality App from NASA that lets you see and explore real spacecraft.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day – The archive of all of NASA’s astronomy pictures of the day. Encourage students to find the picture featured on their birthday, on Christmas, on the days of historic events, or on another significant date.

Amazing Space – A series of lessons including animations and activities on a variety of space topics.

NASA Space Math – space-related math activities from NASA for all ages, separated by grade level.

Cool Cosmos – A resource by CalTech exploring infrared radiation in our universe.

Black Holes – A NASA built guide to briefly explaining Black Holes.

NASA at Home – Educational content for kids and families

Discovery Education Classroom Planetarium Lesson Plan – An activity and lesson to help students learn the layout and size of different objects in the solar system.

James Webb Space Telescope Lesson Plan – (From the lesson plan) To give students a perspective on the need for large space-based telescopes, students will explore why these types of telescopes are necessary, and students will work together to construct scale models of the Hubble and Webb mirrors. This multi-disciplinary lesson will cover topics in art, science, and technology.

Scope It Out! Game – A game based on an introduction to the James Webb Space Telescope.

Build It Yourself: Satellite! Game – A game in which you get to become a scientist and build your own satellite.

Astronomy Education Resources: University of Nebraska-Lincoln – a collection of tutorial and simulations to teach specific concepts in astronomy.

What does Space Sound Like? – a TED talk on what space sounds like.