3D Space: Illusion or Reality?

This video excerpt from NOVA’s "The Fabric of the Cosmos: What Is Space?" reveals new data about black holes that has led to a new idea about the universe: Instead of everything being a three-dimensional object, it’s possible that everything is actually just a hologram.

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Above the Clouds: Telescopes on Mauna Kea

This video segment adapted from First Light explains why the highest peak in the Pacific, Mauna Kea, is an ideal site for astronomical observations. Featured are new telescope technologies that allow astronomers to explore the universe in more depth.

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Accidental Discoveries

This lesson will help the students understand that science theories change in the face of new evidence, but those changes can be slow in coming.

Accidental Discoveries

This segment from Swift: Eyes through Time traces the history military officers and engineers discovering a strange phenomenon in the sky that astronomers now know are gamma-ray bursts.

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All Planet Sizes

This illustration from the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory shows the approximate sizes of the planets relative to each other. Note that the planets are not shown at appropriate distances from the Sun.

Are We Alone?

This video segment adapted from NOVA features a variety of scientific perspectives on the age old question, "Are we alone in the universe?" Animations make vivid the improbability that we could intercept a radio wave signaling extra terrestrial intelligence.

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Astronomical Images in Different Wavelengths

Visible light is just one portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that a telescope may detect. This collection of images produced for Teachers' Domain features radio wave, infrared, visible light, and X-ray images of distant stars and galaxies as well as images of the telescopes designed to detect the various wavelengths of radiation.

Astronomy Theories

This video segment from Swift: Eyes through Time deals with the advancement of science through changing existing ideas, refuting outdated theories, and incorporating new findings.

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Birth of a Supernova, Type Ia

In this interactive activity from NOVA Online, learn about a type of exploding star — a Type Ia supernova — that is so bright that astronomers can measure the distance to the galaxy in which it resides, and even learn which elements make up the star.

Birth of a Supernova, Type II

In this interactive activity from NOVA Online, learn about a type of exploding star — a Type II supernova — that is so large it has a mass 10 times greater than the mass of our Sun.

Characteristics of the Sun

This video segment adapted from NASA describes the basic characteristics of our star, the Sun.

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Development of a Habitable Planet

Students investigate the origin of the elements, the process of planet formation, the evolution of life on Earth, and the conditions necessary for life as we know it.

Earth as a System

This visualization adapted from NASA maps progressive global changes onto a rotating globe. Earth's atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere are shown to be dynamic and interconnected.

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Earth in Motion: Seasons

This interactive activity from the Adler Planetarium explains the "reasons for the seasons." Featured is a game in which Earth must be properly placed in its orbit in order to send Max, the host, to different parts of the world during particular seasons.

Earth System: Satellites

This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center shows how integral satellites are to everyday life and describes the different types, including orbital and geostationary.

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Earth, the Universe, and Culture

The following lesson will help the students understand the cultural nature of scientific research.

Eclipse of the Century

This video segment adapted from NOVA features spectacular footage from the 1991 solar eclipse that fortuitously occurred directly over several major astronomical observatories in Hawaiʻi.

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Einstein's Cosmic Speed Limit

This video, adapted from NASA, presents rare experimental evidence from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope supporting Einstein's prediction that space-time is smooth.

Einstein: How Smart Was He?

This essay from the NOVA Web site explores the impact Einstein made on physics and most everything we know about the cosmos.

The Elements: Forged in Stars

The story of how elements from lithium to uranium are created by stars is illustrated through animation and a hands-on periodic table in this video segment adapted from NOVA.

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