Larry Sessions (author of Starman) has two web sites:
Starman and
Family Explorer
Expanding Universe: A Classified Search Tool for Amateur
Astronomy
This World Wide Web site is produced by the Metropolitan Toronto
Reference Library. Expanding Universe is
organized according to the Dewey Decimal
Classification, with main entries for: general astronomy sites;
observatories, telescopes, and equipment; deep sky and solar system
bodies and phenomena; and Earth. Within each category, there are
numerous sub-categories. The site also contains an alphabetical
terms list.
The site can
be accessed at:
http://www.mtrl.toronto.on.ca/centres/bsd/astronomy.
A New Astronomy Web Site in Spanish
A general Astronomy web site with lots of links is available at http://aaa.home.ml.org
Astronomy for Grownups and Kids
NASA's High Energy Astrophysics Learning Center has created an astronomy site just for kids. StarChild, still under construction at this time, contains sections on the solar system, the universe, and "space stuff" (astronauts, space travel, and the Hubble Space Telescope, among others). It also includes a glossary with brief explanations of astronomy-related terms. The site is intensively graphical, includes movies, and is intended for the 4-14 year age group.
The High Energy Astrophysics Learning Center is a high school and college level site that includes basic and advanced level discussions on its topic, an astrophysical dictionary, data and software, teacher resources, and a Cineplex with, at present, and four movies (under the HEA Village).
ICASE links together the many organizations of science teachers around the world. You can find out more about its activities on its WWW page: http://sunsite.anu.edu.au/icase or you can contact ICASE by e-mail at icase@zenon.logos.cy.net A major project of ICASE and UNESCO is Project 2000+ whose goal is to promote science and technology literacy worldwide. ICASE has provided the following suggestion to Commission 46: "ICASE and UNESCO are developoing some teaching modules which UNESCO will publish as a new resource kit for science teaching. These modules will be based on teaching materials, and will be developed around a theme or teaching skill (such as problem solving) or around a teaching concern (such as teaching a large class size). The purpose of the modules is to help provide teachers with material that can help them develop their teaching along STL (scientific and technological literacy) lines. Commission 46 may have an interest in developing a module, or in helping others to do this by collecting exemplary teaching materials that can form the basis for the module. The primary target students are those in the age range 8 to 14 years, and in developing countries. Hence, the modules need to be comprehensive."
Since the beginning of September, an event using the WWW has been developed in Europe by the EAAE and European Southern Observatory (ESO). "Astronomy On-Line" is the world's biggest astronomy event on the World Wide Web. It brings together thousands of students from all over Europe. While learning to use the vast resources of tomorrow's communication technology, they will also experience the excitement of real-time scientific adventure, and the virtues of international collaboration. For more information, connect to:
http://www.eso.org/astronomyonline/
This event will last until the end of November, and is open to groups outside Europe.
For schoolteachers in France, more specific "on-line" activities have been developed about eclipses. The address is:
This project will probably continue until June 1997.
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMY EDUCATION WEB SITES
Commission 46 has recently established a home page on the World Wide Web, thanks to the efforts of Andy Norton, The Open University, UK. The address is:
http://physics.open.ac.uk/IAU46/
We are now assembling a list of astronomy education sites which are of international interest. Here is a starting list. If you know of other approppriate sites, please notify me (jpercy@erin.utoronto.ca). We should be reasonably selective, but I leave it to your judgement to decide what that means.
International Astronomical Union (IAU)
http://www.lsw.uni-heidelberg.de/iau.html
The International Astronomical Union is the world organization of professional astronomers. Its purpose is "to promote and safeguard astronomy ..... and to develop it through international co-operation".
American Astronomical Society: Working Group on Astronomy Education
http://www.aas.org/~wgae/wgae_index.html
The electronic newsletter of the AAS WGAE includes announcements of primary interest to North American astronomers, but there are often more general items as well. The NL includes the Physics Education Electronic Newsletter (PEN)
Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP)
The Astronomical Society of the Pacific is the largest general astronomy association in the world. It has many projects and programs related to education. It also publishes a professional journal (Publications of the ASP) and the ASP Conference Series.
Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC)
http://www.astc.org/astc/info/profdev/199_.html
The Association of Science-Technology Centers is the international organization of science centres and museums.
International Council of Associations for Science Education
http://sunsite.anu.edu.au/icase
ICASE includes science teachers' associations, and other science education organizations from around the world. ICASE publishes the journal Science Education International.
UN Office for Basic Space Science
http://ecf.hq.eso.org/~ralbrech/un/un-homepage.html
This office has organized a series of six workshops on basic space science, with the primary purpose of integrating the developing countries into modern space science and astronomy.
The National Science Education Standards are available on line. The role of astronomy is minimized in them.
The Henrietta Leavitt Flat Screen Space Theater is named for the discoverer of the period-luminosity relation for Cepheid variable stars, which is at the base of setting the cosmological distance scale (see chapters on variable stars, galaxies, and cosmology). The site is authored by Carolyn Collins Petersen, an accomplished astronomy writer and part-time Hubble researcher. The site takes viewers to "The Planetarium Show That Never Ends," where various heavenly bodies are displayed and described in non-scientific but informative and inspiring ways. Next stop is the "The Space Image Gallery" where we can view beautiful photos of star birth, Jupiter's moons, and the Cat's Eye Nebula, all with brief, lucid descriptions. The Flat Screen Space Theater is not so much educational as it is inspirational.