Free Resources
Are you looking for an online science activity for your students?
Your students can attend our live telescope meetings where they’ll see real-world use of the chemistry and physics that they’re studying.
In our free day-time sessions, on our lab bench, we’ll show the live video spectra of gas tubes. We’ll use live views from this classroom video equipment so your students see how it works in realtime: www.fieldtestedsystems.com. They’ see the Balmer Series live! And your students will learn how each element has a unique spectral fingerprint. And they’ll see how we use those fingerprints to understand the stars, do forensics, and study the world we live in.
We have teamed up with MSRO Science to host on-line free evening telescope sessions. Your students can attend remotely via Zoom so they’ll have front-row virtual seats in a professional observatory.
During these sessions, you and your students will observe live views through the telescope, watch the telescope operator in the control room and see how he or she controls the instrument and captures images.
Typical activities:
• Take a tour of the moon’s craters. Learn how they form, how they differ from one another, and how astronomers study them.
• Observe and understand the colors of stars. Yes, stars are different colors. Your MSRO tour guide/educator will show your students live views of stars that are different colors. They’ll discuss with your students why stars are different colors and what we can learn from them.
• See different kinds of double stars. A majority of stars are double stars. Your students will be surprised to see double stars in a wide variety of orientations. We’ll talk about Kepler’s laws and how they apply to double stars.
• Compare the spectra of stars to gas tube spectra. How do astronomers know what stars are made of? Your MSRO tour guide will show you the fascinating spectra of stars and how they compare to the spectra of gases here on Earth. In this easy-to-understand activity, your students will learn that every element has a unique spectral fingerprint. Plus, if you happen to have gas tubes available, you can easily use them yourself in a remote classroom. For an exciting demonstration of what’s possible, see our home page: link.
We will customize these online meetings for your needs. For example, are you teaching the Hydrogen Balmer Series? Ask us to show your students how the Balmer Series is a key tool for astronomers.
Your students will interact in real-time with the meeting host. And every meeting has a Q&A session.
Free lab materials: Field Tested Systems worked closely with curriculum developers to create an exciting hands-on spectrum lab that can be done remotely. Students use star images they capture in the above sessions to discover Hydrogen and Helium on stars. The tutorial videos and sample files are all free. Watch the videos here: www.fieldtestedsystems.com/speclab.
Want to hear more about any of the above? Click on the logo below to contact us.
MSRO is a non-profit 501(c)(3) that specializes in online telescope education.