Author: Zach

{ A Changing Cosmos Contents } { All GSS Books } Materials copy of CCD simulation grid colored markers tape The images from the HOU telescopes are generated using a CCD camera. This kind of camera uses an electronic chip rather than the photosensitive chemical films used by regular cameras. The electronic chip is divided […]

Paper maps Three free paper (PDF) star maps that are good, produced for the current night sky, with new ones available each month are: What’s Out Tonight, Skymaps.com, Beckstrom Observatory. Planispheres A planisphere is a version of star map that is adjustable for any day and any time. Standing here on Earth which is rotating, […]

Chapter 2 { A Changing Cosmos Contents } Astronomers are very limited in ability to actually visit and explore their objects of interest. Humans have personally visited only one other body in the cosmos other than Earth: the Moon. We have sent spacecraft to most of the planets in our own solar system and received […]

{ A Changing Cosmos Contents } I. Mass Extinction We normally think of things in space as remote—not really affecting things around us. But there are some types of cosmic events that could really mess things up badly for us. In fossil records, there are many instances of species going extinct—apparently unable to cope with […]

A Changing Cosmos is the latest edition of the Hands-On Universe (HOU) astronomy curriculum series. It is a  compilation in a single book as the “Best” of the seven original HOU high school curriculum books developed by TERC*. See also: Solar System Science. Contents Chapter Titles Investigations Stay Current 1. Cosmic Cataclysms 1.1 Down2Earth Crater Impact Calculator Chapter […]

{ GSS Books } The people who made the Global Systems Science books possible On this page: GSS Staff Reviewers by Book GSS Advisors Thanks to Teacher Reviewers Sources of Support Staff – Reviewers – Advisors – Teachers – Support GSS Staff Director:     Alan Gould Series Authors:      Richard Golden        Alan Gould        Cary SneiderJohn Michael […]

{ A New World View Contents } { All GSS Books } Our sources, categorized by topic Global Environmental Change Brown, Lester R., Building a Sustainable Society, N.Y.: W.W. Norton & Company, 1981. Brown, Lester R., Flavin, Christopher, and Postel, Sandra, Saving the Planet: How to Shape an Environmentally Sustainable Global Economy, New York, London: […]

2024-04-03. Satellite signals can measure a forest’s moisture—and its ability to survive. [https://www.science.org/content/article/satellite-signals-can-measure-forest-s-moisture-and-its-ability-survive] By SEAN CUMMINGS, Eos/AGU. Excerpt: The same radio signals that enable your smartphone to pinpoint your location may also reveal how much water a forest holds within its foliage. By measuring how much GPS satellite signals weakened as they passed through a […]

Staying current for Chapter 5 { A New World View Contents } Non-chronological items: Canopy in the Clouds – A project that uses immersive multimedia from the tropical montane cloud forests of Monteverde, Costa Rica as a platform for earth and life science education. Includes 26 lessons on topics ranging from science process skills to soil […]

Staying current for Chapter 4 { A New World View Contents } 2022-04-29. A Lidar’s-Eye View of How Forests Are Faring. By Van R. Kane,  Liz Van Wagtendonk and  Andrew Brenner, Eos/AGU. Excerpt: Success in Yosemite is driving the wider use of lidar surveys to support forest health and wildfire resilience, study wildlife habitats, and monitor water resources. […]