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DD the Elder would like to do an astronomy unit after physical geography is finished. I want something truly, secular, not secular by omission as Runkle's World Physical Geography turned out to be. :glare: She doesn't want more living books at this point (she has already read, and loved Stannard's Uncle Albert books) but a more systematic approach. She will probably be attending an astronomy camp this summer. Does anyone have any favourite resources?

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DD the Elder would like to do an astronomy unit after physical geography is finished. I want something truly, secular, not secular by omission as Runkle's World Physical Geography turned out to be. :glare: She doesn't want more living books at this point (she has already read, and loved Stannard's Uncle Albert books) but a more systematic approach. She will probably be attending an astronomy camp this summer. Does anyone have any favourite resources?

 

Contact your local astronomy club.

 

http://www.astronomyclubs.com/state/Oregon

 

Most clubs love to get young people involved in observing, and many have school outreach and other programs for kids. Most also have regularly scheduled public observations, where a bunch of club members set up telescopes and spend the evening showing visitors the sights.

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Astronomy for All Ages by Philip Harrington and Edward Pascuzzi is a collection of activities, things like building your own spetroscope, finding constellations with a map and red-tinted flashlight, making an analemma, building a mini model solar system to show the scale of the distances between objects in space. Great explanations are included but you will probably still need to use the book as a jumping off point to research the topics demonstrated or observed in each activity.

 

A quick scan just now to double check showed me several matter-of-fact references to billions and billions of years. It's not a history of the universe. It is a guide to the modern day sky that is not afraid to say that what we see up there is very old.

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We're using Runkle, and I must have missed something. What do you mean? What's omitted? I must be rather dense...

It talks about geological processes without using the phrase "millions/billions of years;" about plate tectonics without continental drift; a brief note about the source of heat in the Earth's core attributes it solely to radioactivity, ignoring the residual heat from planetary accretion. I'm supplementing primarily with a TV series called How the Earth was Made (Netflix Instant Watch). It's a bit sensationalistic, but the information and graphics are good, and it doesn't shy away from discussing geological time. Runkle's makes no mention of any fact which goes against the idea of a young Earth. It's "secular" only in the sense that neither does it give "evidence" supporting YE. I purchased the materials before realizing this, but since it's a subject I'm comfortable enough with to supplement and add additional information on the fly, I decided to use it anyway. I wish I'd heard of Tarbuck beforehand, but I didn't think of looking at college texts for non-majors.

Edited by nmoira
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Have you seen either of these?

Wonders of the Universe

And

Wonders of the Solar System

By Brian Cox

(dvds)

 

I ordered them from Amazon UK but they seem now available on the regular amazon site and books.

 

Now, I know you didn't want living books (does that mean you want a dying book? ;) ) but I've got All About the Stars by Anne White, which is a basic intro, and Rose Wyler's New Golden Book of Astronomy. They are both sort of interesting, and I haven't seen anything new earth or religious in them, but I have to remind you that there is a Little Brown School Book called The Night Sky Book with oodles of activities. That might be a fun add in??

 

I found the Uncle Albert books thanks to you, btw.

 

I cannot believe you have 240 books in Science:A Reading Year. Yikes.

Edited by stripe
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I have heard good things about Rose City Astronomers even though I haven't gotten it together to get us involved with their programs. I think they have club(s) for kids/teens. I'm wondering if the members would have ideas of curricula.

 

I didn't go, but this last summer some group had an astronomer speak a couple of times at Timberline Lodge.

 

I'm also wondering if the OMSI store would have some books and DVDs that you could look at before buying.

 

I'm also wondering if you could contact Emily Ladakwalla (sp?). I follow her on twitter and I knows she periodically reviews children's books. Her kids are younger but perhaps she would have some good ideas about curricula. She certainly would know if books and DVDs are scientifically accurate if she has seen/read them.

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I cannot believe you have 240 books in Science:A Reading Year. Yikes.
She hasn't read all of the heftier books on the list, and a number are pretty slim (e.g. the Jean Craighead George books). It's been an interesting year, and she's just wrapping up now with The Wild Life of Our Bodies. She would like to do another, non-science, "reading year," but she hasn't yet decided on a topic.

 

I added some extra topical readings (my choice) three or four days a week, and post them here:

 

https://plus.google.com/s/moira%20nielsen%20extra%20homeschool%20science%20readings

 

These will continue.

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Have you checked out Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy from Great Courses? Professor Alexander Filippenko gives the lecture, you would probably recognize him from science documentaries. It's always on sale, the lowest price I've found is $189. Expensive, yes, but really.really good.

 

Otherwise, I'm waiting for RS4K to come out with their study bundle for Astronomy.

 

ETA: Forgot to mention libraries sometimes carry the Great Courses.

 

We have just been watching this one, it's pretty good. (Found ours at the library)

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DD the Elder would like to do an astronomy unit after physical geography is finished. I want something truly, secular, not secular by omission as Runkle's World Physical Geography turned out to be. :glare: She doesn't want more living books at this point (she has already read, and loved Stannard's Uncle Albert books) but a more systematic approach. She will probably be attending an astronomy camp this summer. Does anyone have any favourite resources?

 

I wasn't sure from your post whether you meant stargazing or astronomy.

 

For the first, I'd suggest the Holt Science & Technology series -- secular middle school textbooks. They are full of info, readable and well illustrated. I've just seen the full textbooks, but you can get modules too -- so you could just get the astronomy section of the earth science book. And slightly older used copies can be fine.

 

http://holtmcdougal.hmhco.com/hm/series.htm?level2Code=MSIB10011&level3Code=6_MS

 

For stargazing, I second the Dickinson Backyard Astronomer's Guide. Two other books that I have found amazingly helpful:

 

Hewitt-White, Patterns in the Sky

Ramotowski, Secrets of Stargazing

 

You could also down load Stellarium planetarium software for free. I find it helpful to look at the night sky for my time & place before going out to look at the stars.

 

My other advice (which has been said here many times by people more experience than I am) -- don't get a telescope; go to stargazing events of local clubs, colleges, etc; get binoculars.

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Originally Posted by PlumCrazyMomof3 View Post

Have you checked out Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy from Great Courses? Professor Alexander Filippenko gives the lecture, you would probably recognize him from science documentaries. It's always on sale, the lowest price I've found is $189. Expensive, yes, but really.really good.

 

Otherwise, I'm waiting for RS4K to come out with their study bundle for Astronomy.

 

ETA: Forgot to mention libraries sometimes carry the Great Courses.

 

 

We have just been watching this one, it's pretty good. (Found ours at the library)

 

This made me smile. Ds thinks the Professor F is fabulous and that the lectures are "beyond amazing." ;) Those lectures and Professor F's text, The Cosmos, are what convinced him to want to major in astrophysics.

 

FWIW, I wouldn't use the course w/o first having had basic high school physics and only w/students that are going to enjoy a college lecture presentation. Through the Wormhole,Cosmic Collisions, How the Universe Works, Nova's 3 part series (can't think of it off the top of my head), etc are going to be far more interesting for younger ages.

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  • 2 months later...

Here's what we've put together so far:

 

Nightwatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe

Manga Guide to the Universe

Bang!: The Complete History of the Universe (we already had this :001_smile:)

Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End

Do Your Ears Pop in Space and 500 Other Surprising Questions about Space Travel

 

Plus the Bad Astronomy blog (this is part of our regular rotation anyway), and the Q & BA videos on YouTube.

 

I haven't yet chosen a video series. "Understanding the Universe" looks fantastic, but I've just paid for the camp itself (I was hoping there'd still be places when the 40% off sale starts the first week of July, but no such luck) and don't think I can swing it this year.

 

Thanks again for your help. :D

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Here's what we've put together so far:

 

Nightwatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe

Manga Guide to the Universe

Bang!: The Complete History of the Universe (we already had this :001_smile:)

Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End

Do Your Ears Pop in Space and 500 Other Surprising Questions about Space Travel

 

Plus the Bad Astronomy blog (this is part of our regular rotation anyway), and the Q & BA videos on YouTube.

 

I haven't yet chosen a video series. "Understanding the Universe" looks fantastic, but I've just paid for the camp itself (I was hoping there'd still be places when the 40% off sale starts the first week of July, but no such luck) and don't think I can swing it this year.

 

Thanks again for your help. :D

 

these are great resources! thank you for listing these. Since beginning the Intellego Astronomy Unit, my boys want more resources!

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Our current plan is to use the Intellego Astronomy unit we just got from HSBC along with a different dvd series from Great Courses: "My Favorite Universe," with Neil DeGrasse Tyson. She loves him from seeing NOVA ScienceNow. Amazon has them listed for less than $20 right now. There are a number of reviews who criticize it for the science level not being high enough for college or that it's "appropriate for middleschoolers," which makes it just right for us at the moment ;), especially with my non-math-oriented artist daughter.

 

Another resource, since she likes reading, is "George's Secret Key to the Universe," a juvenile book written by Stephen Hawking and his daughter, Lucy. You can do a "look inside" on Amazon. There are also sequels (but I haven't read them) called "George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt" and "George and the Big Bang." The illustrations in the first included gorgeous photos from the Hubble telescope.

 

I'm going to have to look for "Death from the Skies," as it's just up my daughter's alley! :)

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