Night Elf Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 I have never put together a program on my own. I need a secular approach for a high school level course. I've been searching on the board but I'm not finding an answer to my questions. I was thinking I should probably start with a textbook and supplement it with videos and additional reading selections. I'm just not sure where to start! I discovered my library has The Great Courses Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy, except they do not have the 1st DVD in the set. How can I find a good secular astronomy textbook? Or if not a textbook, then a book that covers enough information to give me a good spine. But then how do I know when or how to add other materials to round out the course? I'm thinking that a textbook and the Great Courses course will be enough, but we still need some kind of written work and tests. I would be compiling all of this into a portfolio to submit to our online school so they'll give ds a credit on his transcript. DH thinks this may be too hard but ds would prefer to do an Astronomy course as an extra Science or elective than one of the Keystone offerings so I thought I'd at least look into it. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 How can I find a good secular astronomy textbook? Browse a few universities' websites and find out what text they use for introductory astronomy courses. Then get an older edition used. One possible choice is Chaisson. He has two books: Astronomy Today which is more comprehensive, and the briefer Astronomy: A Beginner's Guide to the Universe. The text alone should be sufficient, but if you want to add TC lectures, I'd simply line them up accoring to the TOC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TippyCanoe Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted July 14, 2012 Author Share Posted July 14, 2012 One possible choice is Chaisson. He has two books: Astronomy Today which is more comprehensive, and the briefer Astronomy: A Beginner's Guide to the Universe. This was the one I found when searching Amazon and which led me to posting this thread. It looks good but it's such a high price that I'm afraid to purchase it without seeing it first. Is this for your Aspie? If he is a visual learner, the TC lectures would make a good spine. Yes, it's for ds16 and he is a visual learner. I think it's a good idea to have a mixture of a text and videos, I'm just not sure I can coordinate materials especially since I don't have a working knowledge of the material. I'm bummed that my library doesn't have the first DVD. I did find a used set on Amazon for $140. I was hoping to not have to buy it though. The whole set is about 48 hours of video. It certainly seems worth $140. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 This was the one I found when searching Amazon and which led me to posting this thread. It looks good but it's such a high price that I'm afraid to purchase it without seeing it first. Don't look at the current edition, of course - look at the older ones! Astronomy: A Beginner's Guide is available here used for under $1, plus $3.99 shipping: http://www.amazon.com/Astronomy-Beginners-Guide-Universe-Fourth/dp/0131007270/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342302984&sr=1-6&keywords=chaisson+astronomy Astronomy Today for under $10 here: http://www.amazon.com/Astronomy-Today-sixth-Text-Only/dp/B004WJHIV4/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342303152&sr=1-10&keywords=chaisson+astronomy+today+6th Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted July 14, 2012 Author Share Posted July 14, 2012 Don't look at the current edition, of course - look at the older ones! True, thanks for the links! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 (edited) I discovered my library has The Great Courses Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy, except they do not have the 1st DVD in the set. How can I find a good secular astronomy textbook? The text that accompanies the Understanding the Universe course is The Cosmos: Astronomy in the New Millenium, by Filippenko (the prof in the TC course) and Pasachoff. The current (3rd) edition is expensive, but you can get used copies of the previous edition for under $20. Pasachoff (the coauthor) also has another text called Astronomy: From Earth to the Universe; you can get used copies of the previous edition for pennies. Berkeley has free videos online for their Astronomy 10 course, and Yale has video lectures for Frontiers & Controversies in Astrophysics. There are lots of other opencourseware-type astro courses available if you google around (although most do not have video lectures). For labs, find a local astronomy club; most have "star parties" (especially in the summer) that are open to the public, and many will loan telescopes to new members. Jackie Edited July 14, 2012 by Corraleno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TippyCanoe Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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