Web Sites About Our Solar System

This is a bibliography intended to help elementary and middle school students and their teachers to locate web sites containing useful, accurate, and interesting information on our solar system. Web sites of questionable authority, or those that appeared not to be up-to-date, were excluded from this bibliography. In addition, several interesting sites concerning other aspects of space have been included.

Web Sites for Elementary School Students

NASA Kids: This NASA site is appropriate for elementary school students. It covers many aspects of space and space flight, and includes a large section on our solar system. Some of the concepts are presented through multimedia presentations. Careers in space related fields are discussed, and there is an area devoted to information for teachers grades K-4. Part of this page is currently under construction. Date visited 2/18/04.

http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov/

StarDate Online Solar System Guide: This guide for older elementary school students and middle school students is maintained by the University of Texas McDonald Observatory which also produces astronomy radio programs, and a bimonthly astronomy magazine. The guide discusses how the planets and other celestial bodies in our solar system formed, what other celestial bodies in our solar system might support life, and how our sun will end. In addition, the site offers information on other space topics, and access to audio of its radio programs on various pertinent subjects. There are also sample lessons on astronomical topics, and activities for students. Date visited 2/18/04.

http://stardate.org/resources/ssguide/

Windows to the Universe: This up-to-date and very accurate site is maintained by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) at the University of Michigan, and is sponsored by NASA. This is a large site with a section dedicated to the solar system. The information is presented in beginner, intermediate and advanced forms, so that middle school and high school students, as well as those in elementary school, can use this site. It supplies information on solar system formation, asteroids, comets, news and discoveries, and even has a solar system “coloring book”. The explanations of the concepts become more in depth in the intermediate and advanced forms. Many other sections, such as “people”, “myths”, and “missions” provide extensive information on other space related topics. The main page of the site, found at http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/teacher_resources/teacher_resources.html&edu=elem, provides resources for teachers of all three levels. This site is also available in Spanish at http://www.windows.ucar.edu/spanish.html. Date visited 2/20/04.

http://www.windows.ucar.edu/

Web Sites for Middle School Students

Amazing Space: This page, based on the discoveries of the Hubble Telescope, should be very accurate as it is maintained by the Formal Education Group of the Space Telescope Science Institute's Office of Public Outreach. It contains information and teaching tools for teachers to use, as well as information and activities for students. There is a section on the solar system that includes a fun solar trading cards game, and a whole lesson plan for teachers’ use based on this game. There are also fun games and activities based on other aspects of space. Date visited 2/18/04.

http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/

Educational Guide to Space and Astronomy: This is a large site maintained by the University of Leicester in England that provides information on various topics involving space including several pages devoted to the solar system. Each planet, the sun, and our moon is discussed at length. The page is current, having been updated in 2003. Other topics covered include space missions, stars, and galaxies. Date visited 2/18/04.

http://www.star.le.ac.uk/edu/

Exploring the Planets: This page is maintained by the National Air and Space Museum, and contains in-depth information on the solar system, including the history of mankind’s attempts to locate planets, and understand our solar system. It also includes a history of the tools used to explore the planets, a comparison of the planets to each other including photos, a section on comets, and an activity for teachers to use with their students. It also offers a virtual field trip of sorts, with pictures of space artifacts that are on display at the museum. Date visited 2/18/04.

http://www.nasm.edu/ceps/etp/

Jet Propulsion Laboratory: This site is maintained by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology. It is fact-packed site that includes a lot of information on the various components of the solar system, as well as a solar system simulator (found at http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/). In addition, it contains many photo images of the planets, and information on NASA’s various missions involving them. The site has an education gateway highlighting its various educational programs, links to other NASA kids’ pages, and lots of information on other aspects of space. Date visited 2/19/04.

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/index.html

Kids Astronomy.com: It is not clear what organization is responsible for this web site, but it has certainly won a lot of awards. It has a very good section on each of the planets in the solar system, including “did you know” features, and “fast facts”. Visitors can also build their own solar system. Worksheets on the solar system and other space phenomena are available for teacher use. In addition, this web site includes a printable map of the stars in the night sky for each date, and a section on what the moon looks like each night. Since the qualifications of the author are not clear, fact checks of the information provided are advisable. Date visited 2/23/04.

http://www.kidsastronomy.com/index.htm

Life On Other Planets in the Solar System: The Wayne County Michigan Regional Educational Service Agency developed this site on extraterrestrial life to be used as a resource to help middle schools fulfill one of the Michigan science curriculum objectives. The history of astronomy and the development of the understanding of the solar system can be found here, including the origins of the names of the planets. Other terrestrial bodies that might support life now or have supported it in the past are discussed, including how life on other heavenly bodies, such as Mars and Europa, is being investigated. This site has links to numerous interesting articles on the subject. Date visited 2/23/04.

http://www.resa.net/nasa/xlife_intro.htm

Solar System Cyberhunt: This page is maintained by ICTeachers Online an educational newsletter written by teachers in the U.K. for other teachers. Music introduces you to the Solar System Cyberhunt. There are ten questions about the solar system in the Cyberhunt, and each question has a link after it where you are to go and read a site to find the answer. At the end of the Cyberhunt you are directed to the NASA Kids page where students can submit their own space questions and possibly receive and answer from NASA! Date visited 2/22/04.

http://www.icteachers.co.uk/children/cyberhunts/solar_system/sosystem.htm

SPACE: Solar system: This page is dedicated to providing information on the solar system and is maintained by the well-respected BBC (the British Broadcast Corporation) which is the national broadcasting company for Great Britain. Therefore, it should be quite accurate. The page is part of a large site maintained by the BBC on science, and provides an amazing three-dimensional tour of the solar system. It includes all the planets and the sun, as well as meteors, asteroids and comets, through which visitors are able to steer. It is jam-packed with detailed information on all of these space objects, as well as other information on space, and also provides links to other sites to explore topics further. In addition, it provides links to other BBC pages that offer space-themed games, quizzes, wallpaper, e-cards, screen savers and a solar system jigsaw puzzle! Date visited 2/18/04.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/solarsystem/index.shtml

Virtual Solar System: This National Geographic site provides a three-dimensional and two-dimensional tour of the solar system. Pictures of each of the planets are accompanied by information on each. The graphics at this site are excellent. The site also contains information on comets, asteroids, and meteors, and links to other pages about space elsewhere on the web. Date visited 2/22/04.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/solarsystem/splash.html

Web Sites for Teachers

A Collaborative Thematic Unit: The Solar System and Astronomy: This is an entire PreK-3 unit on the solar system developed by two students in the University of South Carolina College of Library and Information Science Materials for Early Childhood class. It provides extensive resources in many curriculum areas (i.e. math, history, language arts, science) that can be used to teach about the solar system. It includes online resources, fiction, non-fiction and poetry books on the topic, community resources, multimedia resources, and activities based on the solar system. Methods to use for student assessment are also provided. It may be used in the classroom as long as credit is given to the students who developed it. Date visited 2/18/04.

http://www.libsci.sc.edu/miller/Solar.htm

Gander Academy’s Solar System Theme Page: A fifth grade teacher at a school in Canada authored this page. It is a great example of a teacher made page. It provides information on all the planets with links to sites on the Internet that supplied the information. It also contains solar system based worksheets, a whole unit on the solar system for grades 5 and 6, games and activities, as well as other space-related content. It was last updated in 2001, but most of the links still work. Date visited 2/18/04.

http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/CITE/solar_system.htm

HubbleSite Browsing in Solar System: This is a section of a larger site concerning images produced by the Hubble Telescope and what scientists have learned from them. Many of the images are of the planets, and there are also videos developed from the Hubble’s observations. This site is a bit difficult to navigate, and that is why it is in the “Web Sites for Teachers” section although many of the images and much of the information will be of interest to students, and useful in teaching them about the solar system. This site has much to offer concerning learning about the Hubble telescope and what it has discovered about the universe. Date visited 2/18/04.

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/category/solar%20system/

Solar System Educators Program: This site highlights a program run by the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) of NASA to recruit science and math teachers, K-12, to become “solar system educators”. These educators are trained by NASA to “inspire America's students, create learning opportunities, and enlighten inquisitive minds by engaging them in the Solar System exploration efforts conducted by NASA.” Teachers are given training at the JPL and also online. After training, teachers are asked to run a minimum of three outreach workshops a year that, combined, reach at least 100 teachers. Date visited 2/20/04.

http://www.ssep.org/

Solar System in Room 222 at Eastanollee Elementary School: This page, authored by a second grade teacher (who has since become a media specialist!), is devoted to information concerning the solar system. It is a good example of a teacher made web page. It contains solar system jokes and riddles apparently written and illustrated by her students, links to other pages on the solar system, and activities. Two of the links on this page do not work, but overall it is a good example of a simple to do, and fun web site. Date visited 2/20/04.

http://webtech.pioneer.resa.k12.ga.us/jcarter/solar.htm

Cool web sites concerning other things about space that were too neat not to include!

Earth From Space Astronaut’s Views of the Home Planet: NASA maintains this site of pictures of the earth taken from space by the astronauts. There is a map of the world that you can click on to see pictures of each region. There is also an index of cities that have been photographed from space. In addition, visitors can search by category for pictures of weather, geographic regions, earth landscapes, and much more. The pictures included in the category of what you are searching for are then retrieved (i.e. all the pictures of lakes) and the name of each feature in each picture is given. Date visited 2/22/04.

http://earth.jsc.nasa.gov/sseop/efs/

European Space Agency: What are the Europeans up to in exploring space? What missions do they currently have going, and what missions are they planning for the future? Find out at their official site. Date visited 2/22/04.

http://www.rssd.esa.int/index.php

Everything space . . . all in one place! The U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama maintains this site for space enthusiasts. The site discusses the Centers’ Space Camp which has astronaut training programs for students ages 9 and over, for parents and students together, and for TEACHERS! They also offer an aviation challenge camp, for ages 9 and up, where you can learn to fly in jet simulators. Date visited 2/19/04.

http://www.spacecamp.com/spacecamp/

For Kids Only – Earth Science Enterprise: This site is devoted to examples of how NASA uses its technology to study the earth. Topics include such things as how NASA studies the weather, the composition of the ozone layer of the atmosphere, and the global water cycle. The site includes earth science based games, and also guides, such as “Looking at Earth From Space”, which were developed for use by earth science teachers. Date visited 2/23/04.

http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/

SETI Institute: The SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute has two main missions, to search for extraterrestrial intelligence, and “to explore and explain the nature and prevalence of life in the universe.” This is a very interesting site where you can find out what is being done to locate life outside the earth, and how scientists are investigating life’s beginnings. Date visited 2/23/04.

http://www.seti-inst.edu/

The Moon Shop: This web site claims to legitimately sell property on the MOON! Apparently 24 years ago the founder of a group called the Lunar Embassy, which claims to be the largest group of space enthusiasts in the world, filled a declaration of ownership of the moon with the United Nations and the U.S. and Russian governments. Therefore, they claim to own the moon and be able to sell property there! For $15 you can buy an acre of land on the moon and receive a deed to it. What will they think of next? Date visited 2/19/04

http://www.moonshop.com/