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Astronomy Education: A Selective Bibliography

9. Astronomy Education Through the Media

Byrd, D. "Astronomy on the Air" in Mercury, Jan/Feb. 1980, p. 7.
On the StarDate radio program.

Goldman, S. "Prime Time Astronomers: The Astronomers TV Series" in Sky & Telescope, May 1991, p. 472.

Goldsmith, D. "Two Years in Hollywood: An Astronomer in Television Land" in Mercury, Mar/Apr. 1991, p. 34.
Experiences in the world of public television.

O'Meara, S. "Jack Horkheimer: "Star Hustler" in Sky & Telescope, May 1989, p. 544.
On planetarium director who does a series of short astronomy shows on public television.

Reis, R. & Fraknoi, A. "A Syndicated Newspaper Column on Astronomy" in Mercury, Jan/Feb. 1977, p. 1.

Robinson, L. "How Sky & Telescope Came to Be" in Sky & Telescope, Nov. 1991, p.472.
History of the main magazine that tied scientist, amateurs, and teachers together.

Sagan, C. The Demon Haunted World. 1995, Random House.
Provocative, heart-felt essays on the prevalence of pseudo-science and the role of the media in encouraging it.

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10. Astronomy Education With Computers

Bothun, G. "Teaching Via Electrons" in Cause/Effect, Winter 1996, p. 37.
On web-based, networked courses at the U. of Oregon. A web-version of this article is at: zebu.oregon.edu/special/cause.html

Bruning, D. "Computers and Astronomy" in Astronomy, May 1994, p. 58.
A guide to astronomy software and how it can be used.

Bruning, D. "Blasting Along the Infobahn" in Astronomy, June 1995, p. 74.
On astronomy on the World Wide Web.

Bruning, D. "Students in Cyberspace" in Astronomy, Oct. 1995, p. 48.
On educational sites on the World Wide Web.

Dahlman, L. "Image Processing in Astronomy Education" in Mercury, Ma/Apr. 1994, p. 24.
On the big project at the Univ. of Arizona started by astronomers, but now being used in many areas of education.

Goldman, S. "Astronomy on the Internet" in Sky & Telescope, Aug. 1995, p. 20. (Regular updates are found in most issues.)

Marschall, L. "Virtual Professional Astronomy" in Sky & Telescope, Aug. 1995, p. 92.
On Project CLEA, which provides college-level computerized lab exercises. (See also: White, J. "Have Observatory, Will Travel" in Mercury, May/June 1996, p. 16.)

Mosley, J. "Software Roundup for 1995" in Sky & Telescope, Aug. 1995.
A review of the best software packages for general astronomy. (Mosley reviews new software in most issues of Sky & Telescope magazine.)

Pompea, S. & Blurton, C. "A Walk Through the Astronomy Village" in Mercury, Jan/Feb. 1995, p. 32.
A multimedia package from NASA.

Sneider, D. & Berndt, H. "A Galaxy of Astronomy & Space Software" in Technology & Learning, May/June 1994, p. 20.
Reviews of software packages from K-12 teaching perspective.

Wallin, J. "Astronomy Education on the Web" in Sky & Telescope, Nov. 1997, p. 68. (See also the response by S. Goldman on p. 71.)

Zombeck, M. "From Spreadsheets to Scratch Pads" in Sky & Telescope, Oct. 1997, p. 60.
Software to simplify doing mathematical modeling in astronomy.

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11. Teaching Resources for Astronomy

Ball, N., et al., eds. Project SPICA: A Teacher Resource to Enhance Astronomy Education. 1994, Kendall-Hunt.
A collection of 43 astronomy activities at the 6th-12th grade level from a project at the Center for Astrophysics.

Bruning, D. "Charting a Path Through the Night Sky" in Astronomy, Oct. 1993, p. 74.
Comparative review of star atlases and guides.

Coyle, H, et al. Project STAR: The Universe in Your Hands. 1993, Kendall Hunt.
A high school astronomy supplement, full on sophisticated hands-on projects.

Fraknoi, A., ed. The Universe at Your Fingertips. 1996, Astronomical Society of the Pacific. (see section 1 above)

Fraknoi, A. The Cosmos in the Classroom. 1995, Saunders College Publishing.
Annotated lists of books, articles, audio-visual materials, and software, organized by topic, for college instructors.

Fraknoi, A. "Scientific Responses to Pseudoscience Related to Astronomy" in Mercury, Sep/Oct. 1990, p. 144.
Resources for debunking astrology, UFO's, ancient astronauts, etc. (Updated version available from the author by mail or see the web site: Astronomical Pseudo-science: A Skeptic's Resource List.)

Fraknoi, A. & Freitag, R. "Women in Astronomy: A Bibliography" in Mercury, Jan/Feb. 1992, p. 46.
Part of a special issue on women in astronomy. (For an update, see the web site: Women in Astronomy: An Introductory Bibliography.)

Gibson, B. The Astronomer's Sourcebook. 1992, Woodbine House, 5615 Fishers Lance, Rockville, MD 20852.
A guide to astronomical equipment, publications, planetaria, organizations, events, etc.

Pasachoff, J. "Textbooks and Electronic Media: Instructional Materials for Astronomy" in Percy, J., ed. Astronomy Education: Current Developments, Future Coordination. 1996, Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series, Vol. 89.
Includes a list of texts, software, and educational web sites.

SETI Institute: Life in the Universe Project. 1995 - 1996, Teacher Idea Press (800-237-6124).
A series of six curriculum and activities books, for grades 5-6 and 7-8, based on the Drake Equation and exposing students to the scientific ideas behind the search for life elsewhere.

Sneider, C., et al. Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS). 1986 ј 1993, Lawrence Hall of Science, U. of California, Berkeley 94720.
This series of wonderful elementary activity books includes several astronomy titles, including Earth, Moon, and Stars and The Moons of Jupiter.

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Updated versions of this list are distributed at conferences and workshops on astronomy education. Please send suggestions for other readings to include (with reprints if possible) to:

Andrew Fraknoi
Astronomical Society of the Pacific
390 Ashton Ave., San Francisco, CA 94112
Fax: 415-337-5205
e-mail: fraknoiandrew {at} fhda.edu