Astronomy for Kids : Homeschool Science Study Resources
Astronomy for Kids is an exciting topic to study!
Discovery’s Astronomy & Space – While their website section is titled “Space”, you have to type “astronomy” into the search bar to find their astronomy content. I’ve chosen to put the site here because it has wonderful content with images from the Hubble Telescope. The images are wonderful for exploration and familiarizing students with the great unknowns in space, but there isn’t a lot there that pertains specifically to astronomy. This site gives an overview of astronomy for kids.
Science @ NASA – Images, streaming audio, videos, and links to space exploration project sites at various universities and agencies make this a useful resource in studying astronomy for kids. With both interactive content and resource content, a student (or teacher) can gain a lot of information about astronomy from this site and it’s extensions. It is easy to wander away from this site though, so opening links using the “open in new window” option is helpful.
Space Place for Kids at NASA – Awesome interactive content and learning resources for learning about outer space, stars, etc. Your child can “Play”, “Do”, or “Explore” on this site. There are great interactive games, puzzles, quizzes, activities, coloring books, videos, pictures, and more. This is an awesome site for studying astronomy for kids.
Sky and Telescope’s Interactive Sky Chart – Enter your location, or any other location, and see what the night sky will look like there! While the Interactive Sky Chart is the most fun, there is also a lot of educational content on this site. Based upon Sky and Telescope Magazine, the content is article oriented and better for exploration learning rather than for seeking specific information on a specific topic.
NOVA Universe – PBS’s popular science series has its own space exploration site. Learn about Supernovas, the history of the Universe (Big Bang Theory), galaxies and more. PBS provides interactive Flash presentations linked from a text based site. You don’t have to have FLASH to benefit from the site, but you will need it to view the dynamic presentations.
Cool Math Games’ Astronomy content – This is a colorful, interactive site with fun activities for kids to explore different characteristics of each planet and the universe. You have to search for the content, but you can find it fairly easily by scrolling through some of their games. Your child can type in your child’s weight and find out what they weigh on different planets! The information is basic and most kids will like the graphics.
Astronomy for Kids – One of the few “personal” sites I’ve linked to, this site provides tons of great basic content about astronomy. Built through a passion for astronomy, the visual and written content is of high quality and is one of the best starting places for kids. I enjoyed reading through the site myself. There aren’t a lot of high tech elements, but the content is solid.
Homeschool Science Unit Studies Page
Be sure to check out our MAIN Science Page for a list of many additional science topics for kids. Each topic page has links to interactive, audio-visual websites and optional resources to help you with your homeschool science.
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Check out our other Science Unit Studies on our Homeschool Science Page.
