Many introductory astronomy courses include concepts related to basic stellar properties. In general, these are concepts that originate from the human perception of starlight. This observational aspect is not easy to incorporate in the classroom. We explore if these concepts could be developed using the built-in data in a planetarium software.…

Describes an exercise which uses a computer program (written for Commodore 64 microcomputers) that accepts data obtained from identifying bacteria, calculates similarity coefficients, and performs single linkage cluster analysis. Includes a program for simulating bacterial cultures for students who should not handle pathogenic microorganisms. (JN)