The year 2017 was successful for the Smithsonian by any measure. Their curators opened insightful and inspirational exhibitions. Their scientists continued to do groundbreaking research that benefits humankind. Their educators are reaching more people than ever before with compelling programming. The years-long, Smithsonian-wide campaign soared…

As documented in the National Academies' 2020 astronomy decadal survey report, harassment and discrimination continue to be problems in astronomical employment and educational settings. In order to document the types of harassment and discrimination in astronomy and the context in which these behaviors occur, this report describes an analysis of…

In this article, the authors discuss role-play as a pedagogical strategy to engage kindergarten and first-grade students in science and engineering. They present a five-part Mars colony lesson that they developed for a blended class, during which students role-play a space-exploration story that enables them to gain a firsthand perspective of what…

The inclusion of a British astronaut on the International Space Station will have caused many people in Britain to take interest in seeing it pass overhead. This article explains why it can only be seen for brief times and when conditions are suitable.

Physics bachelor's degree production continues to increase, with the 8,122 bachelor's awarded representing yet another all-time high. Further increases in physics bachelor's degree production are anticipated as undergraduate junior- and senior-level enrollments continue to climb. The all-time high of 1,860 physics PhDs conferred in the class of…

Against a backdrop of advocacy for interdisciplinary STEM curricula, this paper explores the design principles underpinning a three-year longitudinal research project that develops and evaluates interdisciplinary mathematics and science learning sequences involving multiple teachers and student cohorts across the primary school years. The research…

A pilot program was developed for middle school (grades 6-8) educators and students to apply NASA real-world problems to classroom concepts through the use of digital badges, as part of NASA Langley Research Center's (LaRC) Centennial Celebration. Three sets of digital badges were developed on three of NASA's main missions: Earth Science,…

As astronomers further develop an understanding of the fate of the Universe, it is essential to study students' ideas on the fate of the Universe so that instructors can communicate the field's current status more effectively. In this study, we examine undergraduate students' preinstruction ideas of the fate of the Universe in ten semester-long…

This laboratory introduces students to laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for the analysis of metals in soil and rock samples. LIBS employs a laser-initiated spark to induce electronic excitation of metal atoms. Ensuing atomic emission allows for qualitative and semiquantitative analysis. The students use LIBS to analyze a series of…

For this article, we use a 3D printer to print a surface similar to universal gravitation for demonstrating and investigating Kepler's laws of planetary motion describing the motion of a small ball on the surface. This novel experimental method allows Kepler's laws of planetary motion to be visualized and will contribute to improving the…

Solar system is an abstract phenomenon that needs to understand by junior high school students. The phenomenon cannot be observed directly in the classroom. In this research, the role-play model is first proposed to provide analogical phenomenon combined by Stellarium as an astrophysical virtual laboratory to give better visualization of Solar…

This paper aims at showing the close ties between Renaissance literature and science as emerge from the use and the transformation, in a post-Copernican context, of the myth of Phaeton--according to Greek mythology: the boy who tried to conduct the chariot of the Sun and died in this attempt. G.B. Benedetti's analysis and criticism of…

It's a dark, dark universe out there, and I don't mean because the night sky is black. After all, once you leave the shadow of the Earth and get out into space, you're surrounded by countless lights glittering everywhere you look. But for all of Sagan's billions and billions of stars and galaxies, it's a jaw-dropping fact that the ordinary kind of…

Astronomy classes that teach students to read and write images, diagrams, and plots offer an ideal venue to teach visual literacy.

The purpose of this study is to develop a reliable and safe scale for determining the self-efficacy levels of science teachers in the teaching of astronomy subjects. The study used a survey approach, which is a qualitative research method. The study was conducted with a total of 106 science teachers working in the secondary schools of Ordu city…