Space Exploration!

Looking for information for your research project? Begin by reviewing this annotated list of web sites, databases, books and encyclopedias. Still unable to find what you need? Please stop by the IMC, and ask Mrs. O'Keefe for help!

FAMOUS ASTRONOMERS

Famous Astronomers, from ThinkQuest

Cosmic Quest: Field Guide to the Universe, from the Children's Museum of Indianapolis

Hall of Astronomers, from Enchanted Learning's Zoom Astronomy

Famous Astronomers and Astrophysicists

Biography Resource Center
(To access this database, you will need to use your public library barcode.)
This outstanding database features biographical information about more than 275,000 people from throughout history, around the world, and all disciplines and subject areas. More than 400,000 biographies are included from 90 highly regarded Gale Group publications.

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Simply enter the name of the astronomer you are researching into the search field on the main page, and click "go". As you read the article(s) retrieved during your search, be sure to review the links provided to other relevant Wikipedia articles, as well as those that will lead you to other helpful websites.

SELECTED SITES

ScienceMonster.com
Learn about the solar system, take a tour of Mars or the stars, check out the "Movie of the Day", and much more at this site.

Windows to the Universe
Begin your research at this great site, searchable in both English and Spanish, and featuring information at beginning, intermediate and advanced levels, to learn about "Our Planets", "Our Solar System", and "Astronomy & the Universe".

The Planets
This terrific Enchanted Learning site provides a general description of each of the planets, including relative size, a discussion of inner (those planets that orbit close to the sun) vs. outer (those planets that orbit far from the sun) planets, temperature, density, mass, gravitational force, and a day on each of the planets (a day is the length of time that it takes a planet to rotate on its axis (360%) ). It also features a table of information about each of the planets, including distance from the sun, period of revolution around the sun, period of rotation, mass, diameter, apparent size from earth, temperature and number of moons. An interactive puzzle on the solar system and "Find It", a quiz about the planets, can also be found at this site.

NASA's Mars Exploration Program

Curious About Astronomy? Ask an Astronomer, hosted by the Astronomy Department at Cornell University
This wonderful site is loaded with helpful information about "Our Solar System", "Our Universe", "Observational Astonomy", and much more. Each subject includes an extensive list of questions that have been asked and answered, and links to other great information, as well as a search feature.

Views of the Solar System, by Calvin J. Hamilton
Learn about the sun, planets, moons, comets, asteroids, and much more at this site.

Cool Cosmos
This site features information, images and games. Move your cursor to "Cosmic Kids", and "Ask an Astronomer", play games (including Concentration, Slider Puzzles, Hangman, Hide and Seek, Word Search, and others), see videos, and more.

An Overview of the Solar System
This site provides general information about the sun, the nine planets, satellites of the planets, and more, as well as links to images of the planets, and other related sites. (Be sure to scroll down the entire page, so that you don't miss any of the useful links available!)

The Nine Planets: A Multimedia Tour of the Solar System, by Bill Arnett, offers an overview of the history, mythology and current scientific knowledge about the planets and moons in our solar system, and features text, images, some movies, and references to related information.

NASA: for Students (Grades 5-8)
Visit this rich site, with links to such resources as Solar System Exploration, Planets, and much more, or enter your own term(s) into the search field. (Check out NASA's Planetary Fact Sheets and StarChild: A Learning Center for Young Astronomers, too.)

NASA's Space Place
Visit this fun and informative site, available in English and Spanish.
(Click on cool subjects to find information about the "Planets and the Solar System".)

BBC Science & Nature: Space
Learn about the sun, planets, moons, asteriods, comets and much more at this site.

Meteors and Meteor Showers: The Science, by Robert Roy Britt, from Space.com

Virtual Solar System
This National Geographic site's virtual solar system tour includes profiles of the sun and each of the planets, and overviews of comets, asteroids and meteoroids.

Eric Weisstein's World of Astronomy
This resource offers a great deal of information about the solar system, including the planets, as well as asteroids and meteorites, comets, planetary orbits, rings, satellites and more.

Solar System
This site, featuring easy-to-understand text, includes information about the sun, the planets, the moons of our solar system, asteriods and comets.

Our Solar System
This helpful ScienceMonster.com site offers lots of information organized into such categories as "Vital Statistics" (average distance from the Sun, diameter, mass, temperature, # of moons/rings (if any), length of day, and length of year), "Can I Live There?", "How Much Would I Weigh There?" (featuring a nice built-in weight calculator), and much more.

Our Solar System
This StarChild site, created in conjunction with NASA, provides information about the solar system, as well as about each of the planets. (This site offers two reading levels. These links, to information about the solar system and each of the planets, challenge the reader with more sophisticated text.)

How Planets and Satellites got Their Names, by Fact Monster, from Information Please
(Be sure to also visit Fact Monster's The Solar System.)

Wikipedia: the free encyclopedia
Search this terrific wiki to find a detailed article (featuring links to many other helpful resources) on virtually any topic, or click on one of the links available below, to learn more about the solar system.
Solar System
Sun
Moon
Inner Planets (or "Terrestrial Planets") - those planets that are closer to the sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars
Outer Planets (or "Gas Giants") - those planets that are farther away from the sun: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto
Animals in Space

BRAINPOP VIDEOS
(Ask an IMC staff member for the User Name and Password you'll need to use BrainPOP.) Check out these BrainPop animated movies:

"Big Bang: the Beginning of Everything"
"Planets of the Solar System: What's Your Favorite Planet?"
"Jupiter: Why Do They Call It a 'Gas Giant'?"
"Milky Way: There's No Galaxy Like Home!"
"Sun: Good Day, Sunshine"
"Venus: Earth's Weird Twin"
"Solar System: Planetary Madness"
"Mars: Are There Really Martians?"
"Neptune: The Other Blue Planet!"
"Uranus: a Gas Giant on Its Side!"
"Eclipse: It's Dark, But Don't Go To Sleep"
"Satellites: Orbital Helpers!"
"Asteroids: What's So Interesting About Rocks Floating in Space?"
"Solar System: Our Little Corner of the Galaxy"
"Life Cycle of Stars: Star Light, Star Bright!"
"Galaxies: Huge Collections of Stars"
"Black Holes: the Inescapable Conclusion of a Star"

Space Today Online: Stories of Our Solar System, edited by Anthony R. Curtis, Ph.D.
This wonderful online news magazine is loaded with information "covering space from Earth to the end of the universe."

USGS: Astrogeology Research Program

the-solar-system.net: The Solar System in Pictures
Visit this site to find lots of information, as well as great pictures.

PRINT RESOURCES AVAILABLE IN THE IMC

Books about the solar system can be found under the Dewey decimal numbers 520 to 525. (Please remember that when many students are working on the same or similar projects, you may each borrow one book about the subject overnight, and are asked to return your book early the next morning. In this way, classes visiting the IMC to research their topics may use these resources during the day. Thanks for your cooperation!)

SELECTED REFERENCE COLLECTION RESOURCES:

New Book of Knowledge Encyclopedia. Danbury, CT: Grolier, 2000 (REF 031 New)

New Book of Popular Science Encyclopedia. Danbury, CT: Grolier, 2002 (REF 500 New)
This terrific six-volume subject encyclopedia provides in-depth information about the solar system, as well as each of the planets. Use the index to find the correct volume and pages for information.

World Book Encyclopedia of Science: vol. 4 - The Planet Earth. Chicago, IL: World Book, 2001 (REF 500 Wor)

World Book's Young Scientist: vol. 6 - Planet Earth/Water. Chicago, IL: World Boook, 2001 (REF 500 Wor)

The Solar System, by Robin Kerrod. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications Co., 2000 (REF 520 Ker) (Volumes in this set include Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, The Sun, The Moon, Planet Earth, Saturn, Mars, Jupiter, and Asteroids, Comets, and Meteors.

Biographical Research: Selected Resources for Students in Rooms 216 & 217

Biography Resource Center
This outstanding database features biographical information about more than 275,000 people from throughout history, around the world, and all disciplines and subject areas. More than 400,000 biographies are included from 90 highly regarded Gale Group publications.
(You will need to enter your public library barcode in order to access these collections/databases.)

SIRS Discoverer & eLibrary
This full-text collection includes domestic and international newspapers, magazine articles, reference books, government documents, pictures and recommended web sites.
(Please see Mrs. O'Keefe for the User Name and Password needed to access this collection.)

Middle Search Plus
(Please see Mrs. O'Keefe for the User ID and Password needed to access this database.)

Biography.com

Book Review: I Have Lived a Thousand Years, by Livia Bitton-Jackson, from Reading Matters

Obituary: Lucy Grealy, from the New York Times

Biography: Wayne Gretzky, from the Hockey Hall of Fame

The National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum

Pro Football Hall of Fame

Basketball Hall of Fame

Geologic Time: Selected Information Sources

Look for the information you need about geologic time in the IMC's many full-text databases, and visit the web sites below. Still having trouble finding what you need? Stop by the IMC - Mrs. O'Keefe will be happy to help you!

Geologic Time, from Wheeling Jesuit University/NASA-supported Classroom of the Future

Tour of Geologic Time from the University of California Museum of Paleontology
This terrific site features information about the history of the geologic time scale as well as about specific geologic time periods.

BrainPOP: Geologic Time

Geologic Time Scale
This terrific Enchanted Learning site organizes geological time by eon, era, period and epoch, and features information about "pivotal events" for each period. Click on the many links to more detailed information about the geological time period(s) you are researching.

Paleomap Project
This site, created by Christopher R. Scotese, features terrific maps illustrating the earth's history, climates throughout geological time, and more.

Clickable Geologic Time Scale

Geologic Time Scale created by the Bryant Watershed Education Project

Geologic Time, by William Newman
This USGS publication includes the following sections: Geologic Time; Relative Time Scale; Major Divisions of Geologic Time (featuring brief explanations of each major division); Index Fossils; Radiometric Time Scale; and Age of the Earth.

Geologic Time Scale / From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
This site features loads of useful information, including a history of the time scale, as well as a detailed table of geologic time.

GSA Geologic Time Scale
This site offers a high-quality, printable geologic time scale, including the Cenozoic, Mesozoic, Paleozoic and Precambrian eras.

Web Geological Time Machine
This site provides a good deal of information, as well as color images, about each era and period. You may also want to take the Tour of Geologic Time.

SEARCHASAURUS DATABASE COLLECTION
(Ask an IMC staff member for the User ID and Password you'll need to access this database.)
The Searchasaurus database includes: Middle Search Plus (a collection of 143 full-text magazines, ideal for middle school students); the full text of the Encyclopedia of Animals; Primary Search (a collection of 68 full-text magazines, with a reading level appropriate for students in grades K-5); and a general encyclopedia, dictionary, and imgages collection. Searchasaurus features a detailed encyclopedia entry for each era and period.

REFERENCE BOOKS AVAILABLE IN THE IMC

Exploring Your World: The Adventure of Geography. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 1989. (REF 910.3 Exp)
This terrific resource is organized alphabetically by subject. Students who look for the "Geologic Time Scale" entry will find an informative encyclopedia article, as well as a helpful table, which provides detailed information about "Development of the Earth" and "Development of Life".

Fossils. (vol. 3, from the series Earth Science: Discovering the Secrets of the Earth) Danbury, CT: Grolier Educational, 2001. (REF 550 Ear)
This volume offers an excellent explanation of the process of fossilization, a discusson of common fossils, and a description of the fossils that existed during each era and period.

Geological Time. (vol. 7, from the series Earth Science: Discovering the Secrets of the Earth) Danbury, CT: Grolier Educational, 2001. (REF 550 Ear)
This volume offers a detailed description of each era and period, including an overview, discussion of life forms, rocks and mineral present, and color maps and illustrations.

Oldershaw, Cally. Atlas of Geology and Landforms. New York: Franklin Watts, 2001. (REF 550 Old)
This atlas contains a great deal of useful information, in particular the "Fossils" (pp.46-47) and "Learning from Fossils" (pp.48-49) articles.