Instructions for Downloading: Active Astronomy files are in PDF format and require Acrobat Reader Plug-in (free). Activity sheets, student tests and answer sheets are also available in Microsoft Word™ to allow you to modify these materials to best suit your students.

Link to information about the University of Chicago Yerkes Observatory's implementation and modification of the Active Astronomy kits targeted especially for students with visual or auditory impairments:

astro.uchicago.edu/yerkes/outreach/activities/Explorations/sofia/SOFIA-kit_files/frame.htm

Overview and Assessment 572K

This section contains an overview of the activities, including materials and preparation, relevant portions of the National Science Education Standards and AAAS's Benchmarks for Science Literacy, common student misconceptions, the student test, and the role of infrared light in astronomy. The PDF file contains parts 1.1 through 1.5.

Modifiable Word Documents:

Learning About Infrared Light Student Test 32K

Learning About Infrared Light Teacher Answer Key 32K

What's Getting Through? 300K

Students are introduced to light and colored gels (filters). Students make and test predictions about light and color using gels, by looking at messages written with differently colored crayons on differently colored paper with differently colored gels. Students then learn about the importance of gels (filters) to astronomers by looking at an astronomical image through red and blue gels and comparing the parts of the image that are enhanced by the gels. Then, they analyze images taken with regular and infrared cameras to see that objects opaque to light at one wavelength may be transparent to light of a different wavelength.The PDF file contains parts 2.1 through 2.3.

Modifiable Word Documents:

Student Activity Sheet 92K

2.3

Teacher Answer Key 156K

Sensing the Invisible 632K

Just as our ears cannot hear all wavelengths of sound, our eyes cannot see all wavelengths of light. Students build a photocell detector, and use it to detect different colors of light in a spectrum. Then they place the detector just outside the red region of the spectrum and see that the detector detects the presence of light there, even though there is no color visible. Students learn that "invisible light" exists and that we can detect this light with instruments other than our eyes. In a final part of the activity, students investigate the IR signals emitted by TV and VCR remote controls. The PDF file contains parts 3.1 through 3.3.

Modifiable Word Documents:

Student Activity Sheet 632K

Teacher Answer Key 632K

Reflection 248K

Students learn that infrared light is reflected in the same manner as visible light. Students align a series of mirrors so that they can turn on a TV with a remote control when the remote is not in a direct line with the TV. As a result of their experiment with reflection, students deduce that infrared light is another form of light and is a part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The PDF file contains parts 4.1 through 4.3.

Modifiable Word Documents:

Student Activity Sheet 36K

Teacher Answer Key 36K

Listening to Light 608K

Students learn that light carries information and that infrared (IR) radiation is a form of light that in some cases behaves like visible light and other cases behaves very differently. Students first see how a photocell (solar cell) can be used to detect the presence of light. They then learn how the photocell reacts to light from a laser pointer (or other laser) and a remote control, and see that information, for example a message, can be transmitted by visible and infrared light. They listen as an infrared-emitting diode is used to transmit music from an audio source (like a CD player) to the photocell with a speaker connected to it. Finally, students test the effects on the transmission of music when various objects are placed in between the infrared emitting diode and the photocell. They learn that some objects that block visible light allow infrared light to pass through. The PDF file contains parts 5.1 through 5.3.

5.2

Modifiable Word Documents:

Student Activity Sheet 40K

5.3

Teacher Answer Key 44K

(Aug 25, 2003)

5.4

Supplementary Information - for teachers and students interested in delving more deeply into electronics, here is supplementary information about electrical components in the Infrared transmitter circuit:

1. Reference material about capacitors, the crucial component in this circuit 303K
2. The IR transmitter circuit re-drawn with text explanation by Yerkes Observatory (U. Chicago) electrical engineer Jesse Wirth 41K