Games, Lessons, and General Astronomy-Related Educational Resources
Understanding our universe can be daunting at times. We find many people don’t really even know where to start, so that’s why we’ve created this page in the hopes of giving more people a bit of a boost into astronomy. Here you should be able to find all the information you need to begin getting a better grasp on the Cosmos.
Lesson Plans
NASA Space Place
A resource for educators and parents with lesson plans and activities, books, science fair ideas, and a gallery of space images adaptable for grades 4-12.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory: Teach
A resource from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for educators with K-12 lesson plans and activities searchable by topic, lesson format, and grade level.
StarChild Teachers’ Center
A resource for educators with simple lesson plans geared towards younger astronomers.
Rutgers University Physics and Astronomy Lesson Plans
A compilation of lesson plans from other sources broken up into elementary, middle, high school and advanced lesson plans and sorted by topic.
Space Science Institute: Kinesthetic Astronomy
A kinesthetic (movement-based) approach to the solar system, time, and seasons. Designed for middle-schoolers and above.
Wyoming Stargazing: Kinesthetic Astronomy
We used the same format of the original Kinesthetic Astronomy lesson above and adapted it for people to learn about the Moon Phases.
Games and Videos
NASA PlanetQuest Interactives
Embark on an Alien Safari or plan an Interstellar Trip along with other fun activities.
Heroes in Space & Flight – Solitaired
Astronomy-themed solitaire game for kids!
NASA Space Place Games
Library of interactive and flashy science games, with an emphasis on space and astronomy topics.
Planet Tac-Toe
Tic tac toe with planet trivia.
Star Gazers
“Star Gazers” is the world’s only weekly television series on naked eye astronomy. Each weekly episode features selected objects for naked eye viewing for the following week. There are 229 individual episodes and 225 clips.
Crash Course Astronomy
Collection of 29 ten minute videos on a variety of astronomy topics. In order, the videos cover astronomy, observations, moon phases, cycles in the sky, eclipses, telescopes, gravity, tides, solar system, the Sun, the Earth, the moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Jupiter’s moons, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, asteroids, comets, Oort Cloud, meteors, light, distances, stars, exoplanets, Brown Dwarfs, and low mass stars.
PBS Space-Time
In this incredible series of videos, Dr. Matt O’Dowd goes deep into the field of astrophysics and astronomy.

News
European Space Agency
News and current events from the European Space Agency
Universe Today
Space and astronomy news
Bad Astronomy
A popular science blog with news and current events
JPL News
Space mission news from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Astronomy.com
Space related news, including articles reprinted from Astronomy Magazine
NASA.gov
The latest news from America’s space agency
Science@NASA
A news feed that you can have sent directly to your email address from NASA
EarthSky.org
News and science related to the earth, space, and the intersections of astronomy with culture and history
Universe Today
A popular website that provides up-to-date astronomy news
Other Resources
Telescope Guide
Your One-Stop Resource for Getting Started with Telescopes & Astronomy
StarChild Resources
A compilation of resources for parents, educators, and kids with concise descriptions of each resource.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
A website for news, updates on missions, animations and visualizations, and educational materials from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Sciforums
A member-curated online forum for questions and news with an astronomy page.
Ask an Astronomer
A comprehensive source for introductory and advanced information on astronomy with an “Ask An Astronomer” feature that can be used by individuals or classroom groups.
The Scale of the Universe
A visualization of scale from quantum foam to the observable universe. Available in twenty languages.
Astronomy Photo Of the Day (APOD)
Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.