Starry Night Store

The Research-Proven Solution to Effectively Teach Astronomy

Award-winning Starry Night High School for grades 9-12 is the only space science curriculum that combines an interactive sky simulator, lesson plans correlated to state and national standards and extensive teacher resources in one easy-to-use package.

Adopted by New Mexico, Starry Night High School has proven to be a highly effective instructional tool that guides teachers and engages students in their explorations and understanding of the Universe.

Starry Night provides:

• Lessons plans correlated to state and national standards that meet curriculum needs
• Accurate visualizations and simulations that allow students to make precise observations of Moon phases, motions of the Sun and planets and much more
• Interactive computer exercises and hands-on activities that encourage questioning, experimentation and exploration and accommodate diverse learning styles
• Pre- and post-assessment resources with recommendations for improved student performance
• Flexible teaching models for easy adaptation to pacing and classroom needs
• Opportunities to develop key skills: observation, data collection, analytical thinking and discovery
• Extensions that connect to topics in math, physics, language arts, social studies and technology

Winner of ComputED�s Best Educational Software Award, Starry Night has been hailed by reviewers and educators for providing such unique and compelling experiences that it is destined to change lives.

Three-ring binder Includes:

• Award-winning Starry Night astronomy simulation software, customized for student use
• 30 Lesson plans complete with extensive teacher resources, hands-on activities, computer exercises, worksheets and assessments
• SkyTheater DVD with more than an hour of video of dramatic and realistic visualizations of astronomical phenomena
• QuickStart Guide for teachers new to astronomy or using Starry Night for the first time

Astronomy is a big subject -- Starry Night High School makes it easy to teach with a comprehensive space science curriculum solution written for teachers by teachers.

Aligned to 9th through 12th grade national and state science standards, Starry Night High School offers innovative lesson plans with hands-on activities, software guided explorations, DVD movie content and assessment tests.

Travel from anywhere on Earth to any planet or star to help your students visualize the size and distances between objects to gain a deeper understanding of the scale of the universe.

Starry Night computer exercises, hands on activities and thought-provoking discussion questions encourage students to explore advanced topics, such as the life cycles of stars.

The ability to interactively manipulate time and space encourages questioning, experimentation and exploration. Guided inquiry-based learning lets students make their own observations and draw their own conclusions.

Research confirms that Starry Night is a highly effective science instructional tool. Recent studies have concluded that accurate visualizations of celestial phenomena are key to gaining a correct understanding of astronomical concepts.

You'll be amazed by how quickly your students will grasp the fundamentals of astronomy.

Complete with formative and summative assessment tests, detailed lesson plans, hands-on activities, student worksheets and computer exercises, Starry Night High School is sure to spark your students' fascination with the Universe.

Starry Night High School is modular and an easy-to-use solution complete with:

• 30 detailed lesson plans
• Interactive computer exercises
• Hands-on classroom activities
• Conceptual background for teachers
• Discussion questions
• Assessment tests and answer keys
• Resource lists
• Appendices
• Glossary of astronomical terms

New features highlight the latest theories and address classroom needs:

• 4 lesson plans, focused on the reclassification of Pluto, unmanned space exploration, astrology and black holes
• Math and observing extensions for most lessons
• Revised and expanded assessment resources
• Pre-assessment Idea Diagrams and Concept Maps identify pre-conceptions
• Thinking Grids and Contrast and Compare charts develop logical and critical thinking skills
• Drawing Completion activities and KWL charts assess student understanding
• Easy-to-use Scoring Rubric evaluate learning of science content and process
• Expanded library of astronomy simulations
• Lesson Plans at a Glance helps you choose the lesson plans that best fit your curriculum requirement
• QuickStart Guide for teachers new to astronomy or using Starry Night for the first time

Award-winning Starry Night software allows you to control most popular brands of computerized telescopes and to re-create these stunning simulations:

• Travel through time from 99,999 BC to 99,999 AD
• View over 16 million stars and 1 million galaxies objects with online link to 500 million stars
• Explore PGC catalog with 1,000,000 galaxies
• Plan and annotate observing sessions in the Events Finder and revised Planner
• Access dynamic Hertzsprung-Russell diagram to view the lifecycle of stars
• Print full sky (180-degree) star charts of any area in the sky
• And much more!

"The universe is a big place. As a professional astrophysicist and dedicated educator, I know the challenge of finding fertile means to explain abstract cosmic topics. Starry Night makes teaching space science easy, and, dare I say, fun. Written by teachers for teachers, this brilliantly integrated curriculum tracks national science standards, and comes complete with assessment tools, detailed lesson plans, hands-on activities, student worksheets and, of course, the award-winning Starry Night software. For all your students, but especially for those who think astronomy is above their heads, you'll be amazed by how swiftly the universe comes down to Earth."

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Astrophysicist and Director, Hayden Planetarium
American Museum of Natural History
Photo © Dan Deitch

Adopted in New Mexico
Now available from Southwest Textbook Depository

SMART Board™ interactive whiteboard Ready

To run Starry Night High School you need:

A DVD-ROM drive is required for the installation of Starry Night Pro version 6 on your computer.

Windows: Requires Windows XP, 500 MHz or higher processor, 128 MB RAM and 2 GB of hard disk space. 64 MB OpenGL 1.4 capable graphics card (OpenGL 2.0 is required for features like shaded sky and animated grass). Minimum recommended monitor resolution of 1024x768. DVD-ROM drive required for installation.

Recommended Graphics Card: 128 MB nVidia GeForce 6600 (or higher) or ATI Radeon X800 or higher.

Macintosh: Universal Binary runs natively on Intel and PPC Macintosh computers. Requires OS X 10.3.9 or higher, G3 450 MHz or higher processor, 128 MB RAM and 2 GB of hard disk space. Will not run on OS 9.x or earlier. 64 MB OpenGL 1.4 capable graphics card (OpenGL 2.0 is required for features like shaded sky and animated grass). Minimum recommended monitor resolution of 1024x768. DVD-ROM drive required for installation.

Basic support for joysticks recognized by Windows XP and Mac OS X.

Requirements for Video DVD: Home DVD player and TV, or computer with DVD player.