The original TERC-developed HOU materials include seven student
workbooks, plus a Teachers' Guide, used in tandem with the
HOU Image Processing Software CD. HOU curriculum materials
have been in use in hundreds of high school classrooms in the
U.S.A. since 1994. They have proven effective with a wide range
of students. The open-ended explorations make learning fun
for the less interested student, as well as appealing to the
high achiever.
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Introduction to Image Processing |
Explains how to use the HOU Image
Processing Software toolbars. Students learn how a CCD detector digitizes
celestial images and adjust their own images to bring out unseen features. |
cover |
|
Finding Features |
Enjoy a Browser's Guide to the
Universe. Play with images of lunar features and a solar eclipse. Travel
through an atlas of galaxies displaying amazingly different structures. |
cover |
|
Measuring
Size * |
Use the pixel plate scale to measure a lunar cratar. Track Jupiter's
moons from night to night; calculate the moons' mass from the mass of Jupiter
and the moons' orbital radii. |
cover |
Measuring Color * |
Learn about the colors of stars, the HR diagram, and how stars evolve
according to their mass. See how astronomers use color filters to reveal
features of stars, and use the image processing software to see those features.
See how colors of stars reveal their life history. |
cover |
Measuring Distance * |
Learn how the cosmological distance ladder is used to determine the
distance to far away objects. Practice using spherical geometry. Determine
the luminosity of distant objects using their apparent brightness. See
how Cepheid Variable stars are used to measure their distance. |
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Measuring Brightness * |
Learn about photometry -- measurement of light from a celestial object.
Calculate stellar magnitudes using logarithms. Follow in the footsteps
of Pennsyvania high school students who used the HOU software to discover
a supernova. |
cover |
|
Searching for Supernovae |
See how astronomers find supernovae -- exploding stars. Learn to manipulate
pairs of digital sky images to reveal changes from night to night. This
unit helps equip students to join genuine research projects, whether through
HOU or in future college work. |
cover |
Teachers' Reference Guide |
This manual provides a description of how teachers can use the tools
of modern astronomy in the classroom. Teacher notes are provided for each
of the seven modules in the HOU curriculum, with guidelines for student
outcomes. Answer sheets for module exercises are also included. |
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