Astronomy

Description

The Live Education book on astronomy is divided into two parts: the first part is presented in the sixth grade and familiarizes the students with naked eye observations of the principal constellations through the stories spelled out in the sky from Greek mythology. The second part is useful for the seventh grade in carrying on this study into learning more complex astronomical concepts such as the retrograde motion of the planets, the precession of the equinoxes, and Kepler’s three laws of planetary motion.

The Path of the Sun in Summer and Winter

It is a pity that in our modern city life, that so many people grow up knowing that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west and thus carry this naïve assumption through life. Such an assumption is only true if you live on the equator. In the northern hemisphere, the direction from where the sun rises and sets moves throughout the course of the year. In the summertime, the sun will actually rise northeast and set in the northwest; while in the winter, the sun moves southward and rises in the southeast and sets in the southwest.

Section I

  • Introduction to Astronomy
  • How to Use this Book
  • Lesson 1 Callisto
  • Lesson 2 and 3 Circumpolar Constellations
  • Lesson 4 Pegasus
  • Lesson 5 Orion
  • Lesson 6 Gemini
  • Lessons 7 and 8 Pisces
  • Lessons 9 and 10 Heracles
  • Lesson 11 Ophiuchus
  • Lesson 12 Virgo and Libra
  • Lessons 13 and 14 The Constellations of the Zodiac
  • Lessons 15 and 16 Poetic Wisdom in the Stars

Section II

  • Lesson 1 Latitude and the North Star
  • Lessons 2 and 3 Latitude and Longitude
  • Lesson 4 Our Earth
  • Lesson 5 Movements of Stars
  • Lesson 6 The Path of the Sun in Summer and Winter
  • Lesson 7 The Division of the Sky
  • Lesson 8 Precession of the Equinoxes
  • Lesson 9 Planetary Retrograde Motion
  • Lessons 10 and 11 Copernicus
  • Lessons 12 and 13 Tycho Brahe
  • Lessons 14 and 15 Kepler
  • Lesson 16 Kepler’s Third Law
  • Lessons 17-20 Further Study