“El Universo a sus pies”

A 490-page collection of some of the very
best astronomy and space science activities,
selected by panels of veteran educators, has been
translated into Spanish and published by the
non-profit Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP).

The 55 ready-to-use classroom activities
in the collection are drawn from the Society’s
own programs and from projects and curricula
from around the U.S. and Canada. A number
derive from NASA missions and workshops. They
include such favorites as “The Reasons for
the Seasons”, “The Venus Topography Box”, “The
Toilet Paper Solar System Model”, “Inventing
an Alien”, “Galaxy Sorting”, and “Creating Your
Own Constellations.” The target age range is
for students 10 – 15 years old.

Part of Project ASTRO (a program to link
volunteer astronomers with local teachers in
13 regional sites around the country), the collection
is published in loose-leaf format for easy use in
the classroom, and has master handouts for
many of the activities. Also included are 13 articles
with basic astronomy background information, a
non-technical astronomy glossary, and 4 guides
to effective astronomy teaching and learning.

The cost of the book is $29.95. Until
October 2002, it can be purchased at a
special introductory rate of $24.95 (plus shipping
and handling) through the ASP catalog, by calling
1-800-335-2624 or going to the web site:
http://www.astrosociety.org/online-store/scstore/
(look for it under the “In the Classroom” section.)

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The production of “El Universo a sus pies” has
been made possible by a grant from the National
Science Foundation. The translations (which include
careful attention to cultural issues and to observing
from the Southern Hemisphere) were reviewed by
a panel of bilingual scientists and educators from the
U.S. and several Spanish-speaking countries. The
original activities in English were collected and
reviewed with the support of grants from NSF and
the NASA Offices of Space Science and Education.

The materials in “El Universo a sus pies” are
selected and translated from “The Universe at Your
Fingertips” and “More Universe at Your Fingertips,”
two widely-praised collections of activities and
resources published by the ASP.