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Educational Activities

Robotic telescopes

Fun

Telescopes come in all shapes and sizes, this activity will describe the three different types of telescope in the LCO network and why we need them.

One of the 0.4m telescopes in the LCO educational network

Fun

In this activity students will learn what a robotic telescope is and specifically how observations are made on the Las Cumbres Observatory telescope network.

Globe night and day

Hands-on

In this activity students will learn about the Las Cumbres Observatory and where the telescopes are located, leading them to consider the impact of the environment on our view of the stars.

Stellar parallax diagram, showing the Earth's orbit around the Sun, a 'nearby' star, distant 'fixed' stars, and the parallax angle.

Hands-on

During this activity you will learn how the distances to nearby stars can be measured using the parallax effect, and put this method into practise to determine the distance to nearby stars.

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Hands-on

Have you ever wondered what happens to stars as they get older? Explore the evolution of stars with different masses.

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Fun

Have you ever wondered what happens to the different stars in the night sky as they get older? This activity lets you explore the life-cycle of stars.

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Fun

Learn more about space and astronomy in our astronomy themed scavenger hunt activity.

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Hands-on

Design, test and build a model lander and explore the effects of gravity, air resistance and friction.

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Observing campaign

If you're new to observing using LCO, this is a good place to start.

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Investigation

Use measurements from an exploding star to investigate cosmic distances

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Investigation

Investigate how fast an asteroid is rotating.

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Fun

Play a game of bingo and learn about the many wonders of the cosmos!

Earth Moon student demonstration

Hands-on

This activity demonstrates the scale of the Universe, starting with our closest cosmic neighbour the Moon and travelling through the Solar System to the nearest star.

Messier Bingo Serol

Fun

In this activity students will learn about a range of cosmic objects, play a game of Messier Bingo and use the Las Cumbres Observatory to observe the night sky.

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Hands-on

In this activity, you’ll map your astronomical objects, taken using Serol's Cosmic Explorers, onto the night sky using RA and dec coordinates.

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Investigation

During this activity students will use real supernova spectra to create a famous Hubble Diagram and calculate the age of the Universe.

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Hands-on

In this activity you will measure how fast the Sun moves to caclulate how big the Sun appears in the sky. All you need are some household items and about 20 minutes on a sunny day.

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Investigation

In this project you will calculate the age of a supernova remnant using Las Cumbres Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope observations.

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How-to

There are many thousands of astronomical data files in the LCO archive. This guide will walk you through the steps to finding the images you want.

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How-to

This guide will show you how to create beautiful colour images using free online software.

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How-to

This article will tell you how to use Adobe Photoshop to make high quality color images with your astronomical data.

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How-to

This guide will show you how to create beautiful colour images using free software that can be downloaded from the Internet.

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Hands-on

How long would it take to travel to the Moon? Could you travel to the edge of the Solar System and beyond?

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Fun

In this activity, you'll use a space image you've taken with Serol and create a poster to showcase what you've learned.

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Fun

In this activity you will create stunning colour images of galaxies and add them to the Tuning Fork template to recreate the famous Hubble image.

DIY impact crater

Hands-on

Make craters and learn more about how the speed and type of impactor affects their shape and size.

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Fun

Investigate how old objects in our Solar System are from the craters on their surface.

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Observing campaign

Make measurements of the effect the Earth's atmosphere has on images of objects in space.

Astronaut Training: Taste activity during Camp Cosmos

Hands-on

Carry out taste tests to explore how our senses affect the flavour of our food, and what this might reveal about eating in space.

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Hands-on

Working in teams, students must complete tasks as quickly as possible, while their dexterity is impaired, as if they are wearing bulky spacesuits.