Guided Primary Source Analysis: Geology of the Solar System

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Geology of the Solar System

Zoom into this 1997 Geology of the Solar System map to read the text. List the challenges geologists face in mapping the solar system. Choose one planet (Venus, Mercury, Earth, Mars) and summarize what you learned about it from the map. Compare your findings with a peer who chose a different planet. Compare and contrast what you…

Guided Primary Source Analysis: The Solar System Displayed

Guided Primary Source Analysis: The Solar System Displayed

This map was published in 1789. Zoom into the map online or using this map document (.pdf) and review “A Table of the Diameters, Periods & of the several Planets in the Solar System”. Compare the information in that table to the data scientists have today. Make a new table with the same column headers and fill it in…

Guided Primary Source Analysis: How the Sun Spots Control Our Weather

Guided Primary Source Analysis: How the Sun Spots Control Our Weather

Zoom into a more detailed image of this newspaper page from 1912. Look at the images carefully and only read the headline and image captions. Outline the assertions—facts or beliefs—that are suggested. Now read the first paragraph of the article. Describe your reaction to this text. Then relate how the descriptions of weather events compare to what…

Finding Resources: Everyday Mysteries

Finding Resources: Everyday Mysteries

If you’re looking for some fun science facts to intrigue and delight your elementary students, head over to the Everyday Mysteries section of LOC.gov. This part of the Library of Congress website gives answers to many of life’s most interesting scientific questions, all of which were asked by researchers and answered by librarians from the Library’s Science Reference Services….

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Hello, Earth! Hello!

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Hello, Earth! Hello!

Click the newspaper above to zoom in and read the article. Make a chart that lists the name of each scientist or inventor mentioned in the article, whether the expert was quoted directly or indirectly, and the expert’s view of the possibility of communication with other planets. Find out more information about the publisher of this newspaper, then…

Primary Source Spotlight: Astronomy

Primary Source Spotlight: Astronomy

Finding Our Place in the Cosmos: From Galileo to Sagan and Beyond Library collection Understanding the Cosmos primary source iBook Astronomy maps Astronomy images Astronomy books and articles Historical newspaper coverage: astronomy Astronomy and other “Onomies” sheet music The old country fiddler on astronomy audio recording Astronomy webcasts Everyday Mysteries: Astronomy U.S. legislation related to astronomy Astronomy: Selected…

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Great Moon Hoax

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Great Moon Hoax

Read the summary of the Lunar Narrative from the Museum of Hoaxes. What details from the articles do you see evidence of in this illustration? Why do you think the illustrator created an inset, or a picture within a picture? Access this .pdf to see the image in more detail. Compare and contrast the information about…

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Solving the Riddle of Mars?

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Solving the Riddle of Mars?

Click the newspaper image above to zoom into the page. What is the riddle of Mars? Does the article answer the headline question? What evidence does the article give that there is life on Mars? What evidence does the article provide that Professor Lowell believes these Martian extraterrestrials are superior to mankind as the subhead claims?…

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Automatic Asteroid Finder

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Automatic Asteroid Finder

Use details from the illustration to describe what is happening in this image. Do you think there was an automatic asteroid finder in 1873? Do scientists use automatic asteroid finders today? How do you know or how would you find out? Read the article by Ruth S. Freitag linked to below. What did you learn? In what…

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Maya Dresden Codex

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Maya Dresden Codex

Compare and contrast this image with the other codex images included in the Heavens and Time section of the Exploring the Early Americas online exhibition. What similarities and differences do you notice? Investigate a codex-style vase. What did you learn? Describe a new insight you gained about the image above or another codex image. The Dresden Codex is…