Telescopes For Kids
July 29th, 2009 / Author: admintelescopes for kids
Astronomy for 4-10 Yrs Kids
There is nothing like sitting outside in the dark with your kids and staring up at the night sky. Time stands still as you both ponder the enormity of the universe and your place within it. Poetry springs to mind as you try to explain to your child how people 100 years ago didn't have television and 500 years ago could really imagine a "man in the moon." Talking about the constellations brings more talk about ancient people seeing stories in stars and constructing their world-view out of the few reproducible phenomena in their lives. Even a three-year-old can fall under the spell of the heavens. Every child should be able to look into the sky, understand that our earth revolves at a speed of some 800 miles and hour, and see the stars for what they are: dying suns millions of light years away. Better yet though, is for a child (or adult) to be able to recognize the constellations and the planets. That’s a basic skill like knowing how to juggle, play the harmonica or how to score a baseball game. None are necessary for survival in the world, but are part of a basic set of skills that make life fuller, more nuanced, and more interesting.
However, if you're like me, this is not information you ever learned in school. Amateur astronomy, the inspirational kind for non-astrophysicists, is not taught in school. It's like the non-existent course on "how to invest in the stock market" that would have saved you a bundle if only they had had a course like that in college. Luckily, like a lot of things on the big list of “Things I wish I had learned in school," there are ways to fill in the gap of your knowledge and that of your children.
First, obviously, is a trip to local museum and planetarium. Not surprisingly, I have not done that with my kids. Instead, I jumped for accessible tools we could look at home and take with us on trips anywhere I think there will be a big black sky we can peer into together. By all means, go to the local planetarium. Better yet, if there is an observatory, check that out on a clear, warm summer night.
However, if you have little kids who would not sit through a planetarium show or stay up late enough to take the Observatory route, here are a few other ideas:
1. Buy or use a good set of binoculars to look at the moon. A telescope at the early stage is overkill and kids have trouble delaying gratification while you set it up. A good pair of binoculars , perhaps small enough to travel with you easily, can bring the moon in close enough to stimulate great conversation on stars, planets, moons, and space travel. I have a pair of small Nikon Travelite binoculars with 9x25 resolutions. Prices are below $100 for what used to be a luxury item. They are small enough to carry easily in a jacket pocket and I take them with us on all family trips, for moon-watching, but also because the kids love to look at everything: birds, animals, neighbors, with them. And, as I always say, “it’s for the kids,” is always a good gambit to satisfy your middle-age desire for that pinball machine, slot-car set, or model train you’ve wanted since you were nine years old.
2. Try an in-house planetarium. Don’t laugh. Especially if you are miles away from a science museum, or have young kids like I do, this might be a good option to familiarize the kids with concept of the solar system. At $29.95, don’t expect the Star Theater 2 to serve up popcorn for the show, but the price is right for the semi-sophisticated tool that it is. The Star Theatre is a clear globe with the stars and constellations printed on it. Inside is a halogen bulb, and when you turn it on, you get a projection on the walls and ceiling of the night sky. So, okay, with the lights illuminating everything that “isn’t” a star, the idea is a little upside-down, but the kids get the idea. A CD comes with the set, and in dulcet tones, the narrators explain the heavens. I found the CD narration to be both basic and interesting at the same time – clear enough for my six-year-old, but clearly a snore for my two-year-old. The globe itself, can be taken outside, and with its glow-in-the-dark printing, can be used as a star map (read on for other tools for this). Additionally, the Theatre comes with a “meteor-maker” the kids can play with to project asteroids on the ceiling while you fight for control so that you can show them the Big Dipper. I can’t imagine using this device thousands of times, but my daughter is still enthralled with the idea of stars and planets on the walls and regularly begs for a star show.
3. A basic tool is a Constellation map for finding stars in the night sky. I recommend the Star Finder . There are plenty to choose from on Amazon. We have something similar to the Orion Planisphere . It’s very simple and easy to use. At $1.99 though, try the Glow-In-The-Dark Star Finder and let me know what you think. At this price, you can’t go wrong. As the Amazon review says: “When you're out under the summer sky attempting to discern Leo on the western horizon, less is more. Try to juggle an astronomy tome and a flashlight and you'll end up with more mosquito bites than star sightings. A star dial is what's needed, a lightweight paper contraption that can be manipulated to show the sky as you see it, whatever the month and time of night. Accurate for the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, there is also a chart showing where to expect Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, month by month, through the year 2000. The stars are rated by magnitude; there's a zodiac dial identifying each zodiac constellation, showing how it appears in the sky; and most helpful of all, the stars are coated with a luminous treatment that causes them to glow in the dark, so you can see what you're looking for without ruining your night vision with bright lights. It's a superbly simple yet elegantly constructed stargazer aid.”
These star maps are simple cardboard items, about the size of a magazine and as thick as a few pieces of cardboard. The non-glow-in-the-dark ones require that you put a piece of red plastic over your flashlight for reading them in the dark, or your eyes will never be able to go back and forth from the map and the sky.
If your budget allows, take a look at the Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium . I have not seen this gadget perform, but it sounds magical.
Another take on the same theme is the stellar scope , which allows you to look up through a telescope-style device to see the stars as they would appear in the sky. At close to $40, it’s more expensive and bulky, and probably over-kills for most.
4. Attach glow in the dark stars to your ceiling . This is a very low-cost idea that adds a magical element to both your child's bedroom and to bedtime. The stars are barely visible on a white ceiling but are very bright after lights out. It's easy to put up the simplest constellations (think Big and Little Dipper) and the stars are easy to remove from painted surfaces.
5. And lastly, take a look at telescopes at some point. Not having any real experience (yet!) on this, I can only suggest taking a look at the selections below. Both National Geographic and the Discovery Store have good selections and provide good instruction materials for most science projects. Shop for Telescopes & Science Tools at National Geographic!
Find free online guide to the best Kid Activity web sites. Keep your kids entertained.
About the Author
Paul B
 |
US $39.99
|
|
Guitars and Telescopes $15.59 Guitars and Telescopes |
|
|
Two Telescopes $19.99 Two Telescopes - Premium Poster |
|
|
Double Stars For Small Telescopes $26.35 Double Stars For Small Telescopes |
|
|
FUXA/TELESCOPES: SPLIT $5.08 FUXA/TELESCOPES: SPLIT |
|
|
How Telescopes, Binoculars, and Microscopes Work $25.71 How Telescopes, Binoculars, and Microscopes Work |
|
|
Unusual Telescopes $54.28 In this book, Peter Manly surveys more than 150 unusual telescope designs. These are telescopes built by amateur and professional astronomers to suit some special need. There is, for instance, an inflatable telescope and one with a liquid mirror. Every so often a neglected design comes back into fashion: the largest telescopes now under construction use the alt-azimuth design that was ignored for over a century, and liquid mirror telescopes can be used for zenithal astronomy. The author shows why a particular engineering approach makes each telescope unique and explains the rationale behind the design. The effects on telescope performance are discussed where possible. This is not just a collection of weird and wonderful devices that proved to be false starts; the author also discusses the first instrument to measure star diameters and the first useful radio telescope. This book is a resource and stimulus for anyone who likes to build astronomical telescopes or is interested in the history of telescope-making. |
|
|
Workshop of the Telescopes $17.24 Blue Oyster Cult was long in need of a thorough career retrospective, and this is it. Thirty-two tracks filling up two discs with a total running time of 154:46, Workshop of the Telescopes traces BOC through 14 years as the kings of lite metal, 1972-1986. |
|
|
Telescopes: Exploring the Beyond $5.48 The telescope brought the universe within our field of vision. Different types of telescopes, including refracting and reflecting telescopes and radio, infrared, and ultraviolet telescopes, or x-ray telescopes, are explained. Orbiting observatories and unmanned space vehicles and their amazing discoveries are also discussed. |
|
|
Silhouette of Radio Telescopes, New Mexico $24.99 Jeff Friedman Silhouette of Radio Telescopes, New Mexico - Photographic Print |
|
|
Telescopes at Kitt Peak National Observatory $39.99 Greg Dale Telescopes at Kitt Peak National Observatory - Photographic Print |
|
|
The Smell of Telescopes $45.81 Welsh writer Rhys Hughes regards this as his favourite book, and with good reason. It is one of the funniest and most intelligent books from the lighter side of macabre writing I have ever seen. It clamours with a cast of pirates, floppy-wristed welsh bards, explorers and inventors, imps, squonks, moving public houses, M R Jamesian revenants, M R Jamesian punctuation, blueberry pies, trousers, noses, clocks, carrots . . . I cant list them all here, there isn't room. Like all the best books, this quirky and surreal collection is hard to classify, but it lies in that region where the macabre and eerie worlds of classic horror and fantasy become a basis for something else - for a dark and original sense of humour filled with unexpected cross-references, homages, satires and black comedy. What makes this collection remarkable is not just the delightfully murky and skewed tales themselves, but the complex and ingenious way they all lock together and interrelate. I was going to say 'tessellate' but if this is a tessellation then it is filled with impossible-sided polygons, non-Euclidean three-dimensional geometry, unexpurgated curves and cracks from which blueberry-scented steam emerges with a screaming hiss. But what is without doubt is that 'The Smell of Telescopes' is a magnificent book and a cornerstone of the rather oddly shaped corner of literature that it occupies. Since the first edition went out of print, the unavailability of this book has been a great crime of literature. And Eibonvale Press is, as always, dedicated to the righting of the world's more substantial wrongs. |
|
|
Celestial Objects for Modern Telescopes $43 In addition to the more standard techniques, this unique guide introduces the latest modern resources available to today's astronomer, including personal computers, the Internet, and computerized telescopes. It offers detailed practical advice for observing the Sun, Moon, planets, and 200 stars and deep-sky objects with modest-sized telescopes under suburban conditions. |
|
|
Thermal Design and Thermal Behaviour of Radio Telescopes and their Enclosures $159 Thermal Design and Thermal Behaviour of Radio Telescopes and their Enclosures |
|
|
Barska Star Watcher 60x700mm Refractor Telescopes AE11124 $99.94 Barska Star Watcher 231x60mm Refractor Telescopes AE11124 |
|
|
More Telescope Power $9.84 This is a book of astronomy activities for kids ages 10-14, offering both kids who have telescopes and science teachers simple projects that can be done with telescopes. |
|
|
Kids $4.49 Kids |
|
|
For the Kids $7.15 For the Kids |
|
|
Integrated Modeling of Telescopes $189.05 Ground- or space-based telescopes are becoming increasingly more complex and construction budgets are typically in the billion dollar range. Facing costs of this magnitude, availability of engineering tools for prediction of performance and design optimiz |
|
|
Telescopes and Observatories $29.74 Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. |
|
|
Infrared Telescopes $10.79 No Synopsis Available |
|
|
Focusing Telescopes in Nuclear Astrophysics $189 Focusing gamma-ray telescopes, this work provides an overview of the scientific potential and technical challenges of this nascent tool for nuclear astrophysics. It also presents an overview of detectors matching the ambitious objectives of gamma ray optics, and facilities for operating such systems on the ground and in space. |
