BP5_Solar Storm Watch

I am really enjoying having to make time in order to search Web 2.0 tools that go along with my curriculum.  I showed this website to my students and they thought it was extremely interesting and fun.  What more can I ask for; if my kids can learn and enjoy it at the same time, what a bonus!  Solar Storm Watch is an amazing site which deals with three different areas of solar storm watching.  The first area deals with what goes on in space between the sun and the earth.  It allows the viewer to get information on these bodies and find out which star is the closet to earth.  

When a label is clicked on, information is given about that item.  This section explains why earth isn't bombarded with storms and asteroids like the moon is and everything from aurora to zodiacal light.  Feel free to check out Mars, Venus Mercury and comets.

The next area of this site is all about Stereo.  What, were we talking about music?  No, we are talking about Stereo Ahead and Stereo Behind, the two spacecraft gathering information on the Sun and space weather.

By clicking on the Earth & Moon tab, information about Cape Canaveral, the US Naval Research lab, and other space areas.  The tab entitled Stereo Ahead (or Behind) Up Close allows a view of all the technology involved in these two spacecrafts.  They are identical other than their placement in relation to Earth.  Be sure to spot the solar storms as you are zoomed in on either of the spacecrafts.

If students need information on scientists, this is a great place to get lots of it.  There are six scientists to choose from all dealing with the spacecraft.

Their bio is available along with videos, blog posts and there is even a forum.

Finally, there are screencasts available on storm spotting and tracking.  These are great to show students closer information on these storms.



Wow, what a wonderful site to bring space into the classroom and allow students to experience it much closer.  Lots of differentiation possible with this site especially with students at different levels and it also hits multiple intelligence really well.