Measuring the Sun's Position

Using PVC pipe and aquarium tubing, build an altitude tracker. Pupils then use the altitude tracker, along with a tangent table, to calculate the altitude of a launched rocket using the included data collection sheet.

How did ancient peoples determine the height of really tall objects? Young scientists and mathematicians explore the concept of using shadows to measure height in a hands-on experiment. Paired pupils measure shadows, then calculate the...

Why is the sun round? Examine this question, and others, with your pupils while teaching them how to live in a more earth-friendly environment. Pupils explore Sun composition and discuss how solar wind, sunspots, and solar energy affects...

Scientists could measure the diameter of the sun before they knew its distance. Scholars construct a simple mirror box to measure the diameter for themselves. They compare this measurement with the official size, listed in a...

Get an up-close-and personal look at the sun from the safety of your classroom with this fun science application. Offering numerous activities, images, and videos, the resource supports children of all ages as they learn about the sun.

In this first part of a two-part lesson, learners track and record the sun's azimuth using a solar panel. They graph and analyze the data to identify relationships among the time of day, the altitude and azimuth of the sun, and the...

Why is there more daylight in June than in December if you live above the equator? How does the angle of sunlight shift throughout the year? Answer these questions and more with an interactive article about the sun, its path through the...

Determining the position of a star or other object in three-dimensional space is an important concept in astronomy. Finding stellar longitude (called right ascension) and latitude (declination) is easy enough, but it is much harder to...

In this azimuth and altitude worksheet, students answer fifteen questions about measurements of objects in the sky using a compass and an inclinometer.

In this azimuth and altitude worksheet, students answer questions about celestial bodies and how they are measured. They label drawings of clinometers, celestial spheres, and a compass.