This class will cover the basics of Astronomy.
Topics include: 
Week 1: The History of Astronomy from Aristotle through Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler.-We will discuss scientific revolution and how we moved from a geocentric to a heliocentric model. Time will be spent on Isaac Newton and our understanding of gravity as well.
        - activities include "Name that Scientist Game", calculating gravity on other planets and videos of Newton's Third Law
Week 2: The Earth-Sun-Moon System- In this week we will cover phases of the Moon, eclipses, revolution and rotation, seasons and tides, constellations, the ecliptic  and the zodiac.
      - activities include drawing the two types of eclipses, creating a constellation, and moon observation practice
Week 3: Light and telescopes and how we gather information.-This will also include a discussion about the electromagnetic spectrum,frequency and wavelength and the speed of light as well as the concept of "Lookback Time".
      -activities include calculating the speed of light, "Identifying EM Waves Puzzle"
Week 4: The Solar System- This week we will discuss the formation of the planets and the Moon and why the solar system moves the way it does.
     - activities include drawing a scale model of the solar system
Week 5: The Inner Planets- This week will include a look at Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.
     - activities include videos, making Venn diagrams, and "Name that Planet Game"
Week 6: The Outer Planets-We will discuss Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune as well as the Galilean Moons  and a discussion about why Pluto is not a planet.
    - activities include videos, making Venn diagrams, and "Name that Planet Game" and writing an obituary for Pluto
Week 7: Other objects in the Solar System- We will discuss comets, asteroids, meteorites, dwarf planets, Kuiper Belt objects and the Oort Cloud
    -activities include modifying our model from Week 4
Week 8: The Sun-We will discuss the Sun and its features such as sunspots, coronal mass ejections and prominences. Also, we will discuss the layers of the Sun and how nuclear fusion works and answer the question, "Why is the Sun's atmosphere is hotter than its surface?"
  -activities include videos, creating a "Visit The Sun Advertisement", drawing and labeling the features of the Sun

Week 9: Star Formation- We will discuss the different types of stars.
-activities will include making an HR diagram

Week 10:  Star Death- We will discuss the possible endings of a star including Black Holes.
-activities include 

Week 11: Galaxies- We will discuss the different types of Galaxies and Dark Matter
-activities will include a look at Galaxy Zoo

Week 12: Cosmology and the Expansion of the Universe
-activities will include measuring Hubble's Constant

Week 13: Astrobiology and the study of life beyond earth
- activities will include alien environment lab

Week 14: Life in Space
-activities include ISS videos



 At the end of each class there will be a review game to help students master the material.
No prior knowledge of Astronomy is necessary.