The AAVSO has updated their popular Hands-On-Astrophysics modules from the late 1990s and integrated the HOA cirriculum with the AAVSO's new online data repository Variable Star Plotter (VSP). Hands-On-Astrophysics (HOA) has been renamed "Variable Star Astronomy" (VSA): HOA Main page http://www.aavso.org/education/vsa/ HOA Other Materials Page http://www.aavso.org/education/vsa/materials.html This resource may be of interest to Utah educators. The teacher's guides and student manuals cover basic astronomy concepts for middle school through introductory college course and is tied to National Science Standardsand Benchmarks. Teacher's Overview Manual: http://www.aavso.org/education/vsa/teacher_using_manual.pdf (I note that the Benchmarks and Content Standards in each unit are only generally described at the front of each teacher's module guide and are not listed by a specific benchmark id number.) Most of the materials would be review for SLAS members, but those of you who are interested in learning the basic types of variable stars and variable star analysis techniques, will find Chapters 11, 12 and 13 a good place to get started on variable stars. Clear Skies - Kurt The following is reposted from the AAVSO listserv: Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:26:46 -0500 From: arne <arne@aavso.org> Subject: [Aavso-photometry] The New HOA == Variable Star Astronomy (VSA) To: AAVSO-DIS <aavso-discussion@mira.aavso.org>, Aavso-Photometry <aavso-photometry@mira.aavso.org> Message-ID: <49A43BE6.6050300@aavso.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Hands On Astrophysics was a major initiative of the AAVSO during the 1990's. It was funded by a grant from NSF, and resulted in a great package that taught astrophysical concepts through the study of variable stars. The package contained an excellent manual in a 3-ring binder; a VHS tape; 35mm slides, hardcopy photos and finding charts of stellar fields, and even a complete software package that could display light curves and do basic period searches. The package was geared towards the educator, though many copies were sold to individuals. This package was very expensive for the AAVSO to produce. We had depleted most of the stock about the time that I became Director. Donna Young and I sat down together, and she expressed interest in bringing this package into the modern world. This made perfect sense to me - she was one of the primary authors of the original HOA manual, and was willing to perform the work as a volunteer. She began the process by converting a few chapters to use on her Chandra site, and slowly worked through the remaining chapters with the help of several of her coworkers (especially Pamela Perry). I am proud to announce that the entire manual and most of the supporting material is again available through the AAVSO website, this time for free. As linked through the home page: http://www.aavso.org/education/vsa/ you can download individual chapters or supporting material. The software, VSTAR, has yet to be converted from its original DOS roots (we are looking for a grant to cover this cost), but we hope that it will happen sooner than later. Note also that Donna was unhappy with the original "Astrophysics" title, as she felt that it frightened away some potential readers, and so has renamed the curriculum "Variable Star Astronomy." It is the same manual and material, though updated with modern links. I hope you enjoy the final product as much as I have, and use it frequently in your classrooms and club activities. Arne