High School Resources
Looking for materials to supplement your classroom curriculum? Browse our curated collection of resources for high school teachers and give your students the Moon and the stars. Activities are labeled with suggested grade level, curriculum standards, and estimated length to help you find exactly what you’re looking for.
Planet Hunters: TESS
Help NASA scientists discover new planets around stars outside of our Solar System! Look at real data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and learn how astronomers use the light from distant stars to find new planets.
Category: Activity, Citizen Science
Length: 7–10 min.
Grade Level: 9–12
Standards: HS-ESS1-3, HS-ESS1-2, HS-ESS1-4
Floating Forests
Help ecologists understand how forests of kelp grow and change over time. We need your help to find these forests in pictures from space. Join a worldwide community of over 2 million people participating in Adler’s Zooniverse people-powered research projects. We need your help!
Category: Activity, Citizen Science
Length: 7–10 min.
Grade Level: 9–12
Standards: HS-ESS2-2, HS-ESS2-7
Raíces Bajo las Estrellas / Rooted Under the Stars
We demonstrate the amazing contributions of Latinx astronomers, astrophysicists, astrophotographers, and scientists in these fields, show barriers resulting from racial biases that need to be overcome, and provide advice and inspiration to future Latinx generations.
Category: Online Exhibition
Length: 30 min.
Grade Level: 9–12
Standards: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.9
LIGO Discovers Gravitational Waves
The universe is speaking and now we are listening! Former Adler astronomer, Dr. Shane L. Larson, is a member of an international scientific team that, in 2015, was the first to definitively detect a gravitational wave: a ripple in the fabric of spacetime first predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916.
Category: Video
Length: 3 min.
Grade Level: 9–12
Standards: PS2.B, PS4.A, PS4.C, ETS1.C, HS-PS2-4
Sky Observers Hangout: Getting Close to Mars Part 2
In this episode of Sky Observers Hangout, we’ll explore Mars from afar while it is at its closest to Earth for the next 15 years.
Category: Video
Length: 1 hour 7 min.
Grade Level: 9–12
Standards: HS-ESS1.B, PS2.A
The Aquarius Project
When a meteor crashes in your backyard, you pick it up. When your backyard is a 22,000-square-mile Great Lake, you call your friends and improvise. Follow this teen-led pursuit of retrieving underwater meteorites—a first attempt of its kind.
Category: Website, Podcast
Length: Varies per media (5–60 min. per)
Grade Level: 9–12
Standards: MS-ETS1-1, MS-ETS1-2, MS-EST1-3, MS-ETS1-4, MS-ESS2-1, MS-ESS3-1, HS-ETS1-2, HS-ETS1-3, HS-ESS2-5, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY
Chicago Black Women in STEAM Blog Series
Chicago’s Black Women in STEAM series highlights pioneering women of Chicago who are doing amazing things in STEAM fields here in our own community. Hear the unique stories of these women of varying ages, backgrounds, and interests.
Category: Blog
Length: 15 min.
Grade Level: 9–12
Standards: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY
Adler Collections Database
A database of Adler’s extensive astronomical object collection.
Category: Database
Length: 5–60 min.
Grade Level: 9–12
Standards: N/A
Adler Astronomy Live: Space Ethics
Going to space is about more than the technical challenges of launching a rocket—it’s also about the way we explore, who can be an explorer, and what we choose to do in space! This discussion addresses ethical choices we face and how they guide the future of both human and robotic space exploration.
Category: Video
Length: 55 min.
Grade Level: 9–12
Standards: N/A
Skywatch Wednesday
Skywatch Wednesday is a newer series created in 2020 helping prepare people for what to look for in the night sky on a particular week. A new episode launches on Wednesdays at noon CT on the Adler YouTube channel.
Category: Video
Length: 7–10 min.
Grade Level: 9–12
Standards: HS-ESS1.A/HS-SS2-2, HS-ESS1.B
Solar Eclipses and Lunar Eclipses Explained
There are several topics in astronomy that get lots of people excited: naked-eye visible comets, bright planets, auroras…but eclipses are generally at the top of the observing list for many of us. We love seeing the Sun or Moon look different from how they normally appear.
Category: Blog
Length: 15 min.
Grade Level: 9–12
Standards: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY, 1-ESS1-1, ESS1.A, ESS1.B, MS-ESS1-1, HS-ESS1, HS-ESS1-4
Adler Astronomy Live! - Mapping a Billion Stars
During this previously live, recorded virtual event we’re talking about the Gaia Telescope and low mass stars. The Gaia telescope is a European Space Agency mission to map the Milky Way like never before. Its work has revealed a wealth of new information about our galaxy, including the lowest-mass objects hiding under our noses, a Milky Way merger that happened when the galaxy was just an infant, and other tremendous stories that help us discern information about our past and future. Join us as we review the latest results on mapping the galaxy and discuss how you can participate through a unique citizen science project called Backyard Worlds: Planet 9.
Category: Video
Length: 45 min.
Grade Level: 9–12
Standards: HS-ESS1.A
Stories from the YOUniverse Podcast Series
On our podcast, Stories from the YOUniverse, you’ll hear from some of the people who have made the Adler community such a special place through a series of short audio interviews. Listen as people tell their own Adler stories in their own voices. Learn how people have used their worldly knowledge to contribute to the Adler, and took the knowledge learned at Adler out into the real world.
Category: Podcast, Audio Series
Length: 5–8 min.
Grade Level: 9–12
Standards: RST.11-12.7, SS.IS.4.9-12, SS.Psy.5.9-12, SS.Soc.2.9-12, SS.Soc.4.9-12
Interview with Dr. Ellen Ochoa
Early exposure to STEM education is becoming a crucial and prevalent part of today’s rapidly changing world; however, for many, this is a daunting field due to rigorous coursework and a lack of support for underrepresented communities. As a first-generation college student and Latina, this is something that resonates with me on a personal level.
During my time at the Adler Planetarium, I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Ellen Ochoa—the first Latina to ever fly to space—about her journey pursuing a degree in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
Category: Blog Post
Length: 15 min. read
Grade Level: 9–12
Standards: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY
