I have been less active lately on the forum because I was teaching Biology this past year in my high school. However, this year, I am returning to teaching Astronomy (
).I am a very big fan of visual media in the classroom, particularly when teaching kids who are so used to the visual high-tech world of movies and videos. As a result, I have been creating a series of short but dramatic videos to show my classes as an introductory "trailer", to capture and captivate their interest in a new topic. I have a set of 12 such videos for Biology, and will be creating a similar set for Astronomy. My students really like them, and actually appreciate the work put into them.
I have produced my first video in Astronomy, titled "Introduction to Astronomy". You can see it at YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8zZZZzppIM&feature=channel_video_title. It is designed to be shown to Astronomy students on the first day of class, as a trailer of the excitement to come.
While there are lots of things I could have said in the video, I thought a minimum of text and a maximum of visual images choreographed to powerful music would capture the beauty of Astronomy best. When you preview it, play it on a big monitor at full screen, with the speakers turned up. The music is a key part of the video.
If you want to use it in your classroom, I have placed the video on my personal webpage for download here: http://fsgregs.startlogic.com/Public_Files/Astronomy%20Intro-final.avi
Enjoy
Frank