I can see it being used for interdisciplinary units in
art, science and social studies. I have added links to
it on my Art-Math-Science page and Native American
resources. (Is it fifth graders now who study Pueblo
cultures in social studies? I know second graders
studied them when I was teaching elementary)
The Chaco Canyon installment in the Ancient
Observatories series is designed to help teachers
introduce students to the field of archeoastronomy,
the study of astronomy of ancient cultures. Available
in both Flash/broadband and an html version for slower
connections, the site includes a wealth of
documentation of astronomical observations conducted
from Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, from petroglyphs to
NASA photographs. For example, see a 1997
photograph showing a supernova in a distant galaxy
compared with a petroglyph created in AD 1054, thought
to be a representation of a supernova
in our own galaxy. There are also maps, animations
showing seasonal alignments of the sun, and a
time-lapse Quicktime movie showing how sunlight
changes throughout the day at Chaco. Links are
provided to NASA's Sun-Earth Day main site, featuring
other ancient observatories, such as Stonehenge,
and Sun Watchers Through Time. On December 21, 2004,
at 12:00 noon PST, NASA and Observatorium plan to
present a live webcast showcasing the work being
done at Chaco Canyon. [DS]
>From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout
Project 1994-2004.
http://scout.wisc.edu/
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Art Educators: Those of you doing Pueblo inspired
pottery may want to share this site with the core
teachers.
