This unit was created by Leslie McGourty and Ken Rideout under the Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program at MIT Haystack Observatory in cooperation with the National Science Foundation.

For Astronomy teachers: Atmosphere and Waves, Big Bang and Cosmology, Plasma, and Waves in Motion

Atmosphere and Waves describes the layers of the atmosphere, focusing in depth on the ionosphere and the role this layer plays in radio communications.

Big Bang and Cosmology explains the pieces of evidence which support the Big bang Theory and gives an easy to follow perspective of time since the universe’s inception. The presentation ends by relating the Doppler Shift to time – this last part may be more sited for high school physics or astronomy.

Plasma describes the plasma state and gives everyday examples of man made and natural plasmas. The ionosphere and Faraday rotation ends this presentation. While the end of the unit may best be suited for an upper level course the bulk of the unit could be used by a chemistry or physical science teacher.

General Wave Properties describes the differences between transverse/longitudinal waves and explains the parts of a wave. The electromagnetic spectrum is also discussed.

For Physics teachers and upper level science courses: General Wave Properties, Doppler Shift, Radar Radio Wave Interaction With Interstellar Matter, Information In Waves, and Relativity

Waves in Motion is a general optics unit covering the concepts of reflection, refraction, diffraction, and interference.

Doppler qualitatively and quantitatively describes this phenomenon. The qualitative section may be appropriate for younger students.

Radar ties students’ previous knowledge of velocity, distance, and time to explain what radar is and how radar works. The unit ends with specific instruction on incoherent scatter techniques.

Radio Wave Interaction Through Interstellar Matter explains what the 21cm Hydrogen line is and how scientists use this line to map our galaxy. An understanding of basic spectroscopy concepts is needed.

Information In the Wave discusses the differences between FM and AM waves. This unit also presents information on wave polarization and wave phase.

Relatively Einstein explains Special Relativity and General Relativity from both a historical and an informational perspective. The role of both in radio astronomy is also explored. The presentation ends with a look at GPS navigation.

Lectures/Power Points	Assessments	Activities	Time Needed for Unit
	Conceptual Radio Pretest		20 – 30 minutes
General Wave Properties	Worksheets	Web Quest	2- 3 class periods
General Wave Behavior	Worksheets	Wireless Antenna Activities	2-4 class periods
Information in the Wave	Worksheet Lecture Notes	Research on human eye	1 class period
Atmosphere and Waves	Worksheets	BBC Broadcast frequencies Radio Wave Transmission and Receiving	2-4 class periods
Wave Interaction –Through interstellar media	Worksheets		2-3 class periods
Wave Interaction –With gravity “Relatively Einstein”	Worksheet on SR & GR Lecture Notes	GPS satellite investigation	1-2 class periods
Doppler	Worksheets	Data reduction activity on SRT data Doppler Shift Haystack SRT activity on Galactic 1421 Doppler shift	5-7 class periods
Radar	Worksheets	Research on Planes	1 class period
What is Plasma?	Worksheet	Microwave plasma	2 class periods
Big Bang and Cosmology	Worksheet		2 class periods
	Post Test		20-30 minutes