Is light pollution affecting health and the environment? The world’s first academic center dedicated to studying the quality of night skies hopes to find out. Learn about the dark-sky movement and find resources for “seizing the night” – including marking International Dark Sky Week on April 22 – 28, 2017.

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Filed under: K-12 Outreach Programs, Special Features, Web Resources | Comments Off on Carpe Noctem: Dark Sky Movement

Tags: Aerospace, Astronomy, dark sky association, Internet Resources, LED, Light pollution, NASA, night sky, NOAA, Teacher Resources, Web Resources

Students in grades 6-7 build light meters and investigate the nature, sources, and levels of light in their classroom. learning about the adverse effects of artificial light on humans, animals, and plants as well as the engineering concepts of sensors and lumen and lux (lx) illuminance units. They also learn how to better use light and save energy as well as some of the technologies designed by engineers to reduce light pollution and energy waste.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8 | Comments Off on Measuring Light Pollution

Tags: Class Activities, Computer Science, data analysis, Electrical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Environmental science, Grades 6-8, graphing, LEGO MINDSTROMS, Light pollution, lumens, lux, Mathematics, measuring, sensors