Peer Review

Comet Facts for Students

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Nov 14, 2016 by Teacher Education

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

'Comets are extremely old, icy and oddly shaped objects in our solar system. They are exciting for a few reasons:

-- Since ancient times, humans have observed comets in the sky. Roughly once every 10 years, we can see a comet from Earth with the unaided eye. Its impressive tail blazes across the sky over the course of several days or weeks.

-- Scientists think comets hold pristine materials within them that date back to the formation of our solar system.

-- Many scientists believe that comet impacts delivered water and other important building blocks for life to the early Earth. '

This site has a lot of information about comets as well as links to other resources.

Type of Material:

Reference Material

Recommended Uses:

This material can be used to design lessons centered around Comets and can be used to develop in-class, homework, individual, team, lecture learned materials.

Technical Requirements:

Nothing more than a computer or mobile device and a browser.

Identify Major Learning Goals:

This site is an informational one with lot of scientific facts about comets and links to other resources. Is a good resource from which to develop lessons and design learning goals, but there are no learning goals identified, per se. This is NASA's information sheet for teachers and students. It includes an overview, basic facts, in-depth analysis, science targets, FAQ, galleries and trivia.

Target Student Population:

The level of this reference material is designed with the target audience of students, but is more apropos for faculty as they develop their lessons. Middle school-college general astronomy courses could use the material.

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

None

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: Since this material comes from NASA, it would seem that the material is valid and correct. The concepts that can be garnered from this material appear to be educationally sound concepts when developed into a lesson. If a teacher is a science teacher, they would probably have the requisite background to learn and teach this material quickly.
Concerns:: Not really a deficiency, but there is no teacher's guide; however that may be on a different NASA site for educators.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:: This is informational materials, so no real learning objectives are presented, nor is a target audience defined. Because of the outstanding reliability and presentation of the website ,the material can be used to create very useful educational materials.
Concerns:: None.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:: Very easy to use. There is a top menu, which makes it easy to flip through the information and easily do a search. The titles for each section are appropriate. The constructor of the site, NASA, is a verified source. There is no charge or sign up required to view the site. Usage is intuitive because all elements are clearly labelled.
Concerns:: None.

Other Issues and Comments:: It would be helpful to allow those who have developed lessons around this material to share them somewhere on the website.
Creative Commons: