I’ve had a lifelong passion for Astronomy. I was extremely fortunate that in my third year teaching, I was able to petition my school to add an Astronomy course to our curriculum offerings. The challenge, though, was setting up a high school Astronomy curriculum from scratch. I previously wrote about my top resources for teaching Astronomy, but let’s take a look at the basics. What should you teach in a high school Astronomy course?

Well, that might depend on your district/state standards. My state does have standards for Astronomy, but they are mostly Physics or general science standards. However, this meant I had a lot of flexibility in what to teach and how to organize my course.

My school is a daily 50 minute period. We marketed Astronomy to primarily seniors, so I had approximately 8 weeks of instruction in quarters 1-3 and 6 weeks in quarter 4.

Quarter 1 – Observational Astronomy

I begin my high school Astronomy curriculum with some basics of Astronomy and focusing on what we can observe in the night sky. As my state standards are based on Physics standards, we hit a lot of the motion and Kepler’s/Newton’s laws standards here in the first quarter. For instance, I invested in some simple Galileoscopes to have students practice building a telescope and use them outside. Also, check out my lesson plan and activity on the Moon phases I use in this unit.

Image of an assembled and unassembled telescope called a Galileoscope.
Galileoscopes are easy to use and assemble, as well as affordable, refracting telescopes. Image courtesy of Galileoscope.

We typically spend 1-2 days practicing using the telescopes in the daytime and recording what we can observe just around the school courtyard. Since this is in the fall/winter and sunrise isn’t usually until after school starts, we also typically have at least a week of before-school observations. As a result, the timing is perfect to usually observe some major known constellations and the Orion Nebula, Pleiades, and other easy-to-find celestial objects.

  • The Night Sky
    • Celestial sphere, constellations, orbital motion, moon phases, eclipses

  • History of Astronomy
    • Ancient astronomy, Copernicus and Galileo, Brahe and Kepler, Newton

  • Light and Telescopes
    • Early telescopes, light and electromagnetic spectrum, practice using telescopes, space telescopes

Quarter 2 – The Solar System

Here we focus on all aspects of the solar system, starting with the solar system as a whole, then Earth, then each group of planets. I try to focus on comparative planetology – comparing the planets and their properties to each other, rather than memorizing facts about each planet.

Image of a data sheet to be filled out about each planet.
Here is a sample data sheet I have used to help students organize their notes about each planet.

For the Jovian planets, I also like to include some information about the major moons. We typically discuss the Galilean moons, along with Titan, Enceladus, and Triton (sorry, Uranus).

  • The Solar System and Earth
    • Layout of the solar system, solar nebular theory, Earth as a planet, Earth’s interior and atmosphere

  • Terrestrial Planets
    • Moon and Mercury: comparisons, surfaces, atmospheres; Venus: greenhouse effect, volcanism, atmosphere, interior; Mars: atmosphere, interior, volcanism, missions and rovers

  • Jovian Planets
    • Jupiter and Saturn: comparisons, atmospheres, interiors, missions, major moons; Uranus and Saturn: comparisons, atmospheres, interiors, missions, major moons

  • Beyond Planets
    • asteroid belt, Kuiper belt, Oort Cloud, major asteroids and dwarf planets

Quarter 3 – Stars

Stars are definitely my favorite topic, and it is also usually a big hit with students. We spend a lot of time on the different life cycles. First, we look at the Sun and its properties as a star. In the low mass stars section, we focus on stars that end as white dwarfs. I typically spend the most time in the high mass stars section, as nuclear fusion, supernovae, and black holes tend to be high-interest areas.

Image of questions gathered from students about black holes. I try to dedicate ample time in my Astronomy curriculum to high-interest topics.
Real questions from students about black holes. I always try to dedicate 2-3 days to a black holes research project as its a high-interest topic.

We usually wrap up this quarter with galaxies, though time-dependent I have moved it to quarter 4.

  • The Sun as a Star
    • Sun surface, interior, properties, sunspots

  • Low Mass Stars
    • Red dwarf and Sun-like main sequence stars, Sun-like star life cycle

  • High Mass Stars
    • High mass main sequence, supernovae, black holes

  • Galaxies
    • Galaxy types, galaxy classification, Milky Way galaxy properties

Quarter 4 – Cosmology and Spaceflight

Cosmology is the outlier here, but it fits where it fits, especially as we have just studied galaxies. We focus on the history of Cosmology and how the model of the Universe has changed over time.

Image of a sample assignment on the origin of the Universe.
Sample from an assignment on the origin of the Universe. Students read an excerpt from Stephen Hawking’s “Origin of the Universe” speech to gather their evidence.

As I am based in Florida, we have A LOT of state standards related to the space program. As a result, I decided to end the year with this as we wind down the year by building bottle rockets. The history of human spaceflight is a topic I am very passionate about and it’s a little less rigorous, so it’s a great way to send off the year. We focus on the different eras of the US Space Program and the major achievements of each.

  • Cosmology
    • Expansion of the Universe, Big Bang, eras of the early Universe, Universe models

  • Rocketry
    • Principles of rocketry, aerodynamics, Newton’s laws revisited, building a rocket

  • Human Spaceflight
    • Early spaceflight, projects Mercury and Gemini, project Apollo, Space Shuttle and beyond

Building your high school Astronomy curriculum

I hope this breakdown is helpful as you build your own high school Astronomy curriculum. Depending on your state and standards you may have different focus areas, but these are the major topics any Astronomy course should address.

Don’t forget to check out my tips and resources for teaching Astronomy, as well as my ideas for teaching a more engaging Astronomy course. Good luck and ad astra!