Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre
Classroom Materials for schools
GCSE: The Electromagnetic Spectrum
Links to resources
The resources below are suggested activities your class could complete before or after this
workshop. Please note these are recommended activities; it is not compulsory that students
complete them.
Some of the resources require access to ICT. The University of Manchester cannot be held
responsible for the content of external sites.
1. Institute of Physics: EM Waves in Astronomy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GIvktBSxvw
An extremely relevant video from the Institute of Physics, explaining how astronomers use
different wavelengths such as radio and infrared to see through dust clouds in space.
Features the Lovell telescope at Jodrell Bank.
2. Institute of Physics: Classroom demonstration: Invisible wavelengths
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4FS9F4XgDU
Some digital cameras are sensitive to wavelengths of light that we cannot see with our eyes.
This simple demonstration shows that an ordinary camera on a mobile phone can "see" the
invisible infrared light emitted by a television (or other) remote control.
3. Chromoscope: See the universe in all wavelengths
http://www.chromoscope.net
An interactive webpage which allows users to zoom into different parts of the sky and
observe them in any part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
4. NASA: Crab Nebula in multi-wavelengths
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l2/multiwavelength.html
The Crab Nebula is a supernova remnant, which can be seen in visible wavelengths, but
radio waves reveal the Crab pulsar; an object much studied by Jodrell Bank.
5. Multi-wavelength matching activity
http://herschel.cf.ac.uk/activity/multiwavelength
In this activity, students must match images of astronomical objects, observed in different
wavelengths, with the object's visible image.
www.jodrellbank.net
Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre
Classroom Materials for schools
6. Telescopes across the EM Spectrum
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l2/emspectrum_observatories.html
Examples of both ground and space based telescopes operating across the electromagnetic
spectrum.
7. National STEM Centre: Hubble Space Telescope
http://www.nationalstemcentre.org.uk/elibrary/resource/1135/hubble-space-telescope
This video clip from NASA shows how the Hubble Space Telescope has changed the way
scientists look at the universe, without the interference of Earth's atmosphere.
8. National STEM Centre: Infrared: More than your eyes can see
http://www.nationalstemcentre.org.uk/elibrary/resource/1133/infra-red-more-than-youreyes-can-see
From NASA, this short video looks at how infra-red cameras see the world and are used to
explore space. It describes the electromagnetic spectrum and how infra-red is a measure of
heat radiation.
Feedback
If you discover any broken links, or if you have any questions, comments, suggestions or feedback
regarding these materials, please get in touch with the education team.
www.jodrellbank.net