This folder contains software and activities to help students learn about the Ptolemaic, Copernican, and Tychonic models of the solar system and use that knowledge to create models of a fictitious solar system from observations of the night sky.

The Simulations and Activities folder contains computer simulations and activity handouts to guide students through observing the night sky and exploring the Copernican, Ptolemaic, and Tychonic models for the solar system.

The Student Projects folder contains computer programs that simulate the night sky for 30 fictitious solar systems.  These programs serve as the foundation for a series of students projects in which students observe their fictitious solar system and construct Ptolemaic and Copernican models of their system.  Handouts and grading rubrics for these projects are provided.