Using "The Dynamic Sun" for Windows (Version 5)

Welcome to recently updated "Dynamic Sun,"NASA's multimedia educational presentation on the Sun and its effects on the Earth. Everything begins and is accessible from the Dynamic_Sun5.pdf page, but be sure to read about the System Requirements below to see if you have what you need installed to view the elements of the CD.

The central part of the CD is an Adobe Acrobat presentation (PDF format) on the

Sun designed for teachers to give in the classroom (though students could also go

through it at a workstation). There are three versions of the presentation: a high

school version, a middle school version, and an elementary school version. Each

contain between 40-60 slides, many of which hold movies and animations. The goal

is to educate, engage, and develop student interest in the Sun and its affects on

Earth and enjoy learning about science topics.

Each of the presentations will:

• show the latest images and video clips on the Sun from SOHO (Solar and

Heliospheric Observatory),

• present factual information on the Sun, Sun-related topics and features (i.e.,

sunspots),

• show videos and animations to explain how explosions on the Sun (called

Coronal Mass Ejections) occur and how they affect the Earth (i.e., aurora, power outages, etc.),

• tell about the SOHO project and how the Sun is being studied.

You should also review and perhaps print the Teacher's Guide for the

presentation you will use. The Teacher's Guide provides more information about

the presentation and should help answer some questions that may arise about the

set-up and content. The Guide includes a Table of Contents, thumbnail versions

of each slide with supplemental information, instructions for ordering a poster

or other NASA materials, and some "hot" Web links (blue text). You can click on

the name of a slide in the Table of Contents to go to that page in the Guide.

Additional Resources on the CD (also accessed from the Dynamic_Sun5.pdf):

(** denotes new item)

• Almost the entire CD has been translated into Spanish.**

• The five tutorials provide about 10 pages each of images and information on related topics. These are independent of the presentations.**

• SOHO image sets: Double-click on Portfolio to view 15 SOHO pages with

supporting text (this is called the SOHO Portfolio on our Web site and is

available in print) or SOHO slides to view a new slide set highlighting many of

the best images from SOHO.

• "Storms from the Sun" interactive poster: Double-click on Storms from the Sun, to see the poster and bring most of the photos to life as video clips.

• The SOHO paper model can be printed, cut and glued together to make a model of the spacecraft. This is most suitable for middle school students, not early elementary.**

• Tracking Sunspots exercise is a teacher-led, self-contained lesson on how to track sunspots using the SOHO images provided.**

• FAQ and Glossary: The FAQ (SOHO's Frequently Asked Questions) and the

Glossary, both from the SOHO web site, can be accessed from the Home page. The

FAQ gives you all the answers to the dozens of the questions most often asked by our users. The Glossary defines terms used on the CD and many more. (NOTE:

These are not linked together, although they are on the SOHO Web site.

Windows System Requirements:

- PC with a 486 or higher processor: the faster, the better

- Windows 95 or newer operating system or Windows NT 3.51 or newer with Service

pack 5.x or newer

- 32 MB memory (more is preferable)

- Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 or later. The free Reader software may already be installed on your computer. If not, you can download the appropriate Reader file directly from the Acrobat site at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html. If you are having problems with Acrobat Reader, you can check their web site for online support at http://www.adobe.com/supportservice/custsupport/main.html.

• QuickTime 4.0 or higher. The free QuickTime software may already be installed on your computer. You can get the latest free version of QuickTime at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/. Just follow the directions for download and installation. If you are having trouble with QuickTime software itself, its web site provides fairly extensive support at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/information/index.html. (If video files are not playing properly, you should go ahead and download and install version 5.0 of QuickTime or higher.)

These must be operable before you can give the presentation. Once these are installed, double-click Dynamic_Sun5.pdf to open the home page file (and launch Adobe Reader) and get you started.

Display Settings:

If the graphics seem to be "stepped" instead of being displayed in gradual

transitions of tones, you should set the number of colors you can display to the

highest number available, regardless of resolution. To do this, go to your

Windows control panel to Display, select Settings. Choose Color Palette and

select a higher number than 256 colors (up to millions), if available. In some

configurations, this will not be an option.

Navigating in The Dynamic Sun:

The opening page of each of the presentations gives you instructions on moving

through it. Remember that you can move ahead and back by clicking on the control

arrows in the toolbar at the top, by clicking on the thumbnails on the left, or

by clicking in or moving the scrollbar along the right. (If the thumbnails are

not visible on the left side of the page, click on the appropriate icon in the

toolbar to make them appear.) The double arrows will take you progressively back

or forth through your most recent pages visited, just like a browser. You can

view the video clips any number of times. Remember you can also zoom in or out

using the magnifying glass tool in the Toolbar or by using Acrobat's three page

view settings above the pages. In case you were wondering, all pages should

print quite clearly, though the placeholder images for the video clips may not.

Problems?

The most common problem that our test users have experienced is that some of the

larger video clips will not play at all or not play smoothly. This seems to be

due to having either a CD drive too slow to handle the throughput (4x should be

sufficient) or insufficient RAM memory. We have attempted to produce a CD that

most anyone with a 486 PC and Windows 95 or newer can view successfully, but some of the video clips may be too demanding for certain configurations. Please let us know if you are experiencing any problems, so that we can try to rectify them in the next version. Unfortunately, we lack the resources and knowledge to troubleshoot every PC. See "Feedback"below for directions on contacting us.

Obtaining More Dynamic Sun CDs:

The Dynamic Sun CDs are available through the NASA CORE (Central Operation of

Resources for Educators), a non-profit organization. Minimal fees (about $11) represent the cost of operation and duplication of educational materials. For further information contact CORE:

- Phone 440-774-1051, Ext. 249 or 293; Fax (440) 774-2144

- e-mail nasaco@leeca.esu.k12.oh.us

- web site http://spacelink.nasa.gov/CORE

NOTE: The CD is also available for free from NASA's Educational Resource Centers around the U.S. The Teacher's Guides and the last page of the Storms.pdf contain more information about CORE, NASA Educator Resource Centers, addresses, phone numbers, and locations.

The SOHO web site address is: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/. This site

contains movies and images which are updated daily, information, links, other

video clips, a collection of SOHO's image highlights, an educational area with

exercises, an address where you can send questions to scientists (Ask Dr. SOHO)

and even a SOHO screensaver linked to live images. You can also review SOHO

posters, presentations, and other educational materials.

Credits: The SOHO project wants to express its appreciation for the hard work and dedication of Antonio Sanchez-Ibarra for his translation of the entire CD into Spanish.

Feedback:

We most definitely welcome any feedback on "The Dynamic Sun." How has it worked

for you? What would you like to see added or changed or removed? Please send

e-mail comments or questions to us at CD@sohops.gsfc.nasa.gov or write to us at

Dynamic Sun, Code 682.3, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771.