DIY Sun Science

Category

Description of App

DIY Sun Science is designed to make it easy for families and educators to learn about the Sun anywhere, anytime! The app is developed by UC Berkeley’s The Lawrence Hall of Science, the Children's Creativity Museum, and Sciencenter; funded by NASA.

HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES
DIY Sun Science includes 15 easy-to-use hands-on activities to learn about the Sun and its important relationship with Earth. Learn how to cook in a solar oven, measure the size of the Sun, or explore shadows in model Moon craters! Each activity includes step-by-step instructions that have been tested by educators, kids, and families. Activity materials are easily available and inexpensive—you may already have many of them in your home!

SUN OBSERVATORY
Want to see the Sun right now in different wavelengths? Use DIY Sun Science to view live images of the Sun from NASA’s SDO satellite in the Sun Observatory. Afterwards, you can learn more about the solar activity you observed and test your new knowledge.

IMAGES AND VIDEOS
See awe-inspiring images of the Sun from NASA’s Earth and space observatories! Learn about the different features of the Sun and how scientists are studying it. You can even watch NASA videos of the Sun from the past 48 hours.

Praise & Reviews:
—Featured by Apple in "Best New Apps" and "Education"
—Common Sense Media: “DIY Sun Science is a great way to spark interest in astronomy and inspire learning. The activities are fun and engaging, and they tie in nicely with important astronomy concepts.”
—Gizmodo: “A must for budding astronomy enthusiasts.”

Version

1.0

Free or Paid

Free

Device(s) App Was Tested On

iPhone

Accessibility Comments

It is possible to access some of the content in this app, but poor button labelling and a confusing interface aren’t going to make it easy. You will also need to accept that some of the content isn’t accessible - I’ve found several pages already where VoiceOver finds nothing in the main content area of the screen.

VoiceOver Performance

VoiceOver reads most page elements.

Button Labeling

Few buttons are clearly labeled.

Usability

There are some accessibility issues with this app, but it can still be used if you are willing to tolerate these issues and learn how to work around them.

Options

Comments

By Chris Keller on Thursday, July 17, 2014 - 20:19

Hello! I am one of the developers that worked on this app, DIY Sun Science. After version 1.0 came out, we worked on improving the accessibility and VoiceOver controls with the app. We collaborated with a web accessibility group here at UC Berkeley to help us improve the accessibility of the app, and version 1.2 should perform much better. I would be delighted if other users reviewed our app and provided feedback on our work. Thank you!