Topics in Astrophysics and Cosmology for K-12 Classrooms

Astronomy and cosmology are wonderfully attractive subjects to people of all ages. The beauty of the night sky and the availability of a vast amount of educational material on the web and on television make it quite feasible to develop educational activities in these areas that are suitable for almost any age group. I will discuss some of the experiences we've had doing this in Santa Fe via high-school courses, evening ``Science Caf\'{e}'' presentations and individual elementary school classroom discussions. This material naturally demonstrates the close interdisciplinary links between physics, chemistry and biology, and also offers excellent opportunities for exercises in scientific notation, logarithms, and algebra.