Universe Sandbox: A Cool Web Application for STEM Teachers

Universe Sandbox is an interactive space simulator that is just as much about breaking scientific laws as it is about learning them.

Most astronomy software allows you to click your away around the solar system, but Universe Sandbox is a powerful gravity simulator. Add another star to our solar system and watch it rip the planets from their orbits. Create impossible planet alignments and watch it all unravel.

The very fact that students can dismantle their electronic universe in a few simple mouse clicks is destructive, sure, but it also shows them just how precarious and complicated our world really is.

The free version allows users to explore and discover any simulation. You can also upgrade to the premium version ($9.95) for unlimited control.

Here are some additional features of Universe Sandbox:

• Explore our solar system, including planets, asteroids, comets, and moons
• Line up planets and reorder them according to mass or velocity
• Rip Saturn's rings apart in 3D: Put on some 3D glasses to see Saturn's rings ripped away by a passing planet
• View the paths of hundreds of asteroids & moons
• Compare the moon and dwarf planets
• View constellations