The Astronomy DSST is a good exam to fill in some general study or science requirements. At a first look, this exam looks difficult. Unlike most exams that only require enough knowledge of terminology to pass, for this one, you will need to have an understanding of several theories. If your like me and enjoy learning about the universe, then you will find preparing for this exam to be enjoyable. If astronomy is not your thing, then don’t worry, there are plenty of good resources to get you through this one.
Three consecutive days filled of studying scored me a 64.
How I studied
I read through the Instant Cert cards three times.
I watched some astronomy videos on Kahn Academy. Kahn Academy is the best free educational resource I’ve ever found. Many easy to understand micro lectures in the form of YouTube videos.
I purchased a used copy of the Idiot’s Guide to Astronomy on Amazon. The book covered the same information as the resources above, only in the traditional Idiot Guide format. I don’t believe it is necessary, but if you like studying with an actual textbook
Finally, I took a practice test on Free-Clep-Prep. Many of the questions on this practice test appeared on my version of the test, but I found the real exam to be more difficult and in-depth.
Other resources
Another great video resource can be found on Education Portal.
Understanding the Universe, an interesting video on YouTube.
How the Universe Works, another video series available on YouTube.
Things to know
- Why do we always see the same side of the moon
- What is a pulsar
- Final stage of a star
- Parallax
- First type of telescope
- Which planets have rings
- Which planet doesn’t have a satellite
- Nuclear Fusion
- Kepler’s Laws
- The life cycle of a star
- Law of inertia
- Telescopes, refracting and reflecting
- Quasars
Final Thoughts
Many of the resources are videos. Although they are very informative and entertaining, they are very long and will eat up a lot of your study time that could be spent on written resources.
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