Classical laboratory exercises in astronomy, at the secondary school level, rely on simple measurements to be made, usually involving simple equipment or a measuring rule. However, students at the secondary school level have become familiar with IT tools like spreadsheets, opening new possibilities for laboratory exercises in astronomy.

In this paper we present a number of new laboratory exercises in astronomy, suited for the secondary school level. The main differences with previous, "classic" exercises are:
(1) the use of real scientific data as input. This data is now available from publications and data centrers like the Centre de Donées Stellaires and can be used directly in exercises.
(2) the use of IT tools like spreadsheets. Using spreadsheets, it becomes possible to incorporate statistical analysis, optimization and more calculations in the exercises, to an extent that was impossible with previous generations of laboratory exercises.
(3) group work, where students work together to solve larger problems that cannot be solved individually in a reasonable time.

We describe the new laboratory exercises and we indicate how they can be solved at different levels, depending on the IT skills of the participating students.

We also report our experiences with giving these laboratory exercises to students at the secondary school level (age 16-18) and to a heterogeneous group of interested individuals, ranging from 14 year old youngsters to adults.

Finally, we discuss some prospects of developing more lab oratory exercises in astronomy along the same principles.