NASA
Lava Layering: Making and Mapping a Volcano
Looking for an out-of-this-world volcanic activity? Geologists study Earth's volcanic history and the neighboring planet Mars by modeling volcanic eruptions, lava flows, and building a shield volcano. Participants use graph paper and...
NASA
Exploring Exoplanets with Kepler
Calculate the movement and properties of planets like professional astronomers! Scholars use Kepler's third law to find Mercury and Venus's distance from the sun. Using changes in brightness of distant stars and Kepler's third law,...
NASA
Design a Crew Exploration Vehicle
Make a splash from space. Participants use the engineering design process to create a waterproof space exploration vehicle capable of an upright landing. Young engineers test and modify designs as needed and participate in a group...
NASA
Build a Satellite
Shake, rattle, and explore space with satellites. Engineers learn how satellites work before designing, building, and testing their own models. Groups engage in quality assurance reviews with colleagues to improve their designs, and the...
NASA
Feel the Heat
Heat water up like a NASA engineer. Using the engineering design process, investigators create a system to trap and move heat through a water-filled tube. Designers participate in a post-activity discussion that highlights the role of...
Center for History Education
African Americans and the Democratic Party
Why did African American voters switch from the Republican Party to the Democratic party during the Depression Era? That is the question young historians attempt to answer as they study primary source documents from the period. The focus...
Center for History Education
Did Southern Free Men of Color Fight for the Ideals of the South?
Much of history is distasteful. Primary sources often reveal attitudes acceptable at the time that no longer are. But to understand controversial historical events, historians must examine primary sources that represent a wide variety of...
California Department of Education
California CareerZone Student Workbook
A 13-page workbook walks scholars through the California CareerZone website. Class members start by creating accounts then take an interest survey. Results from the survey are used in activities that explore lifestyle choices, budgeting,...
California Department of Education
California CareerZone Make Money Choices Student Workbook
An activity challenges scholars to make smart money choices. While visiting the California CareerZone website, pupils choose between budgeting for one's lifestyle or salary and complete a two-page instructional activity based on the...
California Department of Education
California CareerZone Quick Start Activity
Scholars visit the California CareerZone to complete a Quick Start Activity. Once on the webpage, learners complete an interest survey then browse a list of occupations based on the survey's results. Pupils choose three and write why the...
California Department of Education
California Career Center Career Action Plan Web App Quick Start
Prepare scholars to end their journey through compulsory education by setting up an account with the California Career Center. Learners follow five steps to create an account then answer four short answer questions.
California Department of Education
California Career Center Career Action Plan Web App Quick Start
Scholars take their first step in setting career goals with the California Career Center Career Action Plan. With their device, learners read and follow nine directions, from opening the webpage, creating an account to listing possible...
Bonneville
Passive Solar Water Heating
Put empty milk jugs to good use. Scholars consider the characteristics they might change about a milk jug to improve light absorption. They design a passive solar water heater using the milk jug and then measure the temperature change in...
Bonneville
Creating the Most Effective Solar Heater
If changing one variable can improve a design, why not try changing more? Using the results from the previous activity, scholars decide on the variables that caused the most improvement in the effectiveness of the solar heater. They take...
Bonneville
Manipulating Design Variables on Solar Heaters
Always strive to make things better. The second of three activities in the Experimenting with Solar Heaters unit has learners design new solar heaters that are more effective compared to the simple models they used in the previous...
Bonneville
Making the Standard Solar Heater
Heat up a lesson on solar energy. The first of three parts in the Experimenting with Solar Heaters unit has scholars construct solar heaters. They then use them to heat up a container of water and calculate the amount of heat energy...
NASA
Evaluating a Lunar Eclipse
Do all lunar eclipses look the same? Find out in an activity where astronomers use the Danjon Scale of Lunar Eclipse Brightness to describe the color and brightness of the moon during an eclipse. Explorers make three observations using...
NASA
Mars Rover Driver Board Game
Driving a Mars rover is a challenging task. Learners play a board game that simulates the decisions scientists and engineers make while controlling the rover. Their task involves building a command sequence to get from point A to point B...
Center for History Education
A Presidential Decision - The Bay of Pigs
The instructional activity examines President Kennedy's response to the Bay of Pigs Crisis and Cold War tensions. Academics learn how the information President Kennedy had affected his response to the question of whether to invade Cuba....
Center for History Education
Speaking Freely In the Soviet Union's Autocratic Government
Speak your mind! The lesson explores the difference in free speech between the United States and the Soviet Union. Academics review the constitutions of both governments, political cartoons, and case studies to understand how freedom of...
Center for History Education
Brown v. the Board of Education: Success or Failure?
Desegregation does not mean equality. An eye-opening lesson focuses on the impact of the Brown v. Board of Education decision to end school segregation. Scholars review a series of political cartoons to understand how the public viewed...
California Department of Education
California Career Center Quick Start Activity
Scholars explore the California Career Center's website in preparation for setting up an account. Learners follow directions that take them through each page and write down important information. After browsing, pupils create an account...
California Department of Education
Matching Interests and Careers Distance Learning Online Activity
Using the California CareerZone Interest Profiler results, scholars choose an occupation to research then write a summary about what they discovered.
California Department of Education
Roadmap to Success
It's never too early to start thinking of one's future. Over two class sessions, scholars create a roadmap to meet short and long-term goals related to high school graduation. Roadmaps include the timeline, checkpoints, and barriers.