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Lights in the Night Sky
Students read about and explore solar winds and spectacular auroras, specifically the Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights.
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Astronomy Merit Badge
Students explore astronomy through the Starry Night Constellation Adventure software. They print star charts and identify constellations. They sketch the Big Dipper and describe the Milky Way. They list the five most visible planets and...
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First You See It - Auroras!
Students read science article on auroras and create a class bingo game with the scientific terms.
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The Solar System
Students research origin of solar system, discuss theories they have found, and create paper mache solar system models.
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Unraveling the Mysteries of Objects in Space
Students study emitted and absorbed light, and label each type of spectrum. They identify elements by their spectral signatures and use a spectroscope.
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Night Sky Paintings
Sixth graders use the Internet to research stars. They discuss painting techniques that might be useful in painting stars and plan a painting of the night sky incorporating their research.
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FOLLOW THAT WATER
Students build simple stream tables and vary the angle of the stream tables in order to simulate different flow rates and compare the results. They observe various features formed in a stream table by flowing water and compare these to...
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CONVECTION
Students experiment to produce a visual convection current in the classroom and compare it to the images taken of convection cells in the Sun. They analyze the source of the Sun's energy and this type of energy transport.
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KNOW YOUR PLACE IN SPACE
Learners examine the positions of the nine planets in respect to our solar system and explain the unique characteristics of each planet.
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Mission Discovery
Students examine the changes to the space shuttle Discovery and its history by creating a classroom exhibition about NASA's space shuttle program. They create an informative and attractive invitation about the gallery for outside visitors.
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From the Moon to the Sun and Back Again
Learners consider the aims of the space program, create posters comparing the voyages of Apollo 17 and Genesis and write response papers evaluating NASA's current mission statement.
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Galaxy Mapping
Young scholars research the constellations and discuss their findings. Then they construct their own maps of the galaxy using paper, black paint, aluminum foil, etc. They make a 3-D map of their chosen constellation.
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Electromagnetic Radiation on Trial
Students examine general properties of electromagnetic waves, identify position of each type of radiation in spectrum, discuss methods used to detect and analyze waves, and analyze relation between specific wave properties and their...
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MASS
Students distinguish between weight and mass. They examine how in oscillations of a mass against an elastic spring--in the absence of gravity, or in horizontal motion--the length of the oscillation period is proportional to the square...
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NEWTON'S 3RD LAW
Students examine the formal definition of Newton's 3rd law: "forces always originate in pairs, equal in magnitude and opposite in direction." --The informal, qualitative version: "Each action has an equal and opposite reaction."
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MOTION IN A CIRCLE
Students explore uniform circular motion, and the relation of its frequency of N revolutions/sec with the peripheral velocity v and with the rotation period T, and the "centripetal acceleration" of an object.
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FRAMES OF REFERENCE: THE BASICS
High schoolers examine the concept of frames of reference in physics: that two frames of reference, each moving with respect to the other with a constant velocity v, observe the same accelerations and therefore Newton's laws are the same...
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WAVES AND PHOTONS
Learners examine the many types of electromagnetic waves, the concept of an EM wave, how James Clerk Maxwell proposed a slight modification of the equations of electricity, Heinrich Hertz and his radio-frequency, wavelengths, and light...
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SUNSPOTS SPOTTED
Learners study sunspots and their motion, from data gathered, they determine the significance of the sunspot data. The data be used to calculate the rotational period of the sun. They draw conclusions as to the sunspot's impact on the...
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Space: Supernova
Students explore the gigantic explosions in the universe that are produced by dying stars and cause new star formations.
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Science - Space Exploration
Students select astronaut to research, create poster including biographical information about each astronaut, and build 3-D model of their craft.
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Life Cycle Of Stars
Students analyze characteristics that indicate human life cycles, and then apply these observational principles to various NASA pictures of stars to synthesize patterns of stellar life cycles. They observe NASA images of stars at various...
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Galactic Inquiry
Students view NASA images of galaxies and develop a galaxy classification scheme. They compare and contrast their classification scheme with that developed by Edwin Hubble. They recognize that galaxies are collections of billions of stars.
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How Much Would You Weigh On Distant Planets?
High schoolers study the effects of gravity on the planets of the Solar System. They view movies from the lunar Apollo missions, calculate their own weight on other planets, and propose what they might weigh on newly discovered planets...