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Meteors
Students identify the different types of meteorite using an interactive website. In this earth science activity, students simulate how meteors crash on a surface. They relate meteor size to crater size.
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SALLY RIDE
Students express what it would be like to launch off into outer space in a space shuttle. They include what it might feel like, look like, sound like, and any thoughts that go through their mind as they dart away from the Earth's...
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Making Impact Craters
Students examine images of Moon craters and speculate about what caused them. They create craters using sand weighted balls. Students measure crater sizes and draw ejection patterns to see what effect size, weight, and velocity have on...
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Sensing the Invisible
Students study visible light and explain why we want to use infrared radiation to study Mercury. In this sunlight lesson students construct a device to measure the presence of infrared radiation in sunlight.
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Look At Those Leaves!
Students observe, measure and sort leaves. For this leaf lesson students divide into groups and observe the different kinds of leaves.
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What's Out There? Space Shuttle Exploration and Simulation
Students role-play the jobs of space shuttle astronauts, conduct experiments, and research space using the Internet and offline experiments. Student-astronauts hold a "press conference" to share their information with others in a...
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Explosive Ideas!
Learners explore the layers of the Earth and the dynamic changes that they cause on Earth's surface. Volcanoes and earthquakes become the focus of the lesson as the Oregon State quarter and its Crater Lake images are linked to the topic.
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Topo Map Mania!
Seventh graders describe the major features of maps and compasses. They read a topographical map. They take a bearing using a compass. They practice using scales on a map.
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Star Frames
Fourth graders study constellations. In this space science lesson, 4th graders discover what makes stars, how bright stars are, and why constellations were created. Students make their own constellation using Saran Wrap and a frame.
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A Journey Through Our Solar System
Students investigate the concept of the solar system in our universe by constructing a model that is made to a measurable scale. Once the model is constructed it should be placed in a wide open space for observation and demonstration...
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Weather: It Works, or Not?
Students discover the techniques meteorologists use to examine the atmosphere. In groups, they build their own weather station and observe the various weather conditions. They identify the types of weather patterns that allow the...
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In the Eye of the Storms
Tenth graders study the major hurricanes of the Atlantic Ocean. In this weather instructional activity, 10th graders read an article and answer various questions. Students discuss their findings with their classmates.
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Mars rovers' Next Stop: IMAX
Students read an article and discuss it. In this Mars rover instructional activity students complete an activity that allows them to see things through a different viewpoint.
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Moon, Mars, and Beyond-Mission Briefing
Students complete this introductory lesson in which they find out about the scenario for a simulated online space mission. They review vocabulary and complete a review sheet to reinforce the details of the mission and its goals.
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Extraterrestrial Communication: Can We Talk to Anybody Out There?
Young scholars examine the possibilities of communication with other living organisms within our solar system through research and hands on activities, as well as observing and analyzing teacher demonstrations.
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Science: Day and Night
Students listen to the Sky Tellers Native American story, "Ant Dances for Light," and illustrate it. They observe how Earth's rotation results in periods of darkness and light. Students investigate how day length varies throughout the...
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Polar Caps: Image Processing Tutorial
Students utilize computer image processing techniques to measure the size of Earth's polar ice caps and analyze various phenomena visible on planetary images.
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Charting The Progress of New Horizons
Students explore the long distances and timescales involved in space travel. They track the progress of the New Horizons spacecraft and access the New Horizons website to discover the distance of the spacecraft from the Sun, and then...
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The Guest Investigator Puzzle
Students conduct a brief astrophysics lab matching the EUVE spectra of various kinds of "mystery" stars with the spectra of known stars taken at Extreme Ultraviolet and optical wavelengths to determine their type.
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Dangers of Radiation Exposure
Students explore sources of high-energy radiation and calculate student exposure to ionizing radiation over the past year.
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Exploring Climate Change with GIS
Learners investigate climatological changes that are occurring to the Earth. In this climate change activity, students access an assigned web site to view maps and lessons that show how climate change makes a difference to life on Earth.