Curated OER
Capturing the Sun's Warmth
Students explore the variety of ways to use solar energy. They investigate the thermal energy storage capacities of different test materials to determine which to use in passive solar building design. They explain how passive solar...
Curated OER
Indoor Environment: A Magazine Publication Project
Students demonstrate knowledge of Indoor Air Quality by creating a class magazine. A link to order a free Action Kit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is provided so teachers can build background knowledge. Performance...
Curated OER
What's Crackin' Under New Zealand
Students construct a model of the Earth using clay and oranges. In this earth science instructional activity, students explain the causes of earthquakes and volcanic activity. They write their findings in their science journal.
Curated OER
Drawing From Nature
Students observe similarities and differences of natural objects. In this observation instructional activity, students use a magnifying glass to identify the details of objects.
American Museum of Natural History
Make a Terrarium
Scholars read a brief overview of what a terrarium is and how it creates the greenhouse effect, then click on a link to discover the materials and 10 steps they need to build their own.
Consortium for Ocean Leadership
Measure for Measure
How does your class measure up? Young scientists create a scale drawing of the JOIDES Resolution in a collaborative activity. The lesson incorporates mathematical principles with deep-sea exploration to focus on enhancing measurement...
Lunar and Planetary Institute
Oreo Moon Phases
Learning about the moon has never tasted delicious! Using the popular Oreo cookie as a model, young scientists carve out the cream filling to represent the different phases of the moon.
National Wildlife Federation
Wherefore Art Thou, Albedo?
In the sixth instructional activity in a series of 21, scholars use NASA data to graph and interpret albedo seasonally and over the course of multiple years. This allows learners to compare albedo trends to changes in sea ice with...
Curated OER
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.
Curated OER
Magnetopause and Solar Storms
In this magnetopause worksheet, students use a given equation to find the distance from the Earth where the solar wind pressure and the Earth's magnetic field pressure are equal. Students are given 5 different solar storms and use the...
Curated OER
IBEX Creates an Unusual Image of the Sky!
In this IBEX satellite worksheet, learners read about the Energetic Neutral Atoms that are detected by the IBEX satellite. Students use a given hypothetical data string to determine the number of particles detected and create an 'image'...
Curated OER
How Do We Explore Strange Environments?
Students identify and label the different parts of a robot, rover, or a spacecraft. They discuss and record all of the features their robot will need to accomplish its mission and be able to explain why they chose these features to...
Curated OER
Solar and Auroral Events
In this solar and auroral events learning exercise, students answer 5 questions about a coronal mass ejection that traveled to the Earth. They find the time it took to arrive and they determine the speed of the coronal mass ejection in...
Curated OER
SDO: Measuring the Speed of an Eruptive Prominence
In this eruptive prominence worksheet, students read about a plasma ejection from the sun measured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory. Students solve 3 problems using the given diagrams of the ejection. They determine the scale of the...
Curated OER
How Hot is that Planet?
In this planet worksheet, high schoolers read about finding the temperature of a planet using the distance to its star, its reflectivity and the luminosity of the star. Students use a given equation to determine the...
Curated OER
Solar Surface Details
In this solar surface learning exercise, students use a photograph taken by the Swedish Vacuum Telescope to answer 6 questions about the solar features in the photograph. Students determine the scale of the image, they determine the...
Curated OER
Changing Perspectives on the Sun's Diameter
In this sun's diameter worksheet, students use a photograph taken by the SOHO satellite of the sun showing a change in diameter from one month to another. Students find the average diameter of the sun, they determine the percent change...
Curated OER
Mass Spectrometer
For this mass spectrometer worksheet, students read about how a mass spectrometer determines the elements in gases around Earth. Students answer 3 questions and identify the elements in a graph found by a mass spectrometer.
Curated OER
Causes and Effects of ENSO
Young scholars analyze monthly sea surface temperature data from the Pacific Ocean to determine if the period is an El Nino or a normal year. They recognize signs to see if there are any patterns that signal either occurrence. Satellite...
Curated OER
NASA Juggles Four Satellites at Once
In this NASA satellites worksheet, students read about the Magnetosphere Multi-Scale satellite constellation that NASA will launch in 2013. They solve 4 problems including finding the volume of the MMS constellation, finding how long it...
Curated OER
Waterdrops Water Cycle
In this earth science worksheet, students read an article about the water cycle. Then they continue the story about the travels of a water droplet through time and space. Students also complete sentences by writing in the correct word...
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Kepler Spies Five New Planets
In this discovering new planets worksheet, students read about how the Kepler spacecraft detects new planets by observing the dimming of light emitted by stars as the planets pass in front of them. Students solve 2 problems using a...
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TE Lesson: Fighting Back!
Young scholars examine the roles of the immune system in keeping the body healthy. They see how engineers contribute to this process by creating antibiotics, and vaccinations. They discuss how an astronauts' immune system may be...
Curated OER
Investigating Planetary Soils
Young scholars study soil characteristics and identify properties of soils from different parts of the solar system. In this soil lesson students divide into groups, read soil descriptions, test and record soil samples.