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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
Students 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 in both.
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THE MANY COLORS OF SUNLIGHT
Students examine rainbow components, spectral colors, colors perceived by the eye, hot solids, glowing rarefied gas, absorption, that light is a wave, and optics.
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WAVES AND PHOTONS
Students 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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Fighting Back!
Fifth graders inspect the basic functions of the immune system and determine how viruses and bacteria invade the immune system. They also explore what happens to the immune system in outer space.
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TE Lesson: Fighting Back!
Students 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 suppressed...
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Solids, Liquids, and Gases
Students investigate and explore the three states of matter. They read and discuss the NASA article "The Engine That Does More," identify examples of each state of matter, and as a class complete a section of two worksheets. They...
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Ask an Astronaut
Students read what questions have already been asked from the archives. They then categorize what is already known (each student should be able to give a question which has already been asked and answered), what they would like to know,...
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Proportionality, Ratios and Constant Variation
Students use Scion Image to estimate the proportion of space images. In this proportion lesson, students investigate the online site of Image of the Orbitor and relate the dimensions and sizes to known sizes.
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Space Day Activities
Celebrate Space Day on May 7th with aerospace lessons that are sure to get kids excited about science and engineering!
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Energy: The Universal Currency
Science stars examine the concept of energy by thinking about everyday situations. The lesson plan is incohesive. It lists goals for the student, but doesn't address all of them in the content. The best use of this resource would simply...
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The Heart of the Matter
Learners study the heart and the circulatory system. They practice taking their pulse. They create a model of blood cells and squeeze tennis balls to demonstrate just how hard the heart muscle works.
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The Discovery of the Solar System
Students study the ideas behind the heliocentric theory of Copernicus. They examine about retrograde motion of the planets as they move around the sun. They study astronomers who include Ptolemy, Copernicus, and Galileo.
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The Energy of the Sun
High schoolers study energy generation by the Sun, which involves atoms and nuclei.
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(S-4) The Many Colors of Sunlight
Learners observe and explore the characteristics of light.
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(S-1B) Global Climate, Global Wind Flow
Students discuss how the horizontal transport of heat from equatorial regions polewards drives global wind systems.
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(S-1A) Weather and the Atmosphere
Students discuss the way vertical convection transports heat from the surface upwards, and associated pressure and temperature profiles of the atmosphere.
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@23 Accelerated Frames of Reference: Inertial Forces #23a Frames of Reference: The Centrifugal Force
Students distinguish between the centripetal and centrifugal forces.
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Mass
Students participate in a qualitative discussion of the distinction between weight and mass, followed by a description of astronaut mass measurements in a zero-g environment.
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The Way Things Fall
Pupils see that light and heavy objects fall at the same rate, as established experimentally by Galileo. They see that falling objects, and balls rolling down an incline, tend to accelerate at a constant rate a. Their velocity increases...
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Kepler And His Laws
Students engage in an overview of the story of Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler, and of Kepler's laws. Each of Kepler's laws be studied separately in more detail in later lessons. They examine Kepler's 3rd law.
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The Discovery Of The Solar System
Students study the heliocentric theory of Copernicus, the ideas behind it and the explanations which it displaced. A discussion of retrograde motion of planets helps students explain the logic underlying the ideas of both Ptolemy and...
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The Round Earth And Christopher Colombus
Students engage in a historical review, starting with the existence of the horizon at sea, proceeding to various studies of the Earth's size and shape, and leading to the attempt by Columbus to reach India by sailing westward.
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The Calendar
Learners engage in an overview of solar and lunar calendars, their history and lore. Also, of the day and the month, and their relations to the rotation period of the Earth and the orbital period of the Moon.