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Take a Spin Through the Solar System
Second graders participate in a variety of activities to explore the Solar System in this unit.
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Relative Ratios
Middle schoolers discover that proportions are made up of equal ratios each containing the same building blocks. They, using the Internet, apply their knowledge of direct relationships and proportions to problems in planetary science.
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Understanding the Water Cycle
Investigate the water cycle and how water moves from the land to the air and back to the land. Create a terrarium and observe the water cycle at work. Define weather terms including evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.
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Air Under Pressure
Introduce your class to air masses and how they affect the weather with a lesson that focuses on the differences between high and low air pressure systems. The class explores actual weather data using archived weather data.
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Passive Solar Design
Students study what passive solar design is for buildings and structures. In this solar design instructional activity students identify passive solar design techniques.
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PLANETS IN PROPORTION
Middle schoolers discover scales for both the solar bodies' relative sizes and their distances from the sun. They find equatorial circumference and volumes of their solar bodies. Students apply estimation strategies and proportioanl...
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The Sun in Our Lives
Third graders identify the different parts of the sun. In this astronomy lesson, 3rd graders examine how the sun's energy drive life processes on Earth. They construct a model of a solar system using large rolls of toilet paper.
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Water, Weather, and the World
Students in a special education classroom examine the role of weather and water in their lives. Each day, they add a symbol for the weather outside and identify the proper activities for the weather on that day. In groups, they...
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Avoiding Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Burning Fossil Fuels
Chemistry and earth science meet in a lesson on carbon dioxide emissions. After reading about atmospheric problems caused by using fossil fuels, science stars balance equations for the burning of different alkanes. They compute the...
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Designing a Spectroscopy Mission
In this mind-bending activity, young engineers explore this question of whether or not light actually bends. Using holographic diffraction gratings, groups design and build a spectrograph. The groups then move on research a problem...
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Solar System Distance Activity
Students examine the distances between the Sun, planets, and smaller objects in the Solar System. They design a model using beads that shows the scale distances of the Solar System using astronomical units converted into a 10 centimeter...
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Attributes of Renewable Energy: From Nanopossibilities to Solar Power
Students explore solar energy, why we use it and how we use it. In this renewable energy lesson students compare active and solar techniques.
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A New Angle on PV Efficiency
Let me get an angle on this! Investigate the orientation of a photovoltaic panel and its effect on efficiency. By using a light source, learners collect and plot current output to determine the ultimate orientation. The resource includes...
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Energy Resources and Systems
We've talked a lot about energy, but where does energy come from? Pupils brainstorm different energy sources through a class discussion to kick off the 14th installment of a 25-part Energy Systems and Solutions unit. They then research...
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Sun and Weather
How is the Earth's weather created? Middle schoolers will explain how the Sun's energy is transformed into different forms. They will perform mathematical calculations of volume, mass, and temperature. They they will explain the...
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"Space" Investigations
Sixth graders understand the patterns of change observable on Earth as a result of the movement of the different bodies in the solar system. They identify the physical characteristics of the different components of the solar system.
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Fine Motor Skills
Fourth graders discuss what they know about the planets, space, and the solar system including the colors of the planets. They also talk about why the planets are the color that they are. Next, they color cut-outs of the planets using...
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Seein' Double, Seein' Double
By using the Internet, hands-on activities, video, and cooperative learning, pupils look into the conditions in which light casts shadows on objects. The lesson includes fabulous hands-on activities, art projects, worksheets, and reource...
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Weather Basics
Weather — there's more to it than meets the eye of the storm. With this resource young meteorologists learn about the basics of weather, including information about the factors that influence the weather, common weather vocabulary,...
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Olympic Solar Energy
Students use cardboard and aluminum foil to construct a solar oven that concentrates enough sunlight to cook a hotdog. They review the history and use of solar energy in relation to the Olympics.
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Planetary Mobile
Learners receive pre-cut templates of cardboard with appropriate diameters of each planet and the sun. They use multi-colored construction paper, scissors, yarn, and other art supplies to create their own models of planets. When students...
Ventura County Air Pollution Control District
Effects of Global Warming
Your learners have probably heard of climate change, but do they really understand what it is? Study the history, details, and future implications of global warming and the greenhouse effect with a set of activities designed for an...
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Cooking with the Sun!
Learners access prior knowledge of solar energy and understand that solar energy produces heat. In this solar cooker lesson, students complete grade appropriate experiments using the heat of the sun. Learners complete a worksheet on...
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Fossil Fuels (III), The Geology of Coal: Interpreting Geologic History
Students hypothesize about why various samples of coal have different characteristics. Pupils use information that they found during Internet searches to ascertain the validity of their hypotheses and verify the "story" of coal. ...