Students observe and discuss a cup and pencil model of a cyclone to better understand the science behind how this pollutant recovery method functions in cleaning industrial air pollution.

In this online card game, players prepare five important NASA Earth missions. The object of the game is to be the first to complete three of five missions. A mission is completed when all four of its required components have been supplied. Each mission needs a rocket, an orbit, a spacecraft, and a science objective. There are different kinds of each of these components; each mission needs a different combination of the components. The game is based on real NASA Earth missions: Aqua, Aura, CloudSat, IceSat, and Terra.

Students will predict bond polarity using electron negativity values; indicate polarity with a polar arrow or partial charges; rank bonds in order of polarity; and predict molecular polarity using bond polarity and molecular shape.

Students work as engineers to learn about the properties of molecules and how they move in 3D space through the use of LEGO MINDSTORMS(TM) NXT robotics. They design and build molecular models and use different robotic sensors to control the movement of the molecular simulations. Students learn about the size of atoms, Newman projections, and the relationship of energy and strain on atoms. This unique modular modeling activity is especially helpful in providing students with a spatial and tactile understanding of how molecules behave.

Learn about position, velocity, and acceleration graphs. Move the little man back and forth with the mouse and plot his motion. Set the position, velocity, or acceleration and let the simulation move the man for you.

This story-based lesson presents information on the early investigation into solar and cosmic X-rays, as well as the scientists working in pursuit of X-ray detection and imaging, that set the stage for a program of space-based astronomy. The lesson is narrated by Dr. Herbert Friedman, and includes information on his work, as well as his childhood, home life, and interests while a college student.

Build your own system of heavenly bodies and watch the gravitational ballet. With this orbit simulator, you can set initial positions, velocities, and masses of 2, 3, or 4 bodies, and then see them orbit each other.

This is a lesson about the Cassini Spacecraft. Learners will engage in basic problem-solving as they design and construct their own small model of a spacecraft. Through writing and illustration, students will document their work and will complete a Design Review Summary. Like scientists and engineers, students will make presentations to show and explain their models and design summaries to their peers. This is lesson 5 of 10 in the Mission to Saturn Educators Guide, Reading Writing Rings, for grades 1-2.

This is a lesson about spacecraft design. Learners will hear the NASA solutions to the problems they wrote about lesson 6. They will then write a nonfiction piece comparing their spacecraft to Cassini, and share their writing with the class. This introduction to design prepares students for the task of trying to design a working model of a probe to land on Saturn‰Ûªs moon, Titan. This is lesson 7 of 12 in the Mission to Saturn Educators Guide, Reading Writing Rings, for grades 3-4.

This is a lesson about spacecraft design. Learners will think like engineers as they are presented with problems that the NASA team faced when designing a spacecraft to travel to Saturn. Students work with partners to think of solutions to address those problems, and to use these ideas to sketch their spacecraft. This is lesson 6 of 12 in the Mission to Saturn Educators Guide, Reading Writing Rings, for grades 3-4.

The purpose of NASA's Earth Observatory is to provide a freely accessible publication on the Internet where the public can obtain new satellite imagery and scientific information about our home planet. The focus is on Earth's climate and environmental change. The site is divided into six main sections: Data and Images, Features, News, Reference, Missions, and Experiments. The Data and Images, Features, and Reference sections are each subdivided into sections for Atmosphere, Oceans, Land, Life on Earth, and Heat and Energy. The missions section explains all of the current NASA missions, and the Experiments section contains activities related to the topics covered in the other sections. Information provided in these pages includes text, photographs, animations, maps, and datasets. The site also includes a glossary, "ask a scientist" feature, and links to current news stories.

As part of NASA's Earth Observatory, visitors to the Escape from the Amazon Web site are invited to "Accompany NASA scientists as they explore our world and unravel the mysteries of climate and environmental change." The Escape from the Amazon feature focuses on the buildup of carbon dioxide and its effect on global climate change, and the role that forests play in reversing this trend. A really neat feature of this site is a glossary function that can be turned on or off. When on, it highlights technical terms. Clicking on any highlighted term will bring up a very descriptive and straightforward definition. Also included as the second part of the feature is an introduction to the large-scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia. This feature highlights the enormity and significance of the Amazon River Valley and its effect on global climate. This Web site is a great outreach and educational tool offered by NASA and should be interesting to lay readers, scientists, and teachers. Several great graphics help to illustrate the information provided.

STEM CAREERS, TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
What can you do with the nanoscale? This video shows us all the possibilities of how operating at the nanoscale can open up a whole new world in the advancement of science and technology.

ABOUT THE SCIENCE
The word nano is from the Greek word “Nanos”, which means dwarf. Nanoscience works on a scale 1000 times smaller than anything that can be seen with an optical microscope, which is the microscope you most likely use in your science classroom.
Nanoscience is an fascinating study using physical science, chemistry, physics, biology, environmental science and engineering. The career opportunities are equally diverse. Nano is all about the very small things in life, the stuff beyond what your eyes can see. How small is small? One hair on your head is between 50,000 and 100,000 in diameter.
The nanoscale is based on the nanometre, which is one billion times smaller than a meter. In fact, because nano is a prefix, it always means one billionth of the unit connected. A nanosecond is one billionth of a second, a nanogram is; you guessed it! One billionth of a gram.
When working on the small scale of nano, new materials and devices are developed by manipulating individual atoms and molecules. By manipulating these small structures you can change the properties of the material creating new materials with many applications. Although nano is small it has the potential to make big impacts. By working with nanomaterial you could conquer global issues such as cleaning unsafe drinking water, detecting cancer, and building faster technologies.

Produce light by bombarding atoms with electrons. See how the characteristic spectra of different elements are produced, and configure your own element's energy states to produce light of different colors.

This is a lesson about the solar wind, Earth's magnetosphere, and the Moon. Participants will work in groups of two or three to build a model of the Sun-Earth-Moon system. They will use the model to demonstrate that the Earth is protected from particles streaming out of the Sun, called the solar wind, by a magnetic shield called the magnetosphere, and that the Moon is periodically protected from these particles as it moves in its orbit around the Earth. Participants will also learn that the NASA ARTEMIS mission is a pair of satellites orbiting the Moon that measure the intensity of solar particles streaming from the Sun.

In this activity, students view a satellite image of Earth at night, and consider the environmental considerations and consequences associated with the pattern of light they see. The resource includes a map for student use. Summary background information, data and images supporting the activity are available on the Earth Update data site. To complete the activity, students will need to access the Space Update multimedia collection, which is available for download and purchase for use in the classroom.

This activity introduces the primary colors of light. Satellites transmit images to us as a series of numbers, and this activity is designed to show how numbers are combined to create images using the primary colors of light. Students work in groups to create different colors using flashlights with red, blue, and green theatrical gels. Students create a numerical code to represent colors of light, experiment with building colors using the code, and complete a color mixing table.

The lesson begins by introducing Olympics as the unit theme. The purpose of this lesson is to introduce students to the techniques of engineering problem solving. Specific techniques covered in the lesson include brainstorming and the engineering design process. The importance of thinking out of the box is also stressed to show that while some tasks seem impossible, they can be done. This introduction includes a discussion of the engineering required to build grand, often complex, Olympic event centers.

Students use three tracks marked on the floor, one in yards, one in feet and one in inches. As they start and stop a robot specific distances on a "runway," they can easily determine the equivalent measurements in other units by looking at the nearby tracks. With this visual and physical representation of the magnitude of the units of feet, yard and inches, students gain an understanding of what is meant by "unit conversion." They also gain a familiarity with different common units of measurement. They use multiplication and division to verify their physical estimated unit conversions. Students also learn about how common and helpful it is to convert from one unit to another in everyday situations and for engineering purposes. This activity helps students make the abstract concept of unit conversion real so they develop mental models of the magnitude of units instead of applying memorized conversion factors by rote.

This two-sided poster presents images and information about ozone. The front features a series of color Earth images; each image reflects total ozone readings taken every October from 1979 to 2012. The poster back contains information about ozone under the following headings: What is Ozone?, Chemistry of the Ozone Layer, Measuring Ozone in the Earth's Atmosphere, Timeline of Stratospheric Ozone Depletion and Observations, How the Ozone Hole Forms, and A World Avoided. In addition, the back contains two activities: Visualizing the Ozone Hole and a Color by Number worksheet.