Build your own system of heavenly bodies and watch the gravitational ballet. …
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 an activity about the solar cycle. Learners will use X-ray …
This is an activity about the solar cycle. Learners will use X-ray data from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) and record the total number of solar flares in their birth month over the course of eleven years and compute the percentage of high-energy X-ray flares which occur for each year. Learners will graph their findings to help them identify the long term pattern of flare activity on the Sun.
The purpose of NASA's Earth Observatory is to provide a freely accessible …
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.
This page, from National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Earth Observatory, contains a …
This page, from National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Earth Observatory, contains a satellite image of the mouth of the Mississippi River and the nearby Gulf of Mexico. The sediment carried by the river following a rainstorm is clearly evident as it mixes with the dark blue water. The site also contains links to the Newsroom and other recent images.
The purpose of NASA's Earth Observatory is to provide a freely-accessible publication …
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 specific focus of this Earth Observatory website is natural hazards. Earth scientists around the world use NASA satellite imagery to better understand the causes and effects of natural hazards. The goal in sharing these images is to help people visualize where and when natural hazards occur, and to help mitigate their effects. Natural hazards that are emphasized include dust and smoke, wildfires, floods, severe storms, and volcanoes. In addition, each week the site highlights major natural hazard events occurring around the globe. Links to satellite imagery and informational text concerning the natural hazard and image interpretation are included. The site also offers a link to unique imagery, such as earthquakes, droughts, and landslides, and features the latest unique imagery events around the globe.
First Nations University has developed a new science teaching resource called the …
First Nations University has developed a new science teaching resource called the National Science Laboratory Video Lessons for Indigenous Youth. The resource includes a variety of materials that bring together Indigenous knowledge and modern science, such as interviews with elders and knowledge keepers, laboratory manuals, and videos of lab experiments completed by students at Carlton Comprehensive High School in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.
FNU professor and project lead Arzu Sardarli explained that Indigenous knowledge on topics such as heat retention in teepees can be explained using the laws of physics and applied toward house construction today. "It's important not only for Indigenous students, it's very helpful for any student and I hope what we created within this project will be used by mainstream schools, too,” said Sardarli.
The educational materials developed include interviews with Elders and Knowledge Keepers, and laboratory manuals and videos for high school Biology, Chemistry and Physics classes.
Students learn about frequency and period, particularly natural frequency using springs. They …
Students learn about frequency and period, particularly natural frequency using springs. They learn that the natural frequency of a system depends on two things: the stiffness and mass of the system. Students see how the natural frequency of a structure plays a big role in the building surviving an earthquake or high winds.
Navigational tools and methods of early voyagers provide the background and contrast …
Navigational tools and methods of early voyagers provide the background and contrast to the satellite images and models used today. Students complete mapping activities based on historical data from Columbus and Blith. Students will also use a computer model of ocean currents to investigate the movement of objects drifting on the ocean surface. Note that this is lesson one of five on the Ocean Motion website. Each lesson investigates ocean surface circulation using satellite and model data and can be done independently. See Related URL's for links to the Ocean Motion Website which provide science background information, data resources, teacher material, student guides and a lesson matrix.
Produce light by bombarding atoms with electrons. See how the characteristic spectra …
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 …
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 use a piano keyboard to model spectral lines …
In this activity, students use a piano keyboard to model spectral lines as musical chords. It is designed to aid student understanding of spectral analysis, what the patterns mean, how elements are involved, and how this relates to stars. Traditionally, spectral images are two dimensional, and related to text. This auditory activity allows students to "hear" differences in patterns of various elements (e.g., nickel or helium). This activity is part of the "What is Your Cosmic Connection to the Elements" information and activity booklet. The booklet includes photos, teachers notes and instructions, and a link to a color image pdf of visible light spectra that can be printed and used to do the activity. This activity requires a piano keyboard, color printout or construction paper and/or toothpicks (to mark spectral lines of elements).
In this activity students develop a simplified log table using information from …
In this activity students develop a simplified log table using information from their Log Tapes. Then they use it to solve arithmetic problems by looking up and combining logs, and finding the antilog. Because these problems are extremely simple, students appreciate the logic of logarithms without getting bogged down in the arithmetic detail and error.åÊThis is activity B3 in the "Far Out Math" educator's guide. Lessons in the guide include activities in which students measure,compare quantities as orders of magnitude, become familiar with scientific notation, and develop an understanding of exponents and logarithms using examples from NASA's GLAST mission. These are skills needed to understand the very large and very small quantities characteristic of astronomical observations. Note: In 2008, GLAST was renamed Fermi, for the physicist Enrico Fermi.
Play with a 1D or 2D system of coupled mass-spring oscillators. Vary …
Play with a 1D or 2D system of coupled mass-spring oscillators. Vary the number of masses, set the initial conditions, and watch the system evolve. See the spectrum of normal modes for arbitrary motion. See longitudinal or transverse modes in the 1D system.
Students expand upon their understanding of simple machines with an introduction to …
Students expand upon their understanding of simple machines with an introduction to compound machines. A compound machine a combination of two or more simple machines can affect work more than its individual components. Engineers who design compound machines aim to benefit society by lessening the amount of work that people exert for even common household tasks. This lesson encourages students to critically think about machine inventions and their role in our lives.
In this experiential activity, students demonstrate to themselves the effect of the …
In this experiential activity, students demonstrate to themselves the effect of the optic disc, or blind spot, inherent to the optic nerve entering the posterior of the eye (bulbus oculi). This resource is from PUMAS - Practical Uses of Math and Science - a collection of brief examples created by scientists and engineers showing how math and science topics taught in K-12 classes have real world applications.
Start a chain reaction, or introduce non-radioactive isotopes to prevent one. Control …
Start a chain reaction, or introduce non-radioactive isotopes to prevent one. Control energy production in a nuclear reactor! (Previously part of the Nuclear Physics simulation - now there are separate Alpha Decay and Nuclear Fission sims.)
The purpose of this video tutorial is to review a couple ways …
The purpose of this video tutorial is to review a couple ways in which we think about numbers. Thinking in terms of street numbers, money in bank accounts, and quantum particles (e.g. Bose-Einstein condensate) is contrasted with focusing on associating numbers with distinguishable manipulatives, as is more familiar in K-8 courses. This video concludes with a reminder that the symbol "infinity" is not, itself, a number.
This activity introduces the primary colors of light. Satellites transmit images to …
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.
Numeracy is having the confidence and habits of mind to use mathematics …
Numeracy is having the confidence and habits of mind to use mathematics to meet the general demands of everyday life. Being a numerate person means using mathematics to make sense of something new and know what mathematics can and cannot do.
Numeracy provides First Nations, Métis and Inuit students the opportunity to discover connections on their own and apply strategies to solve real life problems. Throughout history, First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples have used real life traditional learning contexts to connect to their world.
In the Empowering the Spirit video series, students explore numeracy through Traditional Games, an elementary math class on probability and a high school physics class examining the structure of a tee pee and rocket nozzle.
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