In this laboratory activity, learners explore the difference between heat and temperature, and explore the rate of heat transfer from one substance to another as it depends on the density of the substances being investigated. The activity can be conducted either in a science lab or in a kitchen. It is one of two activities supporting the scientific investigation of the Interstellar Medium (ISM), and is linked to reading material, reading review questions and problems, a teacher answer sheet, and glossary.

The site features an online game in which participants keep recyclable items out of the trash by guiding them into proper bins. Accompanying the game is a list of three categories of items that can be recycled, along with the benefits of doing so. This lesson is part of the Climate Kids website, a NASA education resource featuring articles, videos, images and games focused on the science of climate change.

This is a lesson about magnetism and solar flares. Learners will evaluate real solar data and images in order to calculate the energy and magnetic strength of a solar flare moving away from the Sun as a coronal mass ejection. This is Activity 3 in the Exploring Magnetism in Solar Flares teachers guide.

This toolkit includes PowerPoints and scripts, videos and accompanying activities and handouts about supernovae. Following are specific items in the kit: Supernova in the Lives of Stars PowerPoint and Script; Let's Make a Supernova (participants imagine themselves inside a large star at the end of its life, just as it is about to go supernova); Nuclear Fusion (a simple and engaging activity explains nuclear fusion and how radiation is generated by stars, using marshmallows as a model); Supernova Star Maps (allow visitors to experience finding stars in the night sky that will eventually go supernova); A Universe Without Supernovae (an active game to illustrate the value of supernovae in the universe); and Lives of Stars (an activity and handout about the lifecycle of stars and when supernovae happen.)

This 12-minute video lesson clarifies the effect of axial precession on the calendar and the date of perihelion and aphelion. [Cosmology and Astronomy playlist: Lesson 73 of 85]

In the first video segment, we describe the fundamental postulate of statistical mechanics. The direct product notation we introduce in the second segment helps us to discuss the states available to a collection of many parts, which helps us, in turn, to derive the Boltzmann factor in the third segment. The fourth video segment explains how the Boltzmann factor helps us to calculate average properties for systems in thermal contact with large baths and introduces entropy (Greek letter sigma), free energy (F), and the partition function (Z).

Even when we model the dynamics of the abundances of molecules inside biological systems using calculus, it is important to remember that underlying behavior can be apparently random ("stochastic"). Even a deterministic system containing components moving in periodic ways can, at early times, support dynamics that appear disordered. The behavior of systems containing complicated collections of interacting parts can be difficult to predict with accuracy (chaos). Finally, systems can display stochasticity because the outcomes of measurements on quantum systems are indeterminate in a fundamental way. Random processes are modeled using Markov models.

Students will learn a sample-variance curve fitting method that can be used to determine whether a set of experimental data appears to have been generated by a model. This method is based on minimizing the reduced chi-squared value. This video includes a reminder to inspect normalized residuals before reporting fitted parameters.

Cycles are a big deal in engineering. Today we’ll explain what they are and how they’re used in heat engines, refrigerators, and heat pumps. We’ll also discuss phase diagrams and the power of using renewable energy resources

How do we design the most efficient machines and processes? Today we’ll try to figure that out as we discuss heat & work, reversibility & irreversibility, and how to use efficiency to measure a system.

In our first episode of Crash Course Engineering, Shini explains what engineering is, and gives a brief overview of its four main branches (civil, mechanical, electrical, and chemical) as well as a look at some of the other fields of engineering.

Just how small are nanomaterials? And what can we do with stuff that small? Today we’ll discuss some special properties of nanomaterials, how some can change at different sizes, and the difference between engineered nanomaterials and ones that occur naturally. We’ll also talk about some of the future research that’s needed on the use of nanomaterials.

We’ve talked about many important concepts for engineers, but today we’re going to discuss a hugely important one that you might not even realize is an engineering concept: ethics. We’ll talk about what a Code of Ethics is. We’ll explore engineering ethics and the ethical theories of utilitarianism, rights ethics, and duty ethics. We’ll also take a look at a few different real life examples of ethical problems in engineering.

A lot of work goes into managing our impact on the environment and its impact on us. That work is the work of environmental engineers. In this episode we’ll explore water quality, air quality, noise pollution, waste management, and more.

In this episode we looked at robots and the engineering principles of robots. We learned how robots use sensors to interpret their environment, how actuators and effectors allow a robot to manipulate the objects around it to accomplish a task, and how computers coordinate the efforts of the two.

This week we’re exploring aerospace engineering and its two main fields: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. We’ll explore life & buoyancy, propulsion systems, and the challenges of managing the human body in space.

This is an introductory text intended for a one-year introductory course of the type typically taken by biology majors, or for AP Physics 1 and 2. Algebra and trig are used, and there are optional calculus-based sections. .

This site offers tons of science experiments that can be done at home.

This site offers a collection of hundreds of free K-12 STEM resources, from standalone models and simulations to short activities and week long sequences of curriculum materials. Filter by type of subject, activity type and grade. Searchable subjects include: physics and chemistry, life science, engineering, earth and space, and math.

College Physics for AP Courses is designed to engage students in their exploration of physics and help them to relate what they learn in the classroom to their lives and to apply these concepts to the Advanced Placement test. Physics underlies much of what is happening today in other sciences and in technology, therefore the book includes interesting facts and ideas that go beyond the scope of the AP course to further student understanding. The AP Connection in each chapter directs students to the material they should focus on for the AP® exam, and what content — although interesting — is not necessarily part of the AP curriculum.