The greenhouse effect is explained in this series of related questions and answers. 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 article explains the role that the ocean- and the effect of ocean warming- plays in determining the temperature differences between the North and South Poles. The article is part of the Climate Kids website, a NASA education resource featuring articles, videos, images and games focused on the science of climate change.
Arctic warming produces biological winners (whales) and losers (polar bears). This article explains why they are impacted differently and includes supplemental images. 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.
In this self-paced tutorial, learners analyze data to understand the relative influence of solar variability on today's climate to determine whether changes in incoming solar radiation can explain all or part of the warming trend we have seen in Earth's planetary temperatures. The resource supports teacher reflection on how climate change skepticism in the media impacts instruction in the classroom. Multimedia educational resources including video clips and data portals are included. This is the fourth of ten self-paced professional development modules providing opportunities for teachers to learn about climate change through first-hand data exploration. Glossary links to vocabulary are included.
In addition to instructions for making a model bee out of polymer clay, this site also contains related information about bees: a fact list, factors that threaten them, suggestions on how to help them, a waggle dance diagram and video, and even bee metaphors used in our language. The Climate Kids website is a NASA education resource featuring articles, videos, images and games focused on the science of climate change.
This is an activity about identifying and classifying objects in space. Learners will complete a worksheet asking them to identify certain pictures as a planet, moon, or asteroid. This activity requires a computer with Internet access and access to the Solar System Update software, and is Solar System Activity 2 in a larger resource, Space Update.
In these math problems, students will examine the characteristics of water droplets in clouds.
In this scenario-based, problem-based learning (PBL) activity, students investigate cloud formation, cloud classification, and the role of clouds in heating and cooling the Earth; how to interpret TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) images and data; and the role clouds play in the Earth‰Ûªs radiant budget and climate. Students assume the role of weather interns in a state climatology office and assist a frustrated student in a homework assignment. Learning is supported by a cloud in a bottle and an ice-albedo demonstration, a three-day cloud monitoring outdoor activity, and student journal assignments. The hands-on activities require two 2-liter soda bottles, an infrared heat lamp, and two thermometers. The resource includes a teacher's guide, questions and answer key, assessment rubric, glossary, and an appendix with information supporting PBL in the classroom.
Students determine the ability of various lenses and mirrors to gather light in order to compare and calculate their light gathering power.åÊThis activity is part of Unit 3 in the Space Based Astronomy guide that contains background information, worksheets, assessments, extensions, and standards.
This demonstration shows that similar-appearing lights can be distinctly different, suggesting that the light emitted is generated in different ways. It requires some advance preparation/setup by the teacher and three recommended sources of orange light, that can be purchased at a hardware or department store. Includes extensions and additional background information on light generation in a section on underlying principles. 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.
This is an activity about the electromagnetic spectrum and how light is split into its component frequencies or colors. Using a diffraction grating, learners will observe four different light sources and sketch their spectra. This activity requires access to a sodium vapor or mercury vapor light and two neon signs of differing color, as well as diffraction grating material. This is Astronomy Activity 2 in the Space Update collection of activities.
In this activity, students will create their own travel brochure or poster inviting people to visit a place where they could see an aurora. It is recommended that the class complete Lesson 1 in this series - What I know about the Aurora - prior to this activity. Includes teacher notes and instructions, student workshops and an online, animated story, and related teacher resources on aurora. This is lesson four of a collection of five activities that can be used individually or as a sequence; concludes with a KWL (Know/Want-to-know/Learned) assessment activity.
In this activity, students investigate sea level change during glacial maxima during the Ice Ages, and learn how lowered sea level presented additional routes for intercontinental human migration. 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 is an activity about identifying images of different space bodies and determining the cause of the craters pictured in each. Learners will use the Solar System Update software within Space Update to complete a worksheet. This is Solar System Activity 4 in Space Update.
This is an activity about electromagnetism. Learners will set up a simple circuit using a battery, wire, and knife switch, and then use a compass to map the magnetic field lines surrounding the wire. Next, they will add a coil of wire to the simple circuit and map the magnetic fields again. This is the second lesson in the second session of the Exploring Magnetism teachers guide.
This is an activity about identifying constellations. Learners will look for constellations in the Sky Tonight online program, draw images of these constellations, and attempt to find them in the night sky. Learners will also be asked to make connections between the shape of a constellation and its namesake. This activity requires the use of a computer with Internet access. It also requires access to the clear night sky. This activity is Sky Tonight Activity 1 in a larger resource, Space Update.
This example explains how contour mapping teaches both estimation and spatial visualization skills. To have experience visualizing 3-dimensional fields from a 2-dimensional map helps students throughout their mathematical career. 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.
In this activity, student teams identify the locations of coral reefs around the world, examine infrared satellite images of the Earth, and research the impacts that are threatening the survival of coral reefs. Each team creates a short oral presentation describing the coral reef they have researched. Students then plot on a composite map the locations where coral bleaching is occurring. Student worksheets, a teacher guide, and assessment rubric are included. This activity is part of Coastal Areas: Coral Reefs in Hot Water, part of the lesson series, The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change.
You can find statistics in every day life - this example explains how to calculate the chance of a member of a committee is receiving a bribe. 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.
In this lesson, students will explain CRaTER's purpose and how it works. They will also design (using paper and pencil) a cosmic ray detector to answer their own questions. CRaTER's purpose is to identify safe landing sites for future human missions to the moon; discover potential resources on the Moon; and characterize the radiation environment of the Moon. The lesson includes background information for the teacher, questions, and information about student preconceptions. This is lesson 4 of 4 from "The Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation."