In this activity, students learn how engineers use solar energy to heat buildings by investigating the thermal storage properties of some common materials: sand, salt, water and shredded paper. Students then evaluate the usefulness of each material as a thermal storage material to be used as the thermal mass in a passive solar building.

Working as if they were engineers, students design and construct model solar sails made of aluminum foil to move cardboard tube satellites through “space” on a string. Working in teams, they follow the engineering design thinking steps—empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test, redesign—to design and test small-scale solar sails for satellites and space probes. During the process, learn about Newton’s laws of motion and the transfer of energy from wave energy to mechanical energy. A student activity worksheet is provided.

Solar System explores the world around Earth, particularly the planets and the asteroid belt. Students will discover interesting facts about each planet, including their orbit and rotation times and the elements from which they are made. They will also learn the order of the planets and be able to compare and contrast them.

This activity is about planetary distances. Learners will create a model of the solar system using beads and string, and compare planetary sizes using common types of fruit and seeds. The lesson models scientific inquiry using the 5E instructional model and includes teacher notes and vocabulary.

Student teams design and build solar water heating devices that mimic those used in residences to capture energy in the form of solar radiation and convert it to thermal energy. This thermal energy is next transferred to water (to be used as domestic hot water) in the form of heat. In doing this, students gain a better understanding of the three different types of heat transfer, each of which plays a role in the solar water heater design. Once the model devices are constructed, students perform efficiency calculations and compare designs.

Students explore energy efficiency, focusing on renewable energy, by designing and building flat-plate solar water heaters. They apply their understanding of the three forms of heat transfer (conduction, convection and radiation), as well as how they relate to energy efficiency. They calculate the efficiency of the solar water heaters during initial and final tests and compare the efficiencies to those of models currently sold on the market (requiring some additional investigation by students). After comparing efficiencies, students explain how they would further improve their devices. Students learn about the trade-offs between efficiency and cost by calculating the total cost of their devices and evaluating cost per percent efficiency and per degree change of the water.

This is an online lesson associated with activities during Solar Week, a twice-yearly event in March and October during which classrooms are able to interact with scientists studying the Sun. This activity is scheduled to occur during Monday of Solar Week. The lesson introduces the concept of astronomical filters and their connections to imaging different objects in space. Learners will explore perceptions of images as seen using different colors of light, construct a filter wheel, and practice investigating various astronomical images using the filter wheel. This material was designed to highlight how filters are useful to astronomers and show how a real astronomical telescope uses filters to image the Sun. Outside of Solar Week, information, activities, and resources are archived and available online at any time.

This is an online lesson associated with activities during Solar Week, a twice-yearly event in March and October during which classrooms are able to interact with scientists studying the Sun. Outside of Solar Week, information, activities, and resources are archived and available online at any time. This is an activity about measurements of solar activity. Learners will observe an image of the Sun and sketch major features, plot data to begin to recognize patterns of solar activity, look for long-term patterns in graphed data, compare X-ray and visible light images of the Sun to find solar features common to both sets of images, and make a prediction of what the Sun will look like in a visible light image after observing an X-ray image taken on the same day. This activity is scheduled to occur during Monday of Solar Week.

This is an activity during Solar Week, a twice-yearly event in March and October during which classrooms are able to interact with scientists studying the Sun. Outside of Solar Week, information, activities, and resources are archived and available online at any time. This is an activity about reflection. Learners will create a foil funnel to focus light that can be detected by various means. This activity is scheduled to occur during Thursday of Solar Week. An optional part of this activity recommends use of a digital multimeter, an amp meter, and/or a solar cell.

This is an activity during Solar Week, a twice-yearly event in March and October during which classrooms are able to interact with scientists studying the Sun. Outside of Solar Week, information, activities, and resources are archived and available online at any time. This is an activity about energy absorption and reflection. In this hands-on activity, learners will experiment with ways of making ice cubes melt at different rates by choosing and testing various materials with different color and reflective properties. This activity is scheduled to occur during Thursday of Solar Week, and it requires use of a sunny outdoor location for an extended period of time.

This is an activity during Solar Week, a twice-yearly event in March and October during which classrooms are able to interact with scientists studying the Sun. Outside of Solar Week, information, activities, and resources are archived and available online at any time. This is an activity about reflection. In this hands-on activity, learners will build a solar water heater by lining a box with reflective material, adding a translucent cover, and adding water-filled cans that are painted black. The temperature of the water is taken and recorded every fifteen minutes. This activity can use the same solar cooker built for the Solar Week Thursday: Solar Pizza Box Cooker activity. This activity is scheduled to occur during Thursday of Solar Week, and it requires use of a sunny outdoor location for an extended period of time.

This is an activity during Solar Week, a twice-yearly event in March and October during which classrooms are able to interact with scientists studying the Sun. Outside of Solar Week, information, activities, and resources are archived and available online at any time. This is an activity about reflection. In this hands-on activity, learners will build a solar cooker by lining a box with reflective material and adding a translucent cover. This activity is scheduled to occur during Thursday of Solar Week, and it requires use of a sunny outdoor location for an extended period of time.

This is an activity during Solar Week, a twice-yearly event in March and October during which classrooms are able to interact with scientists studying the Sun. Outside of Solar Week, information, activities, and resources are archived and available online at any time. This is an activity about telling time using the Sun. Learners will create a solar shadow tool and use it to chart changes in the Sun's altitude through the seasons. This activity is scheduled to occur during Thursday of Solar Week. The activity requires access to a sunny outdoor location over the course of several days, weeks, or months, as well as materials and equipment such as pine board, dowel rod piece, drill and drill bit, saw, bulls-eye level, small nails, and either wood glue or hot glue.

This lesson discusses solenoids. Students learn how to calculate the magnetic field along the axis of a solenoid and complete an activity exploring the magnetic field of a metal slinky. Solenoids form the basis for the magnet of an MRI. Exploring the properties of this solenoid helps students understand the MRI machine.

This short video and interactive assessment activity is designed to teach second graders about identifying and naming 3d figures.

This short video and interactive assessment activity is designed to teach third graders about identifying and naming 3d figures.

Students are given a variety of materials and asked to identify each material as a solid, liquid or gas. They use their five senses ‰ŰÓ sight, sound, smell, texture and taste ‰ŰÓ to identify the other characteristics of each item.

Students continue their pyramid building journey, acting as engineers to determine the appropriate wedge tool to best extract rock from a quarry and cut into pyramid blocks. Using sample materials (wax, soap, clay, foam) representing rock types that might be found in a quarry, they test a variety of wedges made from different materials and with different degrees of sharpness to determine which is most effective at cutting each type of material.

In this lesson, students explore solid waste and its effects on the environment. They will collect classroom trash for analysis and build model landfills in order to understand the process and impact of solid waste management. Students will understand the role of engineers in solid waste management.

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation has several art museums around the world, which means more history to absorb virtually! Their Collection Online has over 1,700 diverse artworks by over renowned 600 artists—and it is definitely worth checking out.