This is an activity that compares the magnetic field of the Earth to the complex magnetic field of the Sun. Using images of the Earth and Sun that have magnets attached in appropriate orientations, learners will use a handheld magnetic field detector to observe the magnetic field of the Earth and compare it to that of the Sun, especially in sunspot areas. For each group of students, this activity requires use of a handheld magnetic field detector, such as a Magnaprobe or a similar device, a bar magnet, and ten small disc magnets.

This resource describes the physics behind the formation of clouds, and provides a demonstration of those principles using a beaker, ice, a match, hot water, and a laser pointer. 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 short demo/activity, a balloon with baking soda in it is stretched over the mouth of a flask or bottle containing vinegar. The balloon is tipped so that the baking soda falls into the vinegar, and the reaction creates carbon dioxide, which inflates the balloon. The activity is part of the children's book, The Air We Breathe.

This is an activity about 3-D imagery. Learners can follow the instructions to create their own 3-D images using a digital camera, photo editing software, and red-blue 3-D glasses.

The purpose of the resource is to produce a land cover type map from hard copies of Landsat satellite images.

This is an activity about magnetism. Using bar magnets, classroom materials, and a compass, learners will explore how bar magnets interact with one another and with other materials, use a compass to find the direction north, and use various materials to make magnetic field lines visible around a bar magnet. This is an activity in a larger poster resource, entitled The Sun Like It's Never Been Seen Before: In 3D.

This is an activity about bar magnets and their invisible magnetic fields. Learners will experiment with magnets and a compass to detect and draw magnetic fields. This is Activity 1 of a larger resource, entitled Exploring the Sun. The NASA spacecraft missions represented by this material include SOHO, TRACE, STEREO, Hinode, and SDO.

This activity introduces Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and poses questions that help students answer questions that require spatial data. Students examine questions about communities and populations from local to state to national scales. Six GIS, math and mapping activities are identified in this resource. 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 a lesson about using evidence to construct sequences of geologic events. Learners will interpret real NASA science data to identify features on the surface of Mars, determine the surface history of the area, calculate the size of features, and develope investigable questions. Students will study images taken by NASA's Mars Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) camera orbiting Mars. Students will use the THEMIS images to analyze the surface features and geological history of Mars. The lesson models scientific inquiry using the 5E instructional model and includes teacher notes and vocabulary.

This is a lesson about determining planetary composition. Learners will use a reflectometer to determine which minerals are present (from a set of knowns) in a sample of Mars soil simulant. Requires the use of ALTA II spectrometers (which may be borrowed from the Lunar and Planetary Institute or purchased online) and Mars soil simulant. The activity is part of Project Spectra, a science and engineering program for middle-high school students, focusing on how light is used to explore the Solar System.

This is an activity about image comparison. Learners will analyze and compare images taken by the Solar Dynamics Observatory. They will match four magnetic solar images, or magnetograms, to their corresponding extreme ultraviolet, or EUV, light images by studying solar features in the images. At the end, they will recognize that areas of high magnetic activity on the Sun correspond to extreme solar activity.

This article explores how statistics can be interpreted in different ways to yield different conclusions. It describes the outcome and discussion of two class activities. In the first, the results are interpreted to "show" that taking a group rather than an individual perspective is ultimately beneficial to the individual. In the second, a variation is added "showing" that telling the truth is better that lying. 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 activity introduces measurement and scale using hands-on activities. In this activity, students use the concept of similar triangles to determine the height of a tree. This activity is one of several available on an educational poster related to NASA's Space Interferometry Mission.

This is an activity about coronal mass ejections. Learners will calculate the velocity and acceleration of a coronal mass ejection, or CME, based on its position in a series of images from the Large-Angle Spectrometric Coronograph (LASCO) instrument on NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft. This is Activity 2 of a larger resource, Exploring the Sun. The NASA spacecraft missions represented by this material include SOHO, TRACE, STEREO, Hinode, and SDO.

How big and how old is the universe? This culminating telescope investigation for high school students has them first taking images of galaxies near and far; then measuring and calculating their distances; then predicting how they might expect galaxies to be moving based on various models of gravity; and then comparing their results with the galaxy velocity measurements in a NASA database. From this data, students explore the concept of an expanding universe and can actually determine an estimate for the age of our universe. This activity is part of a DVD that is a professional development resource for educators. Many new astronomy learners, students and adults alike, are unfamiliar with the universe beyond the solar system. Instructions for obtaining the DVD and registering for the professional development workshop are contained on the website.

In this activity, students learn about the advantages of the metric system, by comparing the ease of calculation and conversion between the English and metric systems of measurement. 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 a website about microbiology. Learners may explore information about microorganisms, extremophiles and extreme habitats, as well as the ecology, diversity and evolution of micro-organisms.

This 28-minute film was created to explain how our current understanding of the Milky Way was reached using many different wavelength of the electromagnetic spectrum. Please note, the link is to a direct download of the video; this is a large file - 336 MB.

In this activity, student teams design small-scale physical models of hot and cold planets, (Venus and Mars), and learn that small scale models allow researchers to determine how much larger systems function. There is both a team challenge and competition built into this activity. Experimental findings are then used to support a discussion of human outposts on Mars. The resource includes an experimental design guide for students as well as a handout outlining a method for the design of controlled experiments, and student data sheets. Student questions and an essay assignment are provided as classroom assessments. This is Activity A in the second module, titled "Modeling hot and cold planets," of the resource, "Earth Climate Course: What Determines a Planet's Climate?" The course aims to help students to develop an understanding of our environment as a system of human and natural processes that result in changes that occur over various space and time scales.

In this activity, students pose several hypotheses for what will happen if you continue heating or supplying energy to the hot and cold planet models (Mercury, Mars, Venus, and Earth) and then test their hypotheses using a spreadsheet based radiation balance model. The activity supports investigation of a real world challenge, experimenting with life support conditions for Mars at an Arctic outpost. The interactive model runs are conducted using a Java applet. This resource includes student worksheets, assessment questions and a teacher's guide. This is Activity B in module 2, Modeling hot and cold planets, of the resource, Earth Climate Course: What Determines a Planet's Climate? The course aims to help students to develop an understanding of our environment as a system of human and natural processes that result in changes that occur over various space and time scales.