NASA
Newton Car
If a car gets heavier, it goes farther? By running an activity several times, teams experience Newton's Second Law of Motion. The teams vary the amount of weight they catapult off a wooden block car and record the distance the car...
Curated OER
Cross Sections and Collision Times
High schoolers solve five problems including finding the cross sectional area of two bodies, determining the swept out volume of a moving body, finding the average particle volume of a body and determining the collision time for a body.
Curated OER
Gelatin Volcanoes
Students investigate magma flow using gelatin volcano models. In this earth science lesson, students sketch the magma bodies as observed from the top of their model. They explain why magma moves that way.
Curated OER
Earth's Water
If the majority of our planet is covered with water, why do we need to bother conserving it? With a thorough and varied investigation into the location and types of water on the earth, learners will gain an understanding of why this...
Curated OER
The Water Cycle
Your class sets up a mini water cycle model to examine the process. Then they watch an animation, following a water molecule through the cycle. A well-developed lab sheet guides learners through the lesson and a PowerPoint presentation...
Curated OER
Water in the Biosphere
Environmental explorers examine the campus and take note of living organisms. Introduce them to the biosphere and the questions of the day: How much water can be found in the biosphere? A slide show helps you along, and even contains a...
NASA
Foam Rocket
When going for distance, does it make a difference at what angle you launch the rocket? Teams of three launch foam rockets, varying the launch angle and determining how far they flew. After conducting the series of flights three times,...
NASA
Launch Altitude Tracker
Using PVC pipe and aquarium tubing, build an altitude tracker. Pupils then use the altitude tracker, along with a tangent table, to calculate the altitude of a launched rocket using the included data collection sheet.
NASA
Discovering the Milky Way
What do you call a tiny collection of galaxies? A puny-verse! Young scholars graph data gathered by scientists studying Cepheids. They attempt to identify a relationship between the variables through standard and logarithmical graphing....
NASA
Just How Far is That Star?
Pupils often wonder how we know the distance to various stars. Starting with a thought experiment and progressing to a physical experiment, they determine the brightness and distance to various stars. The evaluation requires critical...
NASA
Collecting Electromagnetic Radiation
Astronomy is literally over your head, but this lesson will explain how we study it. Young scientists make telescopes, calculate and compare the light gathering power of lenses, and simulate detection of infared radiation. Materials...
NASA
What’s the Problem with Isotropy?
Some patterns are so small, we can't see them without the help of technology. The same is true for cosmic microwave background radiation. During this activity and discussion, scholars examine both anisotropic and isotropic items and...
NASA
Gravitational Waves
Young scientists participate in a hands-on experiment to explore Einstein's theory of relativity in a creative manner. They investigate various waves and compare their characteristics as they discuss how each wave is created. Next,...
NASA
Cosmic Microwave Background
Begin your next class with a BANG! Pupils discuss the formation of our universe and its expansion before proceeding with an activity designed to demonstrate what most likely occurred billions of years ago. They conclude with a discussion...
NASA
Tools of the Trade
Did you know every state in the U.S. has at least one observatory? During the lesson, scholars research the cost of building and maintaining an observatory. They must present their information in a proposal to build a new observatory,...
NASA
Measuring Dark Energy
You're only 10 minutes late? Do you know how much the universe has expanded in those 10 minutes? Scholars graph supernovae based on their redshift and see if the results verify Hubble's Law. If it does confirm it, the universe is...
International Technology Education Association
Sizing Up the Clouds
How much rain can that cloud make? Through a simulation, the class estimates the amount of candy rain contained in different cup clouds. After probing the clouds using different methods, class members adjust their estimates. Participants...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Weather or Not
What is the difference between weather and climate? This is the focus question of a lesson that takes a deeper look at how weather data helps determine climate in a region. Using weather and climate cards, students decide if a statement...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Causes and Effects of Climate Change
Wrap-up a unit on global climate change with a lesson that examines the causes and effects of climate change. Learners fill out a chart that represents what they think causes climate change—natural and human-based—and what they think...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Faces of Climate Change
How does climate change affect you? First in a three-part series, the activity focuses on how individuals living around the world are affected by climate change. Individuals take on the role of a given character and share their...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Introducing Ecosystem Services
Purifying air and water, providing soil in which to grow crops, and moving water through its natural cycle are all services an ecosystem provides that benefit humans. Lesson four in a series lets learners explore and discuss the value of...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Historical Climate Cycles
Scientists use ice core samples to obtain temperatures of the earth from 400,000 years ago! The third of five lessons instructs pupils to interpret historical climate data to see changes over time. In part I, participants interpret...
NASA
Ripening of Fruits and Vegetables
How long do fresh foods last in space at the International Space Station? Which foods perish quicker than others? How can astronauts preserve their foods to make them last longer in space? Young scientists test the rates at which some...
NASA
Supernova Chemistry
By measuring the wavelength, frequency, and intensity of electromagnetic radiation, scientists determine the temperature, density, and composition of far away items. Scholars rotate through ten lab stations using a spectroscope at each...