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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Thermo and Fluid Dynamics of a Homemade "Lava Lamp"

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners construct their own lava lamp using simple substances. In this physics lesson, students explain how difference in density causes convection. They solve for forces and buoyancy using mathematical equations.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

WAVES AND PHOTONS

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners examine the many types of electromagnetic waves, the concept of an EM wave, how James Clerk Maxwell proposed a slight modification of the equations of electricity, Heinrich Hertz and his radio-frequency, wavelengths, and light...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

The Many Faces of Energy

For Students 8th - 10th
In this energy worksheet, students are given a table of the many measurements of energy. They solve 6 problems converting from one measurement of energy to another using the conversion factors given.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

MOTION IN A CIRCLE

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars explore uniform circular motion, and the relation of its frequency of N revolutions/sec with the peripheral velocity v and with the rotation period T, and the "centripetal acceleration" of an object.
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Worksheet
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Hubble Spies Colliding Asteroids!

For Students 9th - 11th
In this colliding asteroids worksheet, students are given the equation to determine the collision time for asteroids. Students use this equation to solve 4 problems including finding the area of a cross-section through the body of an...
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Worksheet
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Areas and Probabilities

For Students 9th - 12th
For this area and probability worksheet, high schoolers solve 5 problems where they find the probability of an event occurring. They also use a given photograph of the moon's surface to find the area covered by craters and determine the...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Auroras

For Students 7th - 9th
In this aurora worksheet, students read a description of an aurora observed by Captain Standard in 1859. Students interpret the description with a drawing giving as much detail as possible using colored media to capture what they read.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Fermi Detects Gamma-Rays from Messier

For Students 10th - 12th
In this power law function worksheet, learners use data from the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space telescope to apply the power law function to physical phenomena. Students use a graph to solve four problems.
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Worksheet
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How Many Stars are in the Sky?

For Students 10th - 12th
For this star count worksheet, students solve three problems using a given polynomial and its logarithm to determine the number of stars in a given area.
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Lesson Plan
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Areology-The Study of Mars

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students examine core samples from Mars and discover what they can use it to tell the history of Mars.  In this core sample lesson students create and analyze their own core samples then eat them at the end.
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Lesson Plan
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Creature Feature

For Teachers 5th - Higher Ed
Students make detailed observations and identify an unknown using descriptions.  In this observation lesson students are given a creature and must be able to identify it by species and genus.
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Lesson Plan
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It's Just Right

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Young scholars conduct an experiment to determine the temperature tolerance of yeasts. In this biology lesson plan, students collect data and compare them by plotting graphs. They explain how extreme temperatures affect organisms.
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Lesson Plan
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Impact Craters: Holes in the Ground!

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers simulate crater formation through a lab activity. In this space science lesson, students calculate how much energy is transferred during meteorite impact. They identify different factors affecting the size and depth of...
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Lesson Plan
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Follow the Falling Meteorite

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students use triangulation method to locate meteorite landing site on the map. In this earth science lesson, students participate in a meteorite treasure hunt set up by the teacher. They explain how this method is used by scientists to...
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Lesson Plan
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A Bird's Eye View Of Your Community

For Teachers K - 3rd
Students locate and identify their community by using a satellite image from the Internet. Students locate and identify common land structures within their community. You may want to include structures such as roads/streets, houses and...
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Lesson Plan
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Blame It On El Nino

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Learners understand what the weather phenomenon El Nino is and what causes it. Students recognize how remote sensing technology can detect and predict El Nino. Learners discover how El Nino effects weather conditions throughout the globe...
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Lesson Plan
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MASS

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students distinguish between weight and mass. They examine how in oscillations of a mass against an elastic spring--in the absence of gravity, or in horizontal motion--the length of the oscillation period is proportional to the square...
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Lesson Plan
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FRAMES OF REFERENCE: THE BASICS

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine the concept of frames of reference in physics: that two frames of reference, each moving with respect to the other with a constant velocity v, observe the same accelerations and therefore Newton's laws are the same in both.
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Lesson Plan
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Is There Water on Mars?

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Young scholars decide whether or not there is or has even been water on Mars. They analyze temperature and pressure data from the Pathfinder mission to Mars, and then they analyze images of Mars, interpreting the landforms they see and...
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Lesson Plan
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Modeling Hot and Cold Planets

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students, in teams, design and construct models of two planets, one hot and the other cold, using a variety of materials. They attempt to create the models out of substances that will actually show the greatest temperature differences...
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Worksheet
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Volcanoes are a Blast-Working with Simple Equations

For Students 9th - 12th
For this projectile motion worksheet, high schoolers solve 3 problems and an inquiry problem using three equations that describe projectile motion. One equation is for the maximum velocity to reach a height, H, the other is the maximum...
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Worksheet
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Measuring Star Temperatures

For Students 7th - 9th
In this measuring star temperatures, students find the temperature of a star using Planck's curve and the Wein Displacement law. Students also find the peak wavelengths for given stars using Planck's curve.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Rotation Velocity of a Galaxy

For Students 9th - 11th
In this orbit of stars in galaxies worksheet, students are given an equation that models the orbital speeds of stars as they relate to their distance from the nucleus of a galaxy. Students solve 5 problems using this equation and...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

The Earth and Moon to Scale

For Students 9th - 12th
For this Earth and Moon worksheet, students find the ratio of the Earth's radius to the Moon's radius, they compare the diameter of the Earth and Moon, they create paper models to scale of the Earth and Moon and they compare Earth-Moon...