Curated OER
STEREO Watches the Sun Kick up a Storm!
In this solar storm instructional activity, students use images of a solar tsunami to determine the size and speed of the wave. This instructional activity has 5 problems to solve.
Curated OER
Brief Encounters (Building Bridges)
Students participate in a simulation that explores how groups of two radically different cultures might interact. They, in groups, represent the different cultures and, after interacting, describe the opposite group's cultural norms and...
Curated OER
Brief Encounters: Building Bridges
Students engage in a roleplaying game n order to experience what it is like to encounter people of a different culture. In this lesson on building cultural connections, students will participate in a cultural simulation which will help...
Curated OER
Brief Encounter (Looking at Ourselves and Others)
Learners participate in a simulation game in which they realize what it is like to be from another culture. They observe and describe different behaviors. They also examine values from other cultures.
Peace Corps
Brief Encounters
How are Pandyas different than Chispas? Explore cultural norms and societal behaviors with an engaging role-play activity. Split into groups of two hypothetical cultural groups, the formal Pandyas and the sociable Chispas, and another...
Curated OER
Reading: An Amazing Swimsuit
In this inventions worksheet, students read a one page text about the new type of swimsuit used in the 2008 Beijing Olympics called the Speedo LZR Racer. Students answer 10 true or false questions about the passage.
Curated OER
Brief Encounters (Building Bridges)
Students experience what it is like to confront and deal with a culture highly different from their own. They gain skills in observing and describing behaviors and develop an understanding of how our cultural values influence the way we...
Curated OER
Brief Encounters (Looking at Ourselves and Others)
High schoolers participate in a simulation in which they examine how different cultures interact with one another. In groups, they follow the behaviors for their specific group while a group of observers records their interactions. To...
Curated OER
Civil Rights and Americans with Disabilities
Students apply the principles of American democracy to people with disabilities. They analyze how individuals and groups in American society have struggled to achieve the liberties and equality promised in the principles of American...
Curated OER
GPS Receiver Basics
Students practice using a GPS receiver. They walk in different directions and monitor their progress on maps. They enter specific locations and use information given to them to get them back to their original locations.
Curated OER
Alien Visitor's Rewrite
Pupils role play the role of an alien who analyzes how the media represents the different social groups. In groups, they write their own story in which they add or revise a character to make it non-stereotypical. They share their...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: The Start of the Space Race
Looks at the USSR's launch of Sputnik and the galvanizing effect it had on America's motivation to fund aerospace research. NASA was soon formed and more funding was put in place for public education in the sciences and math.
NASA
Nasa Space Science Data Archive: Chronology of Lunar and Planetary Exploration
A detailed chronology of all Russian and American attempts at lunar and planetary exploration. Contains links to each individual spacecraft.
Digital Public Library of America
Dpla: Race to the Moon
In 1955, the US and the USSR each announced plans to launch a satellite into orbit. Thus began the race to the moon. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the American space program and its new classes of astronauts achieved breakthroughs in...
NASA
Nasa: Tests Versus Time in the Race for Space
This NASA site offers a good description of the ongoing space race during the Kennedy administration, discussing the "nip and tuck" of the Soviet-U.S. race. Also includes a description of Kennedy's new special assistant for science and...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: Teaching Math & Science in Age of Sputnik
Why did the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik throw the fields of mathematics and science into tremendous demand in the United States? Find the many ways this revolutionary event impacted children from the 1950s to become the...
Other
Iki: Russian Space Research Institute
The official site for the "leading organization of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the field of investigations of Outer Space, Solar System planets and other objects of the Universe"
NASA
Nasa Space Science Data Archive: Russian Lunar Missions
Details the Russian lunar missions from Luna 1 to Zond 8.
University of Wisconsin
The Why Files: Sputnik's Legacy
This exploratory article (published September 11, 1997) outlines the history of the Sputnik Space program, but also includes the response within the United States educational system to speedily ramp up the study of science, math and...
History Link
History Link: Century 21: The Seattle World's Fair Part 1
Captivating site chronicles the history of the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle, also known as Century 21. This event gave Seattle it's most well-known landmark, the Space Needle. Discusses the uphill battle to get a World's Fair in Seattle...
Curated OER
Npr: Sputnik at 50: Looking Back at the Space Race
The Soviets were surprised at the world's reaction to their accomplishment. Little did they know that they had thrust the world into the Space Age. NPR supplies historic facts, thoughts of people involved, and information on the impact...
Curated OER
Npr: Sputnik at 50: Looking Back at the Space Race
The Soviets were surprised at the world's reaction to their accomplishment. Little did they know that they had thrust the world into the Space Age. NPR supplies historic facts, thoughts of people involved, and information on the impact...
Curated OER
Npr: Sputnik at 50: Looking Back at the Space Race
The Soviets were surprised at the world's reaction to their accomplishment. Little did they know that they had thrust the world into the Space Age. NPR supplies historic facts, thoughts of people involved, and information on the impact...
University of Wisconsin
The Why Files: Sputnik's Legacy
Easy-to-read history of the Soviet satellite launch that began the race for space between the Soviet Union and United States. Click on "next" at the bottom to advance to the next page.