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Apply Scientific Inquiry and Scientific Habits of Mind
Students review the components of the scientific inquiry method. In groups, they develop hypothesis on a variety of different topics and design an investigation or experiment to test it. They share their conclusions with the class and...
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Salmon vs. Dams: The Dam Removal Debate on the Elwha River
Students use roll playing to discuss the merits of tearing down these dams so that the Elwha River can run free. The activity is presented in the form of a council meeting to encourage students to try to build consensus in finding...
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Destination Mars!
Fifth graders view Mysteries of Earth & Mars Video on DVD and record thoughts in their online journal. They record data in a spreadsheet about each planet then form a theory of the best time to launch a space craft from Earth to land...
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Mission Planning: Geography
Students investigate the use of latitude and longitude to locate specific locations on Earth and evaluate that location as a potential landing site for researchers, terrestrial or alien space missions.
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Solar Storms
Students investigate the cycles of solar activity. They plot the solar activity and use the graph to answer a number of questions and explain the relationship between the solar storms and sunspots and the impact on earth and space travel.
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A Comparison of Land and Water Temperature
Students use the NASA website's Live Access Server to create a graph of surface temperature at two locations on earth. They analyze the data and then answer specific questions provided in this lesson. They also examine and compare the...
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Volcanoes: How Safe Are They?
Students explore the most dangerous volcanoes on Earth, plot their locations, and research different volcanic hazards.
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A Cosmic Cafeteria
Learners indentify and differentiate between transit and surface food systems. Students measure energy that is released by various foods. Learners compare and contrast cooking with solar energy on earth and what they might have learned...
US Environmental Protection Agency
Carbon Through the Seasons
Meteorologists view an animated video by the Environmental Protection Agency to learn how the carbon cycle works, and then move into groups to analyze and graph actual data of the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration from Hawaii's...
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Lunar Life Support
Students design and build models of nine life support systems which are crucial to our successful settlement of the Moon. Each team must define the requirements of their system, exploring how these requirements are currently being met on...
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Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer Satellite Dataflow Demonstration
Students participate in a hands-on demonstration of the communication between the EUVE satellite and a scientist on Earth.
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Sky Show
Middle schoolers participate in a discussion of the sky and colors. They watch a demonstration of how colors can change. They examine the issue of if weather should be a part of their coursework.
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Planetary Place Value
Third graders explore place value to the ten thousands place. This incredibly thorough, 24-page lesson has learners construct, order, and compare numbers to 9,999. This three-day lesson includes reteaching and extension activities...
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NASA Robots
Learners explore the world of robotics. In this robotics lesson, students discover what a robot is and work with partners to find out how hard it is to accurately guide robots through simple tasks.
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"Lettuce" Learn About the Water Cycle
Young scientists investigate the water cycle through a lettuce seed experiment. For this experiment, learners plant lettuce seeds inside of a ziplock bag in order to create a small greenhouse. They observe condensation and precipitation,...
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The Magic School Bus Out of This World
Students learn along with Ms. Frizzle's class. For this Magic School Bus lesson plan, students explore craters that objects of different sizes and weights (marbles, Ping-Pong balls, and aluminum foil balls) create.
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Groundwater Basics
Groundwater is an essential natural resource, not to mention a fascinating topic to study. Here is a series of twelve amazing lessons on the water source and how we use it in our daily lives. Concepts require higher math and physics...
Space Awareness
Greenhouse Effect
A greenhouse provides additional warmth and protection to the plants inside, but what if the greenhouse gets too hot? Pupils discuss and experiment with the difference between natural and anthropogenic greenhouse effect. They measure the...
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NIGHT AND DAY: DAILY CYCLES IN SOLAR RADIATION
Students examine how Earth's rotation causes daily cycles in solar energy using a microset of satellite data to investigate the Earth's daily radiation budget and locating map locations using latitude and longitude coordinates.
Space Awareness
A View From Above
Analyzing and interpreting satellite data takes knowledge and patience. Through a detailed lab investigation, young scholars learn the process of analyzing this data. They use technology to create color images and maps from real...
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Scale Model of the Solar System
Learners explore the size of the planets. In this science lesson, students create a scale model of the solar system. Learners determine a scaling factor and calculate the size of their planets. Students create a scale drawing of the...
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This House is Made of Mud: Exploring the Shapes in Our Lives
Students study about our dependence on the earth's resources for materials. They practice their knowledge of geometric shapes by recognizing them in the context of the story.
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Volcano Research
Student demonstrates the ability to select and evaluate media. They access and organize information about volcanoes. Each student locates on a map a currently erupting volcano.
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Good Vibrations Remote Sensing data Collection: Thermal Emission Spectrometer
The Mars Global Surveyor spent two years creating a mineral map of the planet Mars using thermal emission spectrometry. To help young astronomers understand this remote sensing instrument, have them simulate how data is collected and...