This is an activity about the basic properties of magnets and magnetism. Learners explore concepts such as magnetic fields and polarity, which form the basic ingredients of a study of Earth's magnetic field and the technology of magnetometers.... (View More) Materials needed include bar magnets and paper clips. This is Activity 1 of Exploring Magnetism: A Teacher's Magnetism Activity Guide. (View Less)

This is an educators guide to accompany the Journey to the Stars planetarium show. The materials for grades 9-12 include suggestions for activities to do before and after viewing the planetarium show, including class discussions about units of... (View More) measure and units of distance that astronomers use, discussions about stars and star formation, and activities involving magnetism and building a spectroscope. (View Less)

This is an activity about the properties of electromagnets, which is a crucial underpinning for understanding how magnetic fields are generated in nature, in the surface of the Sun, and in the interior of Earth. Learners will create an electromagnet... (View More) by letting an electric current flow through a wire to generate a magnetic field, which is then detected using a compass. This activity requires a thin insulated wire, pencil, battery, compass and paper clips. This is Activity 2 of the Magnetism and Electromagnetism teachers guide. (View Less)

In this activity, students will demonstrate the generator effect, which is due to electromagnetic induction when a conductor (a long metal wire) moves through a magnetic field. Materials required to this activity include: a 100-foot extension cord... (View More) with ground prong, current or voltage galvanometer, two lead wires with alligator clips on at least one end, and one compass. This activity must be done in an open space large enough to swing a 100-foot cord as a jump rope, such as a gymnasium or outdoor field. This is activity three of "Exploring Magnetism." The guide includes science background information, student worksheets, glossary and related resources. (View Less)

This is a lesson about how magnetism causes solar flares. Learners will set up an electrical circuit with magnets to examine magnetic fields and their similarities to magnetic fields seen on the Sun. Learners should have a conceptual understanding... (View More) of magnetism prior to exploring this lesson. This activity requires special materials including a galvanometer, copper wire, and sandpaper. This is Activity 2 in the Exploring Magnetism in Solar Flares teachers guide. (View Less)

This is an activity about magnetic induction. Learners will induce a flow of electricity in a wire using a moving bar magnet and measure this flow using a galvanometer, or Am meter. Through discussion, this activity can then be related to magnetic... (View More) fields in nature. This activity requires use of a galvanometer, bar or cow magnet, and wire. This is the fifth lesson in the second session of the Exploring Magnetism teacher guide. (View Less)

This is an activity about electromagnetism. Learners will set up a simple circuit using a battery, wire, and knife switch, and then use a compass to map the magnetic field lines surrounding the wire. Next, they will add a coil of wire to the simple... (View More) circuit and map the magnetic fields again. This is the second lesson in the second session of the Exploring Magnetism teachers guide. (View Less)

This is an activity about electromagnetism. Learners will use a simple circuit powered by a battery source to investigate the strength of the magnetic field produced by a coil of wire in the circuit. The strength will be indicated by the deflection... (View More) of magnetic compass needles and by the distance a coil of wire was moved by the action of the circuit. This activity requires coils or spools of wire, a knife switch, three magnetic compasses, a source of electricity such as 3 D-cell batteries or an AC to DC power adapter, alligator-clipped wire, and a bar or cow magnet. This is the fourth lesson in the second session of the Exploring Magnetism teachers guide. (View Less)

This is a lesson about magnetism in solar flares. Learners will map magnetic fields around bar magnets and investigate how this configuration relates to magnetic fields of sunspots. This activity requires compasses, bar magnets, and a equipment for... (View More) the instructor to project a PowerPoint or pdf lecture presentation. This is Activity 1 in the Exploring Magnetism in Solar Flares teachers guide. (View Less)

This is an activity about electromagnetism. Learners will use a compass to map the magnetic field lines surrounding a coil of wire that is connected to a battery. This activity requires a large coil or spool of wire, a source of electricity such as... (View More) 3 D-cell batteries or an AC to DC power adapter, alligator-clipped wire, and magnetic compasses. This is the third lesson in the second session of the Exploring Magnetism teachers guide. (View Less)

This activity demonstrates Lenz's Law, which states that an induced electromotive force generates a current that induces a counter magnetic field that opposes the magnetic field generating the current. In the demonstration, an empty aluminum can... (View More) floats on water in a tray, such as a Petri dish. Students spin a magnet just inside the can without touching the can. The can begins to spin. Understanding what happens can be explained in steps: first, the twirling magnet creates an alternating magnetic field. Students can use a nearby compass to observe that the magnetic field is really changing. Second, the changing magnetic field permeates most things around it, including the aluminum can itself. A changing magnetic field will cause an electric current to flow when there is a closed loop of an electrically conducting material. Even though the aluminum can is not magnetic, it is metal and will conduct electricity. So the twirling magnet causes an electrical current to flow in the aluminum can. This is called an "induced current." Third, all electric currents create magnetic fields. So, in essence, the induced electrical current running through the can creates its very own magnetic field, making the aluminum can magnetic. This is activity four of "Exploring Magnetism." The guide includes science background information, student worksheets, glossary and related resources. (View Less)

This is an activity about vectors and velocity. It outlines the addition and subtraction of vectors, and introduces the application of trigonometry to describing vectors. The resource is designed to support student analysis of THEMIS (Time History... (View More) of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms) Magnetometer line-plot data. Learners will complete worksheets consisting of problem sets that allow them to work with vector data in magnetic fields. This is activity 15 from Exploring Magnetism: Earth's Magnetic Personality. (View Less)

This is an activity about magnetism. Learners will experiment using horseshoe and bar magnets along with various materials in order to identify the effects of magnets on each other and on other materials. This is the third activity as part of the... (View More) iMAGiNETICspace: Where Imagination, Magnetism, and Space Collide educator's guide. Instructions for downloading the iBook educator's guide and the associated Transmedia book student guide are available at the resource link. (View Less)

This is an activity about Earth's magnetism. Using polar coordinates and several sets of provided information, learners will plot the position of the magnetic north pole to investigate its movement over time. This is the sixth activity in the... (View More) Exploring the Earth's Magnetic Field: An IMAGE Satellite Guide to the Magnetosphere educators guide, pages 23 to 28. (View Less)

This is an activity about like and unlike charges. Learners will use plastic tape strips to investigate how charges interact. This is the second activity as part of the iMAGiNETICspace: Where Imagination, Magnetism, and Space Collide educator's... (View More) guide and student guide. Instructions for downloading the iBook educator's guide and the associated Transmedia book student guide are available at the resource link. (View Less)

This is lesson to begin learners' thinking about magnetic influence. Learners will watch a classroom demonstration about the effect of magnets on iron filings and then complete a journal assignment to record their reactions and thoughts. This is the... (View More) first activity in the Mapping Magnetic Influence educators guide. (View Less)

This is an activity about the properties and characteristics of Earth’s magnetic field as shown through magnetometer data and its 3D vector nature. This resource builds understanding of conceptual tools such as the addition of vectors and... (View More) interpreting contour maps displaying magnetic signature data. Learners will make several paper 3D vector addition models, watch podcasts on how to analyze magnetometer data, and employ 3D vector plots to create a model of the 3D magnetic field in the location of the magnetometer closest to their town. This is a multi-step activity with corresponding worksheets for each step. The activity uses data from the THEMIS (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms) GEONS magnetometer, and requires the use of a computer with internet access and speakers, 2-inch polystyrene balls and bamboo skewers. This is activity 16 from Exploring Magnetism: Earth's Magnetic Personality. (View Less)

This is an activity about magnets and magnetism. Learners first make predictions about magnets, such as a list of the types of materials a magnet will pick up, how a magnet can be made, and how a compass can be made. Next, learners test their... (View More) predictions using simple experiments, and, finally, reflect on their predictions. This is the second activity in the Mapping Magnetic Influence educators guide. (View Less)

This is a summative activity about magnets. Learners will observe a demonstration of the action of a magnet on a test tube of iron filings, answer questions, and, using the concepts learned in previous activities, write an essay about their... (View More) understanding of the demonstration. This is the fourth activity in the Mapping Magnetic Influence educators guide. Learners should complete the other three activities in that guide (Seeing Magnetism, What Do You Know about Magnets, and Magnet Map) prior to beginning this activity. (View Less)

This is an activity about Earth's magnetic field. Learners will construct a soda bottle magnetometer, collect data, and analyze the results to detect magnetic storm events. Ideally, learners should collect data for at least a month. If several... (View More) months are available for data collection, this is ideal. This is the first activity as part of the iMAGiNETICspace: Where Imagination, Magnetism, and Space Collide educator's guide. Instructions for downloading the iBook educator's guide and the associated Transmedia book student guide are available at the resource link. (View Less)

This is an activity about magnetic fields. Learners will use various magnets, magnetic film, and a compass to see and illustrate what magnetic fields look like. This is the fourth activity as part of the iMAGiNETICspace: Where Imagination,... (View More) Magnetism, and Space Collide educator's guide. Instructions for downloading the iBook educator's guide and the associated Transmedia book student guide are available at the resource link. (View Less)

This is an activity about electromagnetism. Using a battery and a length of wire, learners will construct an electromagnet and investigate the number of paperclips the electromagnet can hold for an electromagnet with twenty loops of wire versus one... (View More) with forty loops of wire. A six to twelve volt battery, a large nail or metal rod, and insulated wire are required for this activity. This is the fourth activity in the Exploring the Earth's Magnetic Field: An IMAGE Satellite Guide to the Magnetosphere educators guide. (View Less)

This is an activity about magnetic induction. Learners will induce a flow of electricity in a wire using a moving bar magnet and measure this flow using a galvanometer, or Am meter. This is the fifth activity in the Exploring the Earth's Magnetic... (View More) Field: An IMAGE Satellite Guide to the Magnetosphere educators guide. (View Less)

This is an activity about mapping magnetic fields. Learners use a test magnet to create a map of the magnetic field region around a bar magnet. A Magnaprobe, or other similar test magnet, is required to do this activity. This is the third activity... (View More) in the Mapping Magnetic Influence educators guide. (View Less)

This is an activity about satellite design. Learners will create a satellite model to determine which shape will provide a steady minimum current output from solar panels, given a fixed position light source. After, as a group, they will assess... (View More) whether their satellite model would work in real life and how their actions were similar to what engineers do. This is the fifth activity as part of the iMAGiNETICspace: Where Imagination, Magnetism, and Space Collide curriculum. Instructions for downloading the iBook educator's guide and the associated Transmedia book student guide are available at the resource link. (View Less)

This is an activity about magnetic fields. Using iron filings, learners will observe magnets in various arrangements to investigate the magnetic field lines of force. This information is then related to magnetic loops on the Sun's surface and the... (View More) magnetic field of the Earth. This is the second activity in the Exploring the Earth's Magnetic Field: An IMAGE Satellite Guide to the Magnetosphere educators guide. (View Less)

This is an activity about Earth's magnetosphere. Learners will use a magnet, simulating Earth's protective magnetosphere, and observe what occurs when iron filings, simulating the solar wind, blow past and encounter the magnet's field. This is the... (View More) third activity in the Exploring the Earth's Magnetic Field: An IMAGE Satellite Guide to the Magnetosphere educators guide. (View Less)

This is an activity about using models to solve a problem. Learners will use a previously constructed model of the MMS satellite to determine if the centrifugal force of the rotating MMS model is sufficient to push the satellite's antennae outward,... (View More) simulating the deployment of the satellites after launch. Then, learners will determine the minimum rotational speed needed for the satellite to successfully deploy the antennae. This is the seventh activity as part of the iMAGiNETICspace: Where Imagination, Magnetism, and Space Collide educator's guide. Instructions for downloading the iBook educator's guide and the associated Transmedia book student guide are available at the resource link. (View Less)

This is a collection of outreach resources about the Sun that are meant to be used in informal education settings. This toolkit was originally designed for NASA Night Sky Network member clubs and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific's Astronomy... (View More) from the Ground Up network of museum and science center educators. The toolkit includes background information about the Sun, magnetic fields of the Earth and Sun, and space weather, activity suggestions, and detailed activity scripts. The themes of this toolkit address both the constant nature of the Sun as a reliable source of energy and the dynamic nature of the Sun due to its changing magnetic fields. The activities and related materials in this collection include The Sun in a Different Light - Observing the Sun, Explore the Sun cards, Magnetic Connection, the Space Weather PowerPoint, Protection from Ultraviolet, and Where Does the Energy Come From cards. These activities can be done separately or as a group as part of an informal education event. Institutions that are not part of the Night Sky Network will need to acquire the various materials required for each activity. (View Less)