You are here
Home ›Now showing results 1-10 of 34
This activity provides a visual example of convection in fluids. Students will record their predictions and observations on diagrams of the experimental set-up showing convection currents. Materials required include hot and cold colored water,... (View More) thermometers, stopwatch, and index cards. This activity is part of the MY NASA DATA Scientist Tracking Network unit, designed to provide practice in accessing and using authentic satellite data. (View Less)
In this inquiry exploration, student design an experiment to test the absorption of heat by different earth materials. Materials required include plastic water bottles, soil, sand, water, thermometers, lamp with 60 watt bulb, and stopwatch. This... (View More) activity is part of the MY NASA DATA Scientist Tracking Network unit, designed to provide practice in accessing and using authentic satellite data. (View Less)
In this lesson, students will explore the density of substances as a model for understanding the mass to light ratio as a predictor of dark matter. They will measure and calculate mass and volume to calculate the density of a foam ball. Students... (View More) will try to explain a discrepant event when data is not as expected (in this case a nerf ball that seems too heavy for its volume). Students will then use the concept of density, a ratio of mass to volume, to attempt to explain the mass to light ratio for luminosity and gravity. Advance preparation required. Materials needed for this activity include: small foam balls, tape measure, triple beam balance for each group, posterboards/construction paper, and markers (estimated materials cost doesn't include triple beam balances). This lesson is part of the Cosmic Times teachers guide and is intended to be used in conjunction with the 1965 Cosmic Times Poster. (View Less)
In this lesson, students explore a discrepant event when they design an experiment to measure the rate that ice melts when in pure water versus salt water. It is designed to help students realize that a carefully-designed experiment may yield... (View More) unexpected results, due to unseen events, even though the experiment is precisely planned and executed. The addition of a new technology may clarify factors in the experiment which were previously unknown. Note: the experiment requires advance preparation the day before: two buckets of water are set-up (one with plain tap water, the other with as much salt dissolved in it as possible), which need to be at room temperature. It also requires ice cubes of uniform shape (e.g., from an ice maker or ice trays filled to uniform capacity). This lesson is part of the Cosmic Times teachers guide and is intended to be used in conjunction with the 1993 Cosmic Times Poster. (View Less)
This is a hands-on lab activity about seawater density, specifically the relationship between density of fluid, weight of an object, and buoyancy. Learners will develop hypotheses and observe a demonstration of density to understand its role in... (View More) buoyancy. They will also examine the effect of salinity on density. Background information, common preconceptions, a glossary and more is included. This activity is part of the Aquarius Hands-on Laboratory Activities. (View Less)
This is a hands-on lab activity about the properties and states of water. Learners will complete activities using different liquids to understand the three states of matter, explain how the high heat capacity and abundance of liquid water makes life... (View More) on Earth possible, and understand that water containing salts and minerals has different properties than fresh water. They will graph data to analyze and articulate results and conclusions. The lab is set up as three stations that small groups of students rotate through; it can also be done as demonstrations (e.g., for younger students). Background information, common preconceptions, a glossary and more is included. This activity is part of the Aquarius Hands-on Laboratory Activities. (View Less)
This educational wallsheet illustrates Newton's First Law of Motion. In the related activity, students will discover the properties of inertia and motion, and see how they have very important real-life applications. The activity includes background... (View More) information, pre-activity reading, pre-activity discussion questions, an assessment, and post-activity extension activities that tie student observations back to the Swift satellite. This is the first of four posters on Newton's Laws. (View Less)
This educational wallsheet illustrates Newton's Third Law of Motion. The accompanying activity is an experiment in which students create a balloon and straw rocket. Students must figure out how to shoot the balloon from the back of the classroom and... (View More) hit the blackboard in the front of the room using a fishing line as a track for the balloon to follow. The activity provides teachers with background information, pre-activity reading, pre-activity discussion questions, an assessment, and post-activity discussions that tie the classroom activity back to the Swift satellite. This wallsheet is the third of four posters on Newton's Laws and a copy is available on this website. (View Less)
This activity has two purposes: challenge the learner to develop a procedure for investigating a research question and to learn more about factors affecting the dynamics of air in motion. It demonstrates that warm air and cold air differ in weight... (View More) and this difference affects air's vertical movement in the atmospheric column. Resources provided to students for this challenge include a homemade balance beam made of wood, two paper bags, a desk lamp, paper clips, tape and a thermometer. The resource includes background information, teaching tips and questions to guide student discussion. This is the chapter 8 of Meteorology: An Educator's Resource for Inquiry-Based Learning for Grades 5-9. The guide includes a discussion of learning science, the use of inquiry in the classroom, instructions for making simple weather instruments, and more than 20 weather investigations ranging from teacher-centered to guided and open inquiry investigations. (View Less)
This experimental activity is designed to develop an understanding that air has mass. Students conduct an investigation and observe the change in the position of a bar balancing a balloon inflated with air on one end and a uninflated balloon on the... (View More) other end. Resources needed include a piece of wood, two rubber balloons, two large paper clips, ruler, nail, hammer and tape. The resource includes background information, teaching tips and questions to guide student discussion. This is chapter 7 of Meteorology: An Educator's Resource for Inquiry-Based Learning for Grades 5-9. The guide includes a discussion of learning science, the use of inquiry in the classroom, instructions for making simple weather instruments, and more than 20 weather investigations ranging from teacher-centered to guided and open inquiry investigations. (View Less)
Materials Cost: $1 - $5 per group of students