This is an online lesson associated with activities during Solar Week, a twice-yearly event in March and October during which classrooms are able to interact with scientists studying the Sun. Outside of Solar Week, information, activities, and... (View More) resources are archived and available online at any time. This is an activity about measurements of solar activity. Learners will observe an image of the Sun and sketch major features, plot data to begin to recognize patterns of solar activity, look for long-term patterns in graphed data, compare X-ray and visible light images of the Sun to find solar features common to both sets of images, and make a prediction of what the Sun will look like in a visible light image after observing an X-ray image taken on the same day. This activity is scheduled to occur during Monday of Solar Week. (View Less)

In this activity, learners construct a classroom-based Space Weather Action Center and use it to obtain, analyze, and record real solar data on a weekly basis. A set of sequential activities are also provided to engage the audience in making... (View More) informed decisions about space weather using their collected data. Please note a computer with an Internet connection is required to access NASA data. This activity is part of the Space Weather Action Center Educator's Instructors Guide, which follows the 5E learning cycle. (View Less)

This is an activity about how the Sun can affect the Earth's atmosphere, specifically the ionosphere. Learners will use real data from a Sudden Ionosphere Disturbance Monitor, or SID Monitor, to identify the signatures in the graphed data that can... (View More) be used to determine the times of sunrise and sunset. Although the SID monitors are designed to detect SIDs caused by solar flares, they also detect the normal influence of solar X-rays and UV light during the day as well as cosmic rays at nighttime. There is a distinct shape to a 24-hour SID data graph, with unique shapes, or signatures, of the graph appearing at sunrise and sunset.This activity is part of the Research with Space Weather Monitor Data educators guide. Use of and access to a Stanford Solar Center SID monitor and the internet is encouraged but not required. Locations without a SID monitor can use sample data provided in the educators guide. (View Less)

This is an activity about identifying solar flares. Learners will cross-reference data collected from a Sudden Ionosphere Disturbance, or SID, Monitor, the GOES solar catalog, and SOHO spacecraft images of the Sun to identify solar flares coming... (View More) from the Sun that are affecting Earth's ionosphere. This activity is part of the Research with Space Weather Monitor Data educators guide. Use of and access to a Stanford Solar Center SID monitor and the internet is encouraged but not required. Locations without a SID monitor can use SID data posted online: http://sid.stanford.edu/database-browser/. (View Less)

This is a lesson about magnetism and solar flares. Learners will evaluate real solar data and images in order to calculate the energy and magnetic strength of a solar flare moving away from the Sun as a coronal mass ejection. This is Activity 3 in... (View More) the Exploring Magnetism in Solar Flares teachers guide. (View Less)

This is an activity about auroras and the scientific terminology used to describe them. Learners will read an article that provides an introduction to specific terms and concepts related to auroras and auroral substorms and examine photographs of a... (View More) 2003 aurora and descriptions of an 1859 aurora to identify the various phases of auroral substorms. This is activity 11 from Exploring Magnetism: Magnetic Mysteries of the Aurora. (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)