This is an activity about image comparison. Learners will analyze and compare images taken by the Solar Dynamics Observatory. They will match four magnetic solar images, or magnetograms, to their corresponding extreme ultraviolet, or EUV, light... (View More) images by studying solar features in the images. At the end, they will recognize that areas of high magnetic activity on the Sun correspond to extreme solar activity. (View Less)

This is an online Flash-based interactive tool kit that provides access to illustrations, visualizations, videos, and near-real time images of the Sun from a variety of NASA spacecraft missions. Learners can access this information to supplement... (View More) other materials related to the Sun and heliophysics. (View Less)

This is an activity about image comparison. Learners will analyze and compare two sets of images of the Sun taken by instruments on the Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft. With Set 1, they will observe the Sun in both a highly active and a... (View More) minimally active state, and be able to detect active regions and loops on the Sun by comparing the two images. With Set 2, they will identify areas of high magnetic activity on a magnetogram image and recognize that these areas correspond to highly active regions on the Sun. (View Less)

This is a resource about the Sun and its effects on the rest of the Solar System. Learners will watch movie clips and read a guidebook of information about space weather, solar variability, the heliosphere, Earth’s magnetosphere and upper... (View More) atmosphere, as well as the solar mysteries that scientists are still studying. (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 plan for an activity to introduce several terms scientists use to discuss Earth's magnetic field. Learners will explore a website, read about the main features and regions of the Earth's magnetosphere and its functioning within the... (View More) Sun-Earth system, and compile a lab book in which to keep notes about Earth's magnetosphere, space weather, and magnetometer data. This resource is Activity 12 of Exploring Magnetism: Magnetic Mysteries of the Aurora. (View Less)

This is a presentation to be used by educators to teach about the Sun and its effects on Earth's magnetosphere, including characteristics of coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, the aurora, and solar wind. A web link to a PDF or PowerPoint presentation... (View More) is supplied, along with background information for the instructor. After the presentation, learners will read about various aspects of the Sun-Earth connection and write about one aspect that they found interesting from the presentation and the printed information. Internet access is required to obtain the presentation resources. This resource is Activity 14 of the Magnetic Mysteries of the Aurora teachers guide. (View Less)

This is a lesson to introduce the Kp index, a common numerical indicator of magnetic storminess. Learners will access and analyze Kp index plots of magnetic storm strength and determine the relative frequency of stronger versus weaker magnetic... (View More) storms during years of maximum solar activity. This resource is activity 13 from the Magnetic Mysteries of the Aurora teachers guide. Internet access is required for this activity. (View Less)