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Activity
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NOAA

The Climate Team: Make a Solar Heat Engine

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Learners investigate how solar energy is converted into heat in part two of the 10-part Discover Your Changing World series. They build and test homemade solar cookers to boil water and cook rice. Pupils consider the impact of heat...
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Activity
DiscoverE

Design a Folding Solar Panel

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Solar energy is an amazing alternative ... but, not always particularly portable! Challenge young scientists to a folding solar panel build-off with an easy-to-execute activity. Scholars brainstorm around specific design needs, construct...
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Activity
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NOAA

The Great, Glowing Orb What You Will Do: Make a Solar Heat Engine

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
How is solar energy able to move wind and water to control the climate? Scholars explore the concept of solar energy in the first of 10 activities in the Discover Your Changing World series. They follow instructions to build homemade...
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Activity
Teach Engineering

Energy Systems

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Is electricity created in the outlet? Using posters of several energy systems, collaborative groups identify and describe the parts of their systems. The groups also look at the environmental impacts of the systems and present their...
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Activity
Society of Petroleum Engineers

Renewable and Nonrenewable Energy

For Teachers 2nd - 10th Standards
Energize an environmental science unit on natural resources with this collection of instructional materials. From simple coloring sheets for primary grade children, to guiding questions for a high school research report, a wide variety...
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Activity
It's About Time

The Sun and Its Effects on Your Community

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Why is the sun round? Examine this question, and others, with your pupils while teaching them how to live in a more earth-friendly environment. Pupils explore Sun composition and discuss how solar wind, sunspots, and solar energy affects...
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Activity
US Department of Energy

Solar Distiller

For Teachers 4th - 10th Standards
Explore the sun's ability to distill contaminated water with this simple set of classroom experiments. After filling two glass bowls, one with muddy water and the other with salt water, they are covered with plastic wrap and placed in...
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Activity
NASA

Comet on a Stick

For Teachers 2nd - 8th Standards
Since you can't go to the comet, bring the comet to you. Young scientists build models of comets using everyday materials and then participate in a simulation of the interaction between the comet and other bodies in the solar system....
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Activity
Teach Engineering

Energy Sources Research

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Turn your pupils into teachers! Here is a lesson that requires groups to research an energy source with the provided handout, create a poster, and present their information to the class. Connections are made to practical aspects of the...
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Activity
PBS

House Warming

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Things should heat up during a hands-on lesson exploring solar energy. An enlightening activity challenges young scientists to design a structure that collects solar energy efficiently. They keep track of temperature data over time and...
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Activity
NASA

Feel the Heat

For Teachers 4th - 12th Standards
Heat water up like a NASA engineer. Using the engineering design process, investigators create a system to trap and move heat through a water-filled tube. Designers participate in a post-activity discussion that highlights the role of...
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Activity
Teach Engineering

Win that Bid! Selling Your Power Solution

For Teachers 7th - 8th Standards
Power up! Class members research a type of power production using a great resource featuring a real-world problem. Groups select a type of power generation and pretend that they represent an engineering firm for their chosen power type....
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Activity
Texas State Energy Conservation Office

Investigation: Insulation

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Youngsters compare the heat-holding abilities of three different cans by insulating two with different materials and measuring the temperature change of hot water over a 20-minute period. 
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Teach Engineering

Quantum Dots and Colors

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Introduce teams to quantum dot solutions with an activity that has them expose solutions to a blacklight, observe the colors, and take measurements. Groups graph the data and analyze the dependence between particle size and color...
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Activity
It's About Time

Impact Events and the Earth System

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
What would happen to Earth if an asteroid struck it? Assist young scientists as they explore the mechanics of an impact event and effects caused by it; calculate the energy released once an asteroid strikes Earth's surface; and compare...
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Activity
NASA

Collecting Light: Inverse Square Law Demo

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Light, distance, and mathematics come together to help scientists plan for space missions. Groups examine the relationship between distance from the sun and light availability in a hands-on exploration activity. They model the inverse...
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Activity
Colorado State University

How Do Long and Short EM Waves Interact with the Earth's Atmosphere?

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Things are about to heat up in your classroom! A kinesthetic lesson asks learners to play the part of the gases in the earth's atmosphere and interact with the sun's radiation. The focus is to learn the impact of the increasing...
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Activity
It's About Time

How Do Earth's Orbital Variations Affect Climate?

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
How does Earth's orbit around the Sun affect climate? This third installment of a six-part series looks at how Earth's orbit affects the amount of insolation at locations on Earth involves different experiments used in conjunction...
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Activity
It's About Time

The Electromagnetic Spectrum and Your Community

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Do you have blossoming astronomers who seek to understand the electromagnetic spectrum? Assist them with exploring electromagnetic radiation and the electromagnetic spectrum as the class conducts various activities to demonstrate...
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Activity
American Museum of Natural History

Moon Flip Book

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Flip over the phases of the moon. Using an interactive, pupils view the location of the moon relative to the sun and earth for the eight major phases of the moon. Individuals record how the moon looks through a complete cycle. Using...
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Activity
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NOAA

I Didn’t Do It…Did I?: Make Your Own Greenhouse Effect

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
How do greenhouse gases affect the climate on Earth?  Pupils explore the concept by first building their own apparatuses to model the greenhouse effect. Then, they record data to measure temperature change and determine that the amount...
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Activity
2
2
It's About Time

Photosynthesis, Respiration, and the Carbon Cycle

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Provide your class with the opportunity to view our carbon cycle close up. Young scientists research the cycle of oxygen as it completes the tasks of photosynthesis and respiration. They explore the importance of carbon in an ecosystem...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Exploring the Water Cycle

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
The water cycle is one of earth's most easily observable processes, but demonstrating each step within classroom walls can be a challenge. Through a series of videos and quick demonstrations, cover each aspect of the hydrologic cycle in...
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Activity
Discovery Education

Motion in the Ocean

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
How do temperature changes affect ocean currents? Scholars explore convection currents by demonstrating the flow of water in a baking dish. They use ice, heat, and food coloring to see currents. Then, they draw conclusions about their...

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