Calculate the speed of the International Space Station. By reading the article, pupils learn about the concept of orbits. Scholars work through a formula to determine how fast the International Space Station is traveling to stay in...

Hear from deep space. Pupils learn how satellites transfer information back to Earth. They learn about three different ways to modulate radio waves and how a satellite sends information with only 0s and 1s. Using sound, class members...

Break down light into spectra. Scholars learn how atoms emit and absorb photons and come to understand how this process allows scientists to identify different atoms based on either absorption lines or emission lines. Learners then...

As viewed from space, the Earth appears beautiful and serene. As you well know, however, here standing on Earth, it's complicated! Complex, that is. And, it's constantly changing. Often changes on Earth happen so slowly it would be...

The introduction of this article explains why GIS data is so critical to a government being able to plan for natural resources development and management. The article goes on to explain key geographic concepts, what GIS is and why it...

Everything in Earth's system can be placed into one of four major subsystems: land, water, living things, or air. These four subsystems are called "spheres." Specifically, they are the "lithosphere" (land), "hydrosphere" (water),...

Imagine our weather if Earth were completely motionless, had a flat dry landscape and an un-tilted axis. This, of course, is not the case; if it were, the weather would be much different. The local weather that impacts our daily lives...

Learn interesting information about the Earth, the largest of the "terrestrial" planets.

Article reports on a presentation that suggests that the Earth is surrounded by dark matter.

Earth's temperature depends on the balance between energy entering and leaving the planet's system . When incoming energy from the sun is absorbed by the Earth system, Earth warms. When the sun's energy is reflected back into space,...

Discover the ways in which the Earth's surface is always changing and what causes those changes through reference materials and a collection of activities.

Provided here is a list of both beliefs and non-beliefs of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Article explaining the history of our scientific understanding of volcanic activity, ending with questions for students about scientific methods and historical contexts.

Interesting information on the Nitrogen Cycle as it relates to the Earth system.

Article reports on recent mission by a private space company to beam messages to Mars from Earth. Includes video.

Human beings have an enormous impact on the natural environment, and ultimately on each other. The way we chose to house, clothe, shelter, and meet the needs for vital resources such as food, energy, and water, not only affect the...

Natural systems studied by ecologists and human systems studied by economists must work together to ensure a future of biodiversity. This interview identifies the needs for both and ways in which the two can balance conservation with...

Discover interesting facts about asteroids, large chunks of rock that were leftover from the formation of the solar system.

Find out about the ancient Greek astronomer and mathematician who presented the first known model that placed the Sun at the center of the known universe with the Earth revolving around it.

A model organizes what we think we know about something in order to predict how it might behave in the present, future, or past as well as how it might respond to external influence. Models are especially useful when direct, controlled...

Wind is air in motion. It is produced by the uneven heating of the earth's surface by the sun. Since the earth's surface is made of various land and water formations, it absorbs the sun's radiation unevenly. Two factors are necessary to...

See Earth's water cycle as a closed system, where all the water is cycled through the atmosphere.

See how atmospheric pressure affects air masses, which in turn affects the weather on Earth.

The jet stream consists of ribbons of very strong winds which move weather systems around the globe. Jet streams are found 9-16 km above the surface of the Earth, just below the tropopause, and can reach speeds of 200 mph.