Environmental explorers examine the campus and take note of living organisms. Introduce them to the biosphere and the questions of the day: How much water can be found in the biosphere? A slide show helps you along, and even contains a...

When going for distance, does it make a difference at what angle you launch the rocket? Teams of three launch foam rockets, varying the launch angle and determining how far they flew. After conducting the series of flights three times,...

Using PVC pipe and aquarium tubing, build an altitude tracker. Pupils then use the altitude tracker, along with a tangent table, to calculate the altitude of a launched rocket using the included data collection sheet.

Did you know every state in the U.S. has at least one observatory? During the lesson, scholars research the cost of building and maintaining an observatory. They must present their information in a proposal to build a new observatory,...

What is the difference between weather and climate? This is the focus question of a lesson that takes a deeper look at how weather data helps determine climate in a region. Using weather and climate cards, students decide...

Wrap-up a unit on global climate change with a instructional activity that examines the causes and effects of climate change. Learners fill out a chart that represents what they think causes climate change—natural and human-based—and...

How does climate change affect you? First in a three-part series, the activity focuses on how individuals living around the world are affected by climate change. Individuals take on the role of a given character and share their...

Purifying air and water, providing soil in which to grow crops, and moving water through its natural cycle are all services an ecosystem provides that benefit humans. Lesson four in a series lets learners explore and discuss the value of...

Scientists use ice core samples to obtain temperatures of the earth from 400,000 years ago! The third of five lessons instructs pupils to interpret historical climate data to see changes over time. In part I, participants interpret...

While all light travels at the same speed, each color in the visible light spectrum contains a different wavelength and frequency. Scholars determine the relationship between frequency and wavelength as they complete the activity. They...

Watch as your class makes the transition from pupils to researchers! A well-designed instructional activity has scholars pick a solar wind characteristic to research. They then collect and analyze official data from the LANL...

Bring the sun to your class! Young scholars analyze actual solar wind data in the second lesson plan of a five-part series. Their analysis includes speed, temperature, and density data.

Scholars use data to analyze and determine which sets of information need to be counted. They create a model to explain differences among chemical elements using graphs to prove concept mastery.

What do you call a tiny collection of galaxies? A puny-verse! Young scholars graph data gathered by scientists studying Cepheids. They attempt to identify a relationship between the variables through standard and logarithmical...

Pupils often wonder how we know the distance to various stars. Starting with a thought experiment and progressing to a physical experiment, they determine the brightness and distance to various stars. The evaluation requires...

Some patterns are so small, we can't see them without the help of technology. The same is true for cosmic microwave background radiation. During this activity and discussion, scholars examine both anisotropic and isotropic items and...

Young scientists participate in a hands-on experiment to explore Einstein's theory of relativity in a creative manner. They investigate various waves and compare their characteristics as they discuss how each wave is created....

Begin your next class with a BANG! Pupils discuss the formation of our universe and its expansion before proceeding with an activity designed to demonstrate what most likely occurred billions of years ago. They conclude with a discussion...

You're only 10 minutes late? Do you know how much the universe has expanded in those 10 minutes? Scholars graph supernovae based on their redshift and see if the results verify Hubble's Law. If it does confirm it, the universe is...

By measuring the wavelength, frequency, and intensity of electromagnetic radiation, scientists determine the temperature, density, and composition of far away items. Scholars rotate through ten lab stations using a spectroscope at each...

Learners explore and examine how patterns, measurement, ratios and proportions are utilized in the research development and production of airplanes. They meet a pilot from the Federal Aviation Association who describes the growth of air...

Eighth graders study magnetism.  In this solar wind lesson students complete several activities on space and weather.

Pupils examine the Mars Exploration Rover mission. In groups, they design their own mission while participating in a webquest. They write an essay using the information they gathered to propose their mission to the President. They...

Young scholars investigate changes in air quality. For this science lesson, students compare data to determine the air quality. Young scholars explore how humans affect the air quality.