Virginia Department of Education
Modeling the Big Bang Theory
Young astronomers learn about the Big Bang Theory and redshift through a hands-on activity in the last installment of a three-part series. Participants draw dots on balloons and then inflate them to model how galaxies moved farther apart...
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Yeast Power!
Students examine how not all microorganisms are bad and that some can actually be beneficial. In this yeast lesson students complete an experiment with yeast and answer questions.
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Crystal Growing
Learners grow crystals and document their observations by recording timeing and growth. Additional characteristics of crystals are observed under a black light, by growing under different conditions and mineral content is determined.
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Is Your Money Rolling Away?
Young scholars demonstrate how to solve word problems. They will watch the video "Math Can Take You Places" and identify three problem solving strategies.
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Was Kepler Correct?
Students are introduced to Kepler's 2nd law of Planetary Motion. The lesson reinforces the understanding of focal points. They calculate the sector area of an ellipse.Students expand understanding by modeling Kepler's 2nd Law of...
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Suns Path and Seasons
Using a plastic dome to represent the hemisphere of the sky, your class is able to demonstrate the path of the sun at different points of the day and year. They use a protractor to record movement and answer questions about...
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When Average Is the Way to Go
Students engage in experiences involving the mathematical concept of averages. After watching a video, students explore averaging through a variety of different methods.
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Should Populations in an Ecosystem be Restricted?
Fourth graders experiment to determine how overpopulation effects ecosystems specifically plants. In this ecosystem instructional activity, 4th graders conduct an ecosystems experiment after listening to Claire Daniel's, Ecosystems. They...
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Mapping The Ocean Floor
Young scholars explore and analyze the bottom structure of underwater habitats. They describe and explain what can't see through the collection and correlation of accurate data. Learners assess that technology is utilized as a tool for...
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Getting an Angle on the Sun and Moon
In this Sun and Moon activity, students solve 6 problems about the angular scale of the images given, the size of the features on the images and the area of the features shown.
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Jupiter and Io
In this Jupiter and Io activity, students use a diagram of the planet and its moon to find the dimension of the image, the width of the largest feature in the atmosphere of Jupiter, the width of the smallest feature in the atmosphere of...
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Asteroid Eros
For this asteroid image worksheet, students observe a photograph taken by the NEAR imager and they determine the scale of the image following the given steps. They solve 4 problems using the scaled image and determine the dimensions, the...
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Relative Ratios
Learners discover that proportions are made up of equal ratios each containing the same building blocks. They, using the Internet, apply their knowledge of direct relationships and proportions to problems in planetary science.
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How Big is a Lunar Crater?
In this lunar crater worksheet, students use an image taken by the Lunar Orbiter spacecraft to find the scale of the image and determine the diameter of the lunar crater Tycho. They also find the size of the smallest and largest features...
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Washington D.C. from Space
In this Washington D.C. from space worksheet, students use a picture generated by the International Space Station and they find the scale of the image. They determine the actual size of features in the image, they find the distances...
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The Outer Planets
In this planets worksheet, students research the diameters and sizes of the planets. Then student will create scale model sizes of the planets out of cookie dough. Students complete 5 short answer questions.
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Water on Mars!
In this water on Mars worksheet, students use a diagram to answer four questions about the structures in the image. They find the dimensions of the image, the width of the streams half-way down their flow channels, the smallest feature...
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Craters on the Moon
In this moon craters instructional activity, learners use a high resolution image of the lunar surface and calculate the image scale in meters per millimeter. They use the image scale to find the largest crater in the image, the smallest...
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Mars Rover Landing Site
In this Mars Rover Landing worksheet, learners are given an image of Mars near the Bonneville Crater. Students determine the image scale in the diagram and use it to find the diameter of the Bonneville Crater, the width of the Rover's...
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Exploring a City from Space
For this exploring cities from space worksheet, students use a satellite image from the QuickBird Satellite to determine the image scale. They use the image scale to calculate the length of the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, the length of...
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LRO's First Image of Mare Nubium
In this scale image worksheet, students use an image taken by the LRO satellite of Mare Nubium to determine the scale of the image, the diameter of the smallest crater and a comparison scale drawing of a house.
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Sports Helmets and Impact Testing of Polymers
Students examine the importance of good quality safety gear. In this investigative lesson, students will tests various polymers, collect data, and analyze the data to determine which polymer is best for safety helmets. They will design a...
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One Size Fits All?
Students describe the differences between an estimate and a guess. They create reasonable estimates based on comparison and activities. Students explain how estimation is helpful in showing the relative size on a scale. They also...
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Life Science: Heavy Weight
Young scholars investigate adolescent obesity and its health impact. In this health and obesity lesson, students research the problem, develop a survey regarding eating habits, then analyze the nutritional information on commonly eaten...