In the arctic circle, some hotels offer aurora borealis wake-up calls so visitors don't miss the northern lights. A Veritasium video explains what causes the northern lights. It also presents many misconceptions people still believe about these beautiful displays.

Concepts

the northern lights, the aurora borealis, solar flares, magnetic fields, the earth's magnetic field

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Create a calendar of previous aurora events to try to predict the next few

Classroom Considerations

• Relies on prior knowledge of electromagnetic fields, the earth, and the sun
• Preview video to determine the appropriateness of jokes for your classroom

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• Requires very little class time
• Shows the reality of northern light hunting, something that may be new to many viewers

Cons

• None

Common Core

SL.9-10.2 SL.11-12.2 RST.9-10.4 RST.11-12.4