Ocean Planet's six lesson plans are adapted from several themes in the Smithsonian Institution exhibition created to share with the public what recent research has revealed about the oceans and to encourage ocean conservation. "Sea Secrets" explores ocean geography; "Sea Connections" looks at the plants and animals that live in different marine ecosystems. "Ocean Market" identifies and values many ... Full description.

This on-line project is part of the Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) program, which has developed internet activities for the elementary, middle, and high school level student. Students measure the temperature, record the number of minutes of sunlight per day over a predetermined week, and determine their global coordinates. Each class then posts their data to this web ... Full description.

This site uses data from ocean drifting buoys to integrate ocean science into classroom science and math instruction. Opportunities exist to enhance lessons with suggested educational activities and curriculum materials developed and tested by teachers. Teachers can also use only the data, background information and reference images to supplement existing curricula. Data is collected by the National ... Full description.

In this module, students carry out a number of activities that demonstrate the concepts of evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and soil moisture and runoff. The students then construct a terrarium as a way to observe the water cycle as a whole. Immediately following this, students use the Internet to acquire Real Time Data from the Olympic Peninsula in Washington which they can then use to describe ... Full description.

This lesson plan is part of the Center for Educational Resources (CERES), a series of web-based astronomy lessons created by a team of master teachers, university faculty, and NASA researchers. Students download NASA Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images of the Martian polar ice caps from different times to measure and compare the changing Martian and Earth poles. This lesson contains expected outcomes ... Full description.

This activity is a fun and easy way to understand the geology of an aquifer. Students will build an edible aquifer, and learn about confining layers, contamination, recharge and water tables. This demonstration is designed to illustrate the geologic formations in an aquifer, how pollution can get into groundwater, and how pumping can cause a decline in the water table. Students will notice how the ... Full description.

Earth's albedo is the fraction of incoming radiation (sunlight) that is reflected into space. The Earth has an average albedo, which describes how much sunlight is reflected on average for the whole planet and the whole year. The Earth also has a local albedo, which determines how much of the Sun's light is reflected from a particular place at a particular time. The local albedo depends on the particular ... Full description.

Students will use NASA Satellite data to analyze and understand ways of studying photosynthesis from space. They will assume the role of a park ranger at Shenandoah National Park and determine when the plants and trees at their top efficiency by analyzing when the plants are absorbing a majority of the light hitting them (within the photosynthetic range.) Full description.

The seasons on Earth are caused by the tilt of the Earth as it rotates on its axis and revolves around the Sun. Students will correlate surface radiation with mean surface temperature of several geographic regions. By observing the graphs of these parameters, students will construct an understanding of the reason for the seasons. Full description.

The purpose of this activity is to help students better understand percent cloud cover and to take more accurate cloud cover observations. Working in pairs or small groups, students use construction paper to simulate cloud cover. They estimate the percentage of cloud cover represented by torn pieces of paper on a contrasting background and assign a cloud cover classification to the simulations created ... Full description.