The purpose of this lesson is to use NASA CERES instrument cloud data and a weather map to explore cloud coverage during a winter storm. Students will map locations using latitude and longitude coordinates as well as use a microset of satellite data to investigate cloud characteristics by applying percentage to determine cloud cover. When atmospheric scientists, including meteorologists, study weather ... Full description.

In this activity students construct a sundial and use it to observe the movement of the sun through the sky over the course of a day by marking changes in the position of a shadow once each hour. Students determine the approximate time of solar noon at their school as indicated by the time of the shortest shadow. They revisit the site on a subsequent day to estimate the time of day using their sundial. ... Full description.

This program provides an overview of the issues surrounding the construction of the Three Gorges Dam across the Yangtze River in China. When it is completed, this dam will produce the energy of 15 nuclear power plants and tame some of the river's deadliest floods. However, it is also the subject of much controversy. Topics include the loss of important archaeological, cultural, and paleontological ... Full description.

This module engages students in the use of a clean room and in the planning of assembly of solar collector wafers for the Genesis space mission. They will work in production design teams to explore how the Genesis spacecraft will collect bulk solar wind with the collector arrays and learn to work as a team in a restrictive environment. The module includes several activities with accompanying video ... Full description.

The purpose of this activity is to discover why an instrument shelter is built the way it is. Students construct shelters that have varying properties and place them in the same location or place similar shelters in different locations and compare temperature data taken in each shelter. Students should predict what will happen for each of the different shelter designs or placements and perform the ... Full description.

This live, interactive electronic field trip to a North Carolina estuary is conducted on two dates each year. Previous field trips are stored for non-interactive access. Teachers can access resources on such topics as estuarine and coastal monitoring, management, cultural traditions, invasive species, and habitat restoration. The lesson plans include grade level and standards applicable for technology, ... Full description.

The site offers an interactive discussion of different vantage points associated with dam building. It describes some of the engineering and environmental issues that go into the process of selecting a site for building a dam and the conditions necessary for electrical generation. Links to classroom and family activities are organized by grade level. Full description.

This is a lesson that enables the student to describe how hurricanes move and change appearance over time through the use of the pubic domain image processing software. Full description.

This lesson plan is part of the DiscoverySchool.com lesson plan library for grades 6-8. It focuses on how earthquake-proof buildings are designed. Students build a tester, then model buildings to test and see what factors make a building more earthquake-proof than others. Included are objectives, materials, procedures, discussion questions, evaluation ideas, suggested readings, and vocabulary. There ... Full description.

This seven-week project is an investigation into space stations and their impact on our lives and the world. Students research the space program, and measure, model and analyze relationships through a daily log. In the end, students produce a model of a space station that they developed. This site provides research links, rubrics, and information for teachers. This project was designed by K-12 teachers ... Full description.