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. This project involves comparing the water quality of local rivers, streams, lakes or ponds with other fresh water sources around the world. The focus is to assess the quality of water based on physical ... Full description.

The New Millennium Observatory (NeMO) is a seafloor observatory off the coast of Oregon, which studies the relationships between submarine volcanic events and the chemistry and distribution of hydrothermal vents and the biologic communities that depend on them. The research activities at NeMO provide an extraordinary educational opportunity, both from the daily reports from expeditions at sea and ... Full description.

Virtual Earthquake is an interactive web-based program designed to introduce the concepts of how an earthquake epicenter is located and how the Richter magnitude of an earthquake is determined. Virtual Earthquake shows the recordings of an earthquake's seismic waves detected by instruments far away from the earthquake. The instrument recording the seismic waves is called a seismograph and the recording ... Full description.

In this investigation, students examine Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. After becoming familiar with a bathymetric/topographic map of the area, students select a transect along the seafloor to study some of the geological, biological, and physical features that are present. In this activity students use a bathymetric/topographic map as a tool for recognizing geobiological features of the sanctuary, ... Full description.

This field activity has two parts: Elementary school students are asked to draw and verbally describe clouds and are given web access to cloud pictures. High school students are taken outdoors to describe cloud height, shape, and cover; and wind speed before answering questions. The activity is part of the Atmospheric Visualization Collection (AVC), which focuses on data from the Atmospheric Radiation ... Full description.

This applet simulates what happens inside a house when the temperature and dew point change outside. The user of this applet has control over the outdoor values of the two thermometers (one for temperature and one for dew point). The relative humidity meter will instantly display the value for the outside. The user will learn that as the outdoor values are changed, the indoor environment is slower ... Full description.

In this activity, students are introduced to sequencing and geologic time through relative dating techniques. Students begin by categorizing cards of nonsense words, then move on to cards with pictures of fossils. Once students begin to grasp "relative" dating, they can extend their knowledge of geologic time by exploring radiometric dating and developing a timeline of Earth's history. There is a ... Full description.

This activity teaches students how bathymetric maps (topographic maps of underwater landforms) are made by using sonar. Students use a simulated sonar exercise to map something they cannot see and then see how close they were to the actual shape. They produce a bathymetric map and answer questions about this process. Full description.

This educational project uses online real time data to guide student discovery of the science behind the causes and effects of ground level ozone. Through this project, students will discover what ground level ozone is, what factors contribute to its formation and how breathing ozone affects health. Students will use data and animated maps from the internet to monitor the presence of ground level ... Full description.

This presentation will help students understand that weather occurs at local, regional and global scales and that modern weather observation and forecasting makes use of both simple instruments and the most advanced technologies to measure, record and forecast the weather. They will learn the instruments and methods used to measure temperature, pressure, wind direction and speed, humidity, dew point, ... Full description.