In this hands-on activity, students explore the relationship between angular width, actual size, and distance by using their finger, thumb and fist as a unit of angular measurement. They should learn to relate angular width to actual size using distance; quantify the relationship between angular width and distance; and understand why the Sun appears smaller from Pluto than from Earth. Full description.

This resource is part of the Science Education Gateway (SEGway) project, funded by NASA, which is a national consortium of scientists, museums, and educators working together to bring the latest science to students, teachers, and the general public. This activity introduces students to planetary research. Using some of the most famous and interesting images of the Solar System, students learn to focus ... 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 is designed to engage students in grades 7-12 in activities that focus on collaboration and communication strategies. These activities will strengthen student understanding of and ability to use collaborative processes and communication practices to clarify, conceptualize, and make decisions. Students will compare the risks of varying courses of action that confront scientists and engineers. ... Full description.

This six-day unit has students investigate the challenges of living and working in Antarctica and how researchers prepare for them, and then evaluate the insulating properties of a variety of fabrics, collecting their findings in a portfolio. The comprehensive curriculum materials at this site include an online activity in which students review the preparation materials given to researchers before ... Full description.

This Student Activity Worksheet is part of a San Jose State University ALERT K-12 module which teaches middle school students about making reasonable estimates of numbers, volume, mass, and time. Students estimate numbers of books on shelves and jellybeans or dried beans in jars, compare masses of coins, and estimate time by taking their pulses. Full description.

This Amazing Space activity examines the Hubble Deep Field image and allows students to simulate the process astronomers go through to count, classify, and identify objects, as well as estimate distances. It seeks to convey the importance of collaboration among scientists as well as the possibility of more than one acceptable answer to any scientific inquiry. Follow-up activities, links, and an instructor ... Full description.

This lesson explores six criteria of science (Consistent, Observable, Natural, Predictable, Testable, and Tentative (CONPTT)), with definitions and self-check questions. It compares emerging science, non-science, and pseudoscience, with definitions and examples. The activity engages students in analyzing a collection of paragraphs to decide which category each fits into. Full description.

In this article, The Why Files examines amber as nature's preservative. This fossilized resin has provided scientists with important clues and evidence for ancient life on Earth. The article investigates what amber is, how it preserves, where it is found, and the discoveries about ancient DNA that have been made by using amber fossils. Full description.

This resource is part of the Science Education Gateway (SEGway) project, funded by NASA, which is a national consortium of scientists, museums, and educators working together to bring the latest science to students, teachers, and the general public. In this activity, students use their knowledge of landforms and geography to answer questions about satellite images. These quizzes were developed as ... Full description.