This document describes the nature and properties of the sun, its corona, and the solar wind. Students can read how the sun's energy comes from nuclear fusion and how its uneven rotation and churning of its upper layers produces sunspots. The sun's corona is described, and its anomalously high temperature when compared with deeper regions is pointed out. The site also describes how plasma from the ... Full description.

In this activity, students use an internet archive of data on the Earth's magnetic field to study the frequency of magnetic storms of different intensities during the year, and during the solar sunspot cycle. The archive contains values of the Kp scale, an index of how disturbed the Earth's magnetic field was, on average, over each three-hour period of the day. They will select their data, construct ... Full description.

Increasingly, scientists are discovering ways to predict and prevent loss of life associated with earthquakes. This lesson will help students to understand earthquakes. The first portion consists of an online investigation in which students read news stories about recent earthquakes and their effects. Then, they perform an activity in which seismic waves (P and S waves) are simulated using a slinky ... Full description.

In this article the Why Files examines tornadoes. Topics covered include: what tornadoes are, where they get their energy, the latest word on prediction, how to protect yourself, and how tornadoes affect the natural landscape. A May 1999 update briefly describes the damage from a swarm of huge tornadoes (or twisters), which ripped through Oklahoma and Kansas, killing 43 and destroying thousands of ... Full description.

This resource explores winter weather and frozen precipitation. The page on precipitation points out that snow and rain are both water and explains how the different forms of frozen precipitation (snow, sleet, freezing rain) occur. There is a page on cirrus clouds that explains their characterstics and how they may affect climate by reflecting solar radiation or reducing outgoing infrared energy from ... Full description.

This lesson plan is part of the DiscoverySchool.com lesson plan library for grades 9-12. It focuses on nuclear reactions, specifically fusion which creates energy on the Sun. Other types of reactions are radioactive decay and fission. Students look at these different types of reactions and learn about how they happen, and specifics about the Sun such as solar flares, neutrinos, and solar energy. It ... Full description.

This site provides a complete and comprehensive center for students to learn about rivers. Animated pages about erosional processes, river volume, velocity, and transport are available for students to print or take notes on. Case studies on the Singapore River and Rhine River are presented with pictures. On-line worksheets cover erosion, deposition, and river patterns. An on-line study guide summarizes ... Full description.

This data tip from Bridge, the Ocean Sciences Education Teacher Resource Center archive, includes a variety of educational sites to visit, and a data exercise on snowfall patterns using local data or historical data for Salt Lake City, Utah. Learners can also discover some of the water chemistry behind snow. The activity introduces the meteogram, a time cross-section of data for a specific surface ... Full description.

This letter is part of a series written by a glacial geologist working in Antarctica. In her letters home, Stephanie Shipp shares her work and discoveries. This text discusses annual temperature ranges in Antarctica. It focuses on the three main reasons that Antarctica is so cold: the angle of the sun, the high albedo of the continent, and the clear atmosphere. The letter explains why Antarctica is ... Full description.

This activity has students record the temperatures in and around a walk-in refrigerator or freezer to see how cold air behaves when it meets warmer air. The printable five-page handout includes a series of inquiry-based questions to get students thinking about how the temperature of air changes its density, detailed experiment directions, and a worksheet that helps students use experimental results ... Full description.