This site provides an overview of the earth's atmospheric greenhouse effect by briefly exploring the atmospheres of nearby planets and discussing the greenhouse gases of our atmosphere. Information at this site helps students to understand that the greenhouse effect is what makes this planet suitable for life as we know it and that the earth's atmosphere contains trace gases, water vapor, carbon dioxide, ... Full description.

This information is designed to belie the misconception that the capacity of air to hold water vapor is temperature dependent and that air can become saturated with water vapor. The temperature of a cloud droplet or ice crystal will be nearly the same as that of the air, so people imagine that somehow the air was to blame. But, if the other gases of the air were removed, leaving everything else the ... Full description.

These science bulletins from the American Museum of Natural History feature news on space science, astronomy, and astrophysics topics with in-depth feature stories about cutting-edge developments, weekly images from observatories around the world and in space, and and 'Astro Viz', a visualization of astronomical or astrophysical phenomena. Each story features a link to an educators' guide and links ... Full description.

This activity explores the potential for climate variability and change to trigger more frequent occurrences of El Nino, and the impacts that could result. Designed to teach through scientific inquiry, the activity seeks to stimulate thought about the long-term impacts of a warmer planet. Through their participation in this activity, students will access information at remote sites using telecommunications, ... Full description.

This site uses Virtual Reality field trips in the Alvin submarine to the East Pacific Rise to explore hydrothermal vents. The education activites focus on 4 activities: Exploration, Observing (actual video from the seafloor), Mapping, and Collecting a Water Sample. Teaching materials for each of the explorations have been provided, each with two levels of assessment (basic and advanced). Full description.

This project examines the entire water system of an ancient city, including supply, distribution, use, and drainage. Until now, individual water system elements have been studied as archaeological objects, but infrequently subjected to analysis by such disciplines as fluids engineering and urban history. This work is part of two larger long-term studies, the first concerning the relationship between ... Full description.

This site presents clues to suggest that liquid water once flowed on Mars - raising hopes that life could have arisen there - but the evidence remains inconclusive and sometimes contradictory. Full description.

In this activity, students construct a "comet" from ingredients similar to those found in actual comets. They will learn about the behavior of a real comet by observing their model as the dry ice sublimates, and understand the concept of scale as they compare the size of their model to the size of a real comet. A list of materials and instructions are provided. This activity can be performed as a ... Full description.

The PALEOMAP Project illustrates the plate tectonic development of the ocean basins and continents, as well as the changing distribution of land and sea during the past 1100 million years. The reconstruction of paleoclimates is also discussed. Maps are viewed as animations where the time component can be user-manipulated. Included are a variety of background materials which supplement the animations. ... Full description.

This lesson introduces the basics about how tornadoes are formed, and where and when they are most likely to occur. It includes a review of the current research on tornadoes and how scientists are trying to predict them. The equipment storm chasers use to study tornadoes is included. Students are asked to write a research plan for further study of tornadoes. Full description.