This project gives students the opportunity to appreciate how difficult it is to predict the weather when making forecasts. By accessing an assortment of images and data, the students will be asked to forecast on a regular basis and determine the accuracy of the forecasts by comparing them with the actual observed data. Students will also complete specially constructed activities that introduce forecasting ... Full description.

This site contains information about snow, glaciers, permafrost, sea ice and cryospheric trends. The cryosphere is the portion of the Earth's surface where water is in a solid form, usually snow or ice. Seasonal snow cover, the largest component of the cryosphere, covers up to 33 percent of the Earth's total land surface. Glaciers and ice sheets cover about 10 percent of the Earth's land area. Nearly ... Full description.

In this lesson, students focus on the tremendous public interest in the potential of extraterrestrial life. Students read and discuss an article about the search for alien life. They then divide into small groups and discuss the issues and implications of this search. Finally, they write about the complex issues involved in this search and its implications in one of several suggested genres. Full description.

This project uses an excellent method of reinforcing use of metric/temperature measurement and assessing student knowledge of temperature, measurement, data collection/presentation/graphing and environmental issues. Students learn how temperature differs depending upon the type of surface area. Full description.

This activity examines many of the reasons why it is important to construct large dams, specifically, the three major dams across the Gunnison River leading into Black Canyon (Colorado). The importance of the dams for irrigation, electrical supply and recreation throughout history is explored. Students will learn about the different types of dam constructions, with pros and cons for each. There is ... Full description.

Users can obtain current weather forecasts for their own areas by entering a ZIP code, or they can access a large archive of historic data on severe weather (tornadoes, hail, high winds, hurricanes). Materials presented in the archive include dates, times, and intensities of storms, a photo gallery, maps, radar and other satellite data, storm chaser reports, and links to other weather sites. Raw data ... Full description.

Three macroinvertebrate lessons focus on (a) macroinvertebrate surveys, and how a pH change and the introduction of pesticides and fertilizers can affect an aquatic ecosystem, (b) pH and macroinvertebrate populations (do changes in the pH level effect an aquatic ecosystem?), and (c) pesticides and macroinvertebrates (does the introduction of pesticides and fertilizers alter an aquatic ecosystem?. ... Full description.

This document describes the functions and values of wetlands, and includes keywords and illustrations. Wetlands have received wastewater discharges from many different situations in the past, but only recently have they been recognized as potentially cost-efficient treatment systems. They can effectively remove or convert large quantities of pollutants from point sources (municipal and industrial ... Full description.

This NASA Module investigation compares and contrasts physical processes that occur on Both Earth and Mars. Students are given unidentified images of Earth and Mars. Their task is to arrange the images into pairs that show evidence of similar physical processes. Then they identify each image as one of Earth or of Mars by comparing and contrasting physical features that they observe in the image pairs. ... Full description.

In this lesson, students learn about meteors, meteorites, and comets by reading and discussing a related New York Times article about the Leonid meteor showers and the methods that scientists are using to learn from these meteors. Students then create and observe a comet in their classroom. Full description.