This slide show provides an introduction to paleontology for younger students. The slides show a variety of plant and anmal fossils, and are accompanied by a brief written narrative. Paleontologists are shown at work excavating and preparing fossils, and some National Park exhibits and facilities are also depicted. Links to a curriculum guide and to a downloadable Powerpoint version of the show are ... Full description.

In this activity, students observe fluid motion and the formation of convection cells as a solution of soap and water is heated. This procedure can be performed as a demonstration by the teacher, or older students can conduct the experiment themselves. A list of materials, instructions, and a description of the convective process are included. Full description.

This slide show provides basic information on the three major rock types and the rock cycle. Diagrams of the rock cycle explain the processes and changes that connect the three rock types and illustrate how one type can be changed into another. Each of the three types (sedimentary, igneous, metamorphic) are described and illustrated with photographs. Addresses for websites with additional information ... Full description.

This demonstration of how buildings respond to seismic shaking uses cardboard and stiff paper (such as postcards or computer cards). The effects of building resonance can be found by experimenting with taller and shorter buildings, and varying the frequency of shaking. Full description.

This demonstration illustrates how the water cycle helps to purify water. Students are introduced to the key terms, which are evaporation and condensation. They discover that evaporation is defined as the process through which a liquid becomes a vapor, while condensation is simply the reverse. Students also learn that in the case of water, the main mechanisms for evaporation and condensation are heating ... Full description.

This demonstration introduces the concept of water phases and cycling to younger students through observation, drawing, and writing. They will be able to explain how the Earth's water supply is recycled, form a hypothesis as to how/why the water cycle works, and use writing and drawing to explain how the cycle works. Full description.

These demonstrations help to define subsidence and illustrate the resulting effects on wetlands. They will also introduce global warming and sea-level rise as factors in wetland loss. There are suggestions for more complex models to teach subsidence and formation of sinkholes related to the removal of subsurface materials such as gas and oil. Full description.

This Powerpoint presentation inroduces younger students to the life cycles of stars. Topics include stellar nurseries, types of stars, supernovae, the fates of stars of either high or low mass, and the creation of heavier elements by continued fusion of successively heavier elements. 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.

In the demonstration, students observe a visual convection current in the classroom and compare it to the images of convection cells in the Sun taken from the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) instrument on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft. Students also hear or read background information about convection cells on Earth and in the Sun and view a labeled cutaway diagram of the ... Full description.