This resource includes a classroom activity, background information and a set of temperature and surface pressure data from the Pathfinder Lander. Students analyze data on temperature and pressure graphs from the first 30 days of the Pathfinder Mission to determine whether water could have existed under these conditions. A set of 15 images is also available, which can be reproduced on a photocopier ... Full description.

This lesson allows students to explore the importance of weather prediction and the Internet's role in changing the way weather is reported. By participating in an Internet scavenger hunt, students will come to a greater appreciation of the role Internet weather prediction plays in their own lives as well as the lives of people all over the world. 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.

Ships travelling between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie use the Welland Canal. Beginning with a conversation between characters Mathise, Geo, and Trig, they explain how a lock in the canal operates by gravity alone, without pumps. The characters use mathematics to solve problems such as how long the locks take to fill and how to express the volume and flow of water in more common terms (bathtubs of water ... Full description.

Students investigate the importance of water historically and in their daily lives and examine the nature of water as a limited resource. Working in groups, they will list the various uses of water, discuss why water is a limited resource, research technological systems that are intended to use water as productively as possible, and create "How It Works" posters for presentation to the class. The ... Full description.

Flowing water from rivers and streams is a valuable and plentiful energy resource that people learned to use centuries ago to operate the machinery that was important to their livelihoods. This page features diagrams (some animated) that show the three main principles of water; various types of water wheels; and the modern hydroelectric turbine. There are also animations of various types of mills ... Full description.

This planetarium show teaches about meteors, meteorites, asteroids, and comets. It includes results from NASA missions and about the dangers they can pose to life on Earth. It is created for full-dome theaters but can also be shown in flat version for TVs and computer monitors. Shows the effects of the Chixulub and Tungusta events, plus the Pallasite impact that resulted in the Brenham meteorite fall. ... Full description.

In this activity, students examine their concepts of a comet by designing and building a model. The goal is to have students replicate the scientific processes of observing, modeling, forming an explanation, making new observations, and revising. In this manner, students have the opportunity to emulate the experience of scientific discovery that makes science so exciting. Younger students will learn ... Full description.

In this activity, students will observe the surface of rotating potatoes to help them understand how astronomers can sometimes determine the shape of asteroids from variations in reflective brightness. When astronomers graph data relating to reflective brightness as a function of time, the resulting graph is called a "light curve." Full description.

This product illustrates how scientists learn about the composition of an asteroid by studying energy and neutrons that emanate from it. The Dawn spacecraft contains three instruments -- the Gamma Ray and Neutro Detector (GRaND), the Visible Infrared Spectrometer, and the Framing Camera -- that will provide answers to questions about the formation and evolution of the early solar system. Full description.