This activity allows students to compare the thermal properties of carbon dioxide with those of air, and can be extended to compare water vapor as well. Students discover that the gas which absorbs the most heat (infrared radiation) is the most effective greenhouse gas because in the atmosphere it would absorb more infrared coming from the surface of the Earth. This activity could be used as either ... Full description.

This website is the home of Bill Nye, the Science Guy. His site contains episode guides for his TV shows, a question of the week, and home demonstrations to perform for planetary, physical and life sciences. The demonstrations include topics such as weather, mountains, tornadoes, erosion, gravity, orbits, the Moon and more. Full description.

In this lesson, students become familiar with how ocean water forms density-stratified layers in many places. They design and carry out a series of tests to show how water masses of four different densities interact, using clear straws to stack colored water of different salinities. Temperature is varied to increase the differences in density of each water sample. Full description.

This middle/junior high school level activity requires students to color velocity and reflectivity radar images from the millimeter wave cloud radar (MMCR) in Oklahoma and to interpret their features including cloud thickness and height. The exercise is part of the Atmospheric Visualization Collection (AVC), which focuses on data from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program's Southern ... Full description.

This college course offers a basic introduction to the sciences of hydrology and geomorphology, which are two branches of Geography dealing with earth surface processes. This page contains two labs, a summary of each unit covered, a syllabus for the course, and example questions. Topics covered include plate tectonics, earthquakes and volcanoes, weathering, soils, mass wasting, fluvial processes, ... Full description.

This activity is constructed to help students gain a better understanding of how scientists can use foraminifera to interpret past environments. Specifically, they will have the opportunity to understand one of the basic tenets of geology: the present is the key to the past, a principle otherwise known as uniformitarianism. Objectives include: distinguishing between planktonic, benthic, hyaline, porcelaneous, ... Full description.