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Students, in this activity, use a globe and lamp to model Earth’s orbit. From this concrete model, they see and understand that the cause of Earth’s seasons is the tilt of its rotational axis.
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The greenhouse effect refers to the way Earth’s atmospheric gases create a barrier that allows the heat from the Sun to penetrate and be absorbed by Earth’s surface. The heat is trapped, much like in a greenhouse. The…
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Every 29.5 days, the Moon’s shape appears to change in a predictable cycle. We call the shapes phases of the Moon. This activity will show how the Moon’s orbit causes the Moon’s phases. Students use Ping-Pong or…
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It is difficult to measure objects in the solar system because it is so massive. In this activity, students use a cross-staff to measure the angular diameter of a paper plate 4 m away. From this, they learn to measure…
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Students, in this activity, measure distances by walking heel-to-toe in the unit “student minute.” This is to gain an intuitive under¬standing of light years, a unit in which time represents distance.
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Much has been written about global warming and climate change, but Dr. Claire Parkinson, a NASA climatologist, cautions about the more alarmist predictions of future crises. Global warming is a fact, but how we go about…
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Understanding the causes of Earth’s seasons is quite challenging and is often misunderstood. Earth’s seasons are caused by the combination of its orbit around the Sun and the tilt of Earth’s axis in relation to that…
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Measuring diameters of objects in the solar system is difficult due to their vast distances and huge sizes. If the distance to an object is known, we can use a method of indirect measurement in which we measure the…
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The cause for the changing appearance of the Moon—its phases—is a difficult concept for many people to learn, and this gives rise to some surprisingly stubborn preconceptions. The phases are caused by the fact that we…
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Distances to stars and galaxies are so great that communicating the measurement in kilometers is cumbersome and difficult to comprehend. So, astronomers use a larger unit of measure called the “light year.” It is the…
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Sizes and distances in the solar system are difficult to visualize. In this activity, students calculate scaled distances and planetary diameters to planets in our solar system. They then make a model in a large open…
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For the past 400 years, astronomers have explored the universe with telescopes. Telescopes gather light from distant objects and funnel the light into our eyes, or into a camera. But, Earth’s atmosphere absorbs some of…
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This activity is designed to help students understand that light does have a finite speed and that this has consequences for us. In order to grasp the meaning of the activity, it is important for students to understand…
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Measuring parallax and angular diameters are two indirect methods of measuring size and distance in the solar system. The scale model is another indirect method of measurement that also allows us to explore the…
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How Far to the Star? The Parallax Effect
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In this activity, students conduct two experiments with parallax by viewing a pencil against a backdrop marked with equally spaced lines. In the first experiment, students note the shift in the apparent position of the…
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