In this hands-on activity, students explore the relationship between angular width, actual size, and distance by using their finger, thumb and fist as a unit of angular measurement. They should learn to relate angular width to actual size using distance; quantify the relationship between angular width and distance; and understand why the Sun appears smaller from Pluto than from Earth. Full description.

This lesson will guide students to an understanding of the appearance of graphed data, allowing them to determine how two parameters are correlated to one another. Full description.

Students will use various objects in the classroom to experiment with nonstandard measurement. They will make estimates and test them out. Then, working in pairs or small groups, students will use a ruler or a measuring tape to become familiar with how to use these tools for standard linear measurement. The purpose of this activity is to practice making standard and non-standard measurement and to ... 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.

This booklet is a collection of 15 problems that incorporate data from the Hinode solar observatory. These problems cover topics in sunspot structure, spectroscopy, solar rotation, magnetic fields, density and temperature of hot gases, and solar flares. The math skills covered include finding the scale of an image to determine actual physical sizes in images, time calculations, volumes of cylinders, ... Full description.

This inquiry-based math/science curriculum explores the conceptual tools which have enabled scientists and engineers to launch satellites like GLAST into space, and to make sense of the data received. In this curriculum, students will measure, scale, graph and problem solve, using examples derived from GLAST. They will compare quantities as orders of magnitude, become familiar with scientific notation, ... Full description.

This activity gives an easy way for students to measure the relationship between distance and brightness. Once students discover the relationship, they can begin to understand how astronomers use this knowledge to determine the distances to stars and far away galaxies. Full description.

The atmosphere is a mixture of gases including nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and other trace gases. Additionally, the atmosphere contains small, suspended liquid and particle matter called aerosols. Aerosols come from various sources, both natural and anthropogenic (man-made). Aerosols are important to study and monitor because they have direct and indirect effects on regional weather and global ... Full description.

One of the strongest observed ENSO events of the century began to unfold in 1997. Fortunately, an extensive network of satellite and ocean buoy instruments was prepared to monitor and record the historical event. In this lesson, students will collect data from the MY NASA DATA Live Access Server to understand how scientists detect the onset of El Nino conditions and the reversal to La Nina conditions ... Full description.

Students will examine data in several formats in order to determine the presence or absence of seasonal variability in tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations. The dataset used in this lesson is monthly averages of NO2 as measured from NASA's EOS Aura spacecraft. Full description.