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.

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.

Project SkyMath is a mathematics module for middle school students, developed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). The goal of the pilot project is to demonstrate that acquiring and using current environmental and real-time weather data in middle school classrooms, in ways that embrace the dynamic and the uncertain natures of these data, will promote the teaching and learning ... Full description.

This resource covers basic astronomy, Newtonian mechanics, the Sun and related topics (weather, electromagnetic waves, nuclear energy), and space flight. The material stresses space applications, history, and intuitive content, and includes a brief refresher course on algebra and trigonometry. It is also available in Spanish. Full description.

This Website contains over 200 authentic math problems that cover solar physics, space physics, radiation dosimetry, and the human impacts of space weather. The problems range from pre-algebra to calculus and span the math skills appropriate for grade 8-12 students. The problems are taken from authentic applications of arithmetic, graph analysis, pre-algebra, and algebra. Full description.

Practical Uses of Math and Science (PUMAS) is a collection of one-page examples of how math and science topics taught in K-12 classes can be used in interesting settings, including everyday life. The examples are written primarily by scientists and engineers, and are available to teachers, students, and other interested parties via the PUMAS Web Site. The goal is to capture, for the benefit of pre-college ... Full description.

This site is the Lesson Guide of an archived NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) CONNECT program designed to show how NASA engineers and researchers use data analysis and measurement to predict solar storms, anticipate how they will affect the Earth, and improve our understanding of the Sun-Earth system. It contains an activity in which students will discover the solar cycle through ... Full description.

Users download and analyze satellite images showing the amount of ozone in the stratosphere. They interpret the images to identify the ozone "hole" that develops over Antarctica each summer, and compare its size from year to year. Using freely available image analysis software, ImageJ, users quantify the area of the Antarctic ozone hole each October from 1996 to 2004. Finally, they bring their measurements ... Full description.

In this lesson, students define and classify the various ways in which numbers are used in forecasting and coping with the effects of a hurricane. This is followed up with an opportunity for research to compare and contrast these numbers as they apply to Hurricane Floyd and other recent hurricanes. There are also directions on how students can graph their findings. Full description.

NASAexplores provides free weekly K-12 educational articles and lesson plans on current NASA projects. Printable and downloadable, these supplemental curriculum resources meet and are searchable by national education standards. Each week two new articles are published about a current NASA Aerospace Technology or Human Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS) project. NASAexplores educators adapt ... Full description.