Students will become familiar with the properties of magnets. They will design a data collection sheet to show where magnets are hidden in a closed box with their explanation of their findings. They will also design a game or activity using magnets and present their activity to the class.

In Visceral Science, users have the ability to seamlessly move throughout the galaxy, jumping from star to star. In this series of lessons, we explore just how large those distances truly are, and how astronomers measure distances throughout the Universe.
To measure distance to stars in our galaxy, astronomers use a technique called parallax. In this lesson, students will explore parallax by building a simple model of how astronomers use the technique.

Estimated time required: 1-2 class periods.

Technology required for this lesson: .

In Visceral Science, users have the ability to seamlessly move throughout the galaxy, jumping from star to star. In this series of lessons, we explore just how large those distances truly are, and how astronomers measure distances throughout the Universe.
In this lesson, we will explore Standard Candles, one of the ways in which astronomers measure distances in space. Using flashlights, students will be able to observe how the same light is dimmer the further it is from an observer.

Estimated time required: 1-2 class periods.

Technology required for this lesson: .

In Visceral Science, users have the ability to seamlessly move throughout the galaxy, jumping from star to star. In this series of lessons, we explore just how large those distances truly are, and how astronomers measure distances throughout the Universe.
In astronomy, the cosmic distance ladder represents all of the methods astronomers use to measure distance. Each rung of the ”ladder” measures slightly further, but rely on the methods before it. In this lesson, students will build a distance ladder of their own using objects found in the classroom and school.

Estimated time required: 1-2 class periods.

Technology required for this lesson: Augmented Reality, Tablet or Smartphone.

In this physics lab students will investigate whether Ohm's Law applies to common electric devices (incandescent light bulbs and LEDs). This activity is based on a PRISMS activity.

This is an inquiry-based activity in which students will need to work together as a class to solve the following problem: they must construct a "boat" entirely out of modeling clay that is capable of supporting 150 grams of cargo without sinking.

In this interactive activity from the Building Big Web site, think like an engineer and use your knowledge of dome design to match the right type of dome to the right location in a fictitious city.

Students use a compass and a permanent magnet to trace the magnetic field lines produced by the magnet. By positioning the compass in enough spots around the magnet, the overall magnet field will be evident from the collection of arrows representing the direction of the compass needle. In activities 3 and 4 of this unit, students will use this information to design a way to solve the grand challenge of separating metal for a recycling company.

This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center discusses how a drought can have negative effects locally, for example by increasing the number of forest fires, and also globally, for example by impacting air quality thousands of miles away.

This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center describes El NiŰ__ŒóíŠo, how it forms, and the chain reaction of consequences it triggers around the globe.

This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center explains how hurricanes develop and why there are fewer hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean in strong El NiŰ__ŒóíŠo years.

This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center shows how integral satellites are to everyday life and describes the different types, including orbital and geostationary.

This interactive activity from the Adler Planetarium explains the reasons for the seasons. Featured is a game in which Earth must be properly placed in its orbit in order to send Max, the host, to different parts of the world during particular seasons.

This video segment adapted from NOVA tells the tragic story of two Japanese seismologists who disagreed about the threat of earthquakes in the early twentieth century. Today, seismologists in California offer residents a probability of risk that an earthquake might occur.

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, animations are used to show how the hills around Los Angeles were formed by earthquakes at small thrust faults that extend outward from the larger San Andreas fault.

The history of earthquakes in the San Francisco Bay area is plotted on a digital map and analyzed in this video segment adapted from NOVA.

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, a geologist digs a trench along the San Andreas Fault to reveal three thousand years of earthquake history. Information from the layers of sediment may help geologists to predict earthquakes.

This video segment adapted from NOVA uses historical illustrations, photographs, and animations to explain how seismographs work, the difference between P and S waves, and the Richter scale.

To gain an understanding of mixtures and the concept of separation of mixtures, students use strong magnets to find the element of iron in iron-fortified breakfast cereal flakes. Through this activity, they see how the iron component of this heterogeneous mixture (cereal) retains its properties and can thus be separated by physical means.