In this lab students will explore first hand what sorts of processes occur when scientists and engineers try to identify a landing site for a mission to Mars. This will mimic the process used to select the MER rover landing sites, and what will be used for future missions. First, students briefly become a planetary geologist, engineer or astrobiologist. Second, from the point of view the students feel is appropriate for their new position, and using the same constraints employed by the scientific teams preparing for forthcoming Mars missions, students will identify their top list of candidate landing sites and submit a short report describing them to me by the following class period. Third, in the following class period, all three groups of experts will work together to narrow down the site selection to a top candidate. Where would you send the next lander if the choice was up to you?
Each student group, constituted randomly, is provided with the appropriate role-playing sheet from the lab assignment.

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These are STEM lessons and activities focused on stormwater management, watershed education, and water quality.

This activity is a field investigation where students can go to a body of water and collect the macroinvertebrates there and identify them. Based on what they find, they can assess the water quality by determining the biotic index. Based on the Macorinvertebrate Mayhem from Project Wet.

There are two types of energy sources. One is renewable and the other is non-renewable. In renewable source, the substance which is used for production of energy is not consumed, but remains the same as it was before the production of energy, while in non-renewable source of energy the fuel substance is consumed and its chemical compostion is changed. Examples of non-renewable anergy are fissile material, coal, oil, gas, and wood, while examples of renewable energy sources are wind, flowing water, geothermal energy etc. The primitive means of energy are wood, and fissil fuel energy. Primitive sources of energy caused excessive green house gases, which are harmful for atmosphereand. Due to the excessive use of the fossil fuel energy, it caused harms to the environment. The world is trying to reduce its dependence on fossil fuel/ non-renewable sources. Growing dependence on Solar, Wind, Hydropower, geothermal energy (renewable) is a hope to achieve a clean and healthy environment. https://geostudies.org/energy-resouces/

Dissolved ions are present in all freshwater systems, but humans can change the chemical composition of freshwater in several ways. In this activity, students will examine the concentration of major ions in freshwater systems over time and reason about potential drivers of these changes.

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Many different types of landforms make up Earth’s topography. Several major categories of landform define that smaller portion of the planet not covered by water, including mountains, plains, plateaus and valleys. These can be formed by a variety of natural forces, including erosion from water and wind, plate movement, folding and faulting, and volcanic activity.

Make your own planet on this website! You can change the color of your planet and add land, water, trees, and weather. You can then name your planet and write a short story about it. For even more fun, compare the planets in our solar system with your planet!

It’s hard to imagine life on Earth without oceans. The air you breathe used to be an ocean breeze. The water you drink was once in a cloud over the ocean.

The ocean is also important to the many species of plants and animals that call the water their home. This community of organisms is called an ecosystem.

Human-caused climate change is warming our planet, and the oceans are feeling the heat. Plants and animals in the ocean ecosystem are sensitive to changes in the ocean’s temperature. Some organisms can adapt to the change, but others can’t survive the warmer temperatures. Since so much life is dependent on these waters, it’s important to keep the oceans healthy!

Scientists are monitoring the temperature of the ocean with an instrument called the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite. The satellite measures the temperature of the top millimeter of the ocean’s surface.

With this activity, learn to make a cool and tasty version of the ocean ecosystem at home!

On the eve of the CC Global Summit, members of the CC global community and Creative Commons held a one-day workshop to discuss issues related to AI, creators, and the commons. The community attending the Summit has a long history of hosting these intimate discussions before the Summit begins on critical and timely issues.

Emerging from that deep discussion and in subsequent conversation during the three days of the Summit, this group identified a set of common issues and values, which are captured in the statement below. These ideas are shared here for further community discussion and to help CC and the global community navigate uncharted waters in the face of generative AI and its impact on the commons.

This resource describes the physics behind the formation of clouds, and provides a demonstration of those principles using a beaker, ice, a match, hot water, and a laser pointer. This resource is from PUMAS - Practical Uses of Math and Science - a collection of brief examples created by scientists and engineers showing how math and science topics taught in K-12 classes have real world applications.

This article examines the reading comprehension strategy known as making connections. It involves linking what is being read (the text) to what is already known (schema, or background knowledge). The author provides links to four online resources that will help readers use the strategy in K-5 science and literacy classrooms. The article appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, which integrates science and literacy instruction.

The reading strategy known as making connections can greatly enhance students' understanding of any text. This article offers resources that teachers can use to instruct K-5 students in using the strategy. The free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle integrates science and literacy instruction. Each issue contains lessons and activities that combine literacy and science experiences.

Students use everyday building materials sand, pea gravel, cement and water to create and test pervious pavement. They learn what materials make up a traditional, impervious concrete mix and how pervious pavement mixes differ. Groups are challenged to create their own pervious pavement mixes, experimenting with material ratios to evaluate how infiltration rates change with different mix combinations.

The lesson will begin with students comparing and contrasting the physical properties of ice and water using a Venn diagram graphic organizer. Next, the students will describe the physical properties of ingredients needed for a microwave mug cake. The students will bake a chocolate microwave mug cake to demonstrate that some changes in matter caused by heating and cooling are irreversible. Lastly, the students will create a written and pictorial response comparing the water and ice to the microwave mug cake to provide evidence that some changes in matter can be reversed, while others can not. This lesson results from the ALEX Resource Gap Project.