In this activity, students take a Home Energy Quiz to identify improvements that could make their homes more energy-efficient.

Create a laser by pumping the chamber with a photon beam. Manage the energy states of the laser's atoms to control its output.

This activity explores how clay affects the permeability of sands, the effect of chemical differences of the clay (cation exchange), and how these results may be applied to low-level radioactive waste disposal sites.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

This video segment adapted from NOVA illustrates why carbon is at the center of life on Earth. It also asks whether carbon-based life might exist on other planets.

Students measure different types of small-sized beams and calculate their respective moments of inertia. They compare the calculations to how much the beams bend when loads are placed on them, gaining insight into the ideal geometry and material for load-bearing beams.

This video segment explores whether, in principle, renewable energy resources could meet today's global energy needs of about 15.7 terawatts.

The purpose of this resource is to have students observe their lilac plants and identify the five phenophases (first leaf, full or 95% leafed, first bloom, full bloom and end of bloom) for each lilac plant. During the growing season, students will observe their lilac plants and identify the five phenophases (first leaf, full or 95% leafed, first bloom, full bloom and end of bloom) for each lilac plant.

This video segment, adapted from NOVA, traces the evolving history of theories about gravity and a force that may oppose it, along with our understanding of the impact of both of these forces on our expanding universe.

Students learn and practice how to find the perimeter of a polygonal shape. Using a ruler, they measure model rooms made of construction paper walls. They learn about other tools, such as a robot, that can help them take measurements. Using a robot built from a LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT kit that has been programmed to move along a wall and output the length of that wall, students record measurements and compare the perimeter value found with the robot to the perimeter found using a ruler. In both cases, students sketch maps to the scale of the model room and label the measured lengths. A concluding discussion explores the ways in which using a robot may be advantageous or disadvantageous, and real-world applications.

This video segment produced for Teachers' Domain features a time-lapse video of clouds forming, changing, and moving across the sky.

A realistic mass and spring laboratory. Hang masses from springs and adjust the spring stiffness and damping. You can even slow time. Transport the lab to different planets. A chart shows the kinetic, potential, and thermal energy for each spring.

This lesson will be so that students can master spelling words that do not spell how they are sounded out. Standard 1: : The physically literate individual will demonstrate competency in a variety of motor skills and movement patterns.Catches a soft objectfrom a self-tossbefore it bounces.(1.1.9.A)English/Language Arts 2.W.8  Encoding – I. Correctly spelling words with short and long vowel sounds, r-controlled vowels, and consonant-blend patterns. II. Generalizing learned spelling patterns (e.g., word families) when writing words. III. Correctly spelling common irregularly-spelled, grade-appropriate words (e.g., said, does, gone).

Studying sports as social phenomena helps us understand the ways that social class, gender, race and ethnicity, sexuality, and physical ability influence our everyday lives. Sports are also linked with the organization and dynamics of family life. Parents and educators see them as tools for teaching values to young people. Politicians often see them as vehicles for developing local and national identities, and corporations sponsor certain types of sports to market both products and ways of thinking about competition and consumption to people worldwide. Corporate executives now realize that sponsoring people’s pleasures (i.e., sporting events) produces support for their products. At the same time, most sports organizations seek corporate support to ensure their survival.

Lined up shoulder-to-shoulder, learners are the medium that P and S waves travel through in this simple, but effective demonstration. Once "performed", the principles of P and S waves will not be easily forgotten. This demonstration explores two of the four main ways energy propagates from the hypocenter of an earthquake as P and S seismic waves. The physical nature of the Human Wave demonstration makes it a highly engaging kinesthetic learning activity that helps students grasp, internalize and retain abstract information.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

Construct and measure the energy efficiency and solar heat gain of a cardboard model house. Use a light bulb heater to imitate a real furnace and a temperature sensor to monitor and regulate the internal temperature of the house. Use a bright bulb in a gooseneck lamp to model sunlight at different times of the year, and test the effectiveness of windows for passive solar heating.

Students act as engineers to learn about the strengths of various epoxy-amine mixtures and observe the unique characteristics of different mixtures of epoxies and hardeners. Student groups make and optimize thermosets by combining two chemicals in exacting ratios to fabricate the strongest and/or most flexible thermoset possible.

Students research particular types of lasers and find examples of how they are used in technology today. Teams present their findings by means of PowerPoint presentations, videos or brochures. The class takes notes on the presentations using a provided handout. This activity prepares students for the "go public" phase of the legacy cycle in which they solve the grand challenge by designing and producing a laser-based security system.

In this activity, students engage in a simulation of the international negotiation process in order to convey how the international community is responding to climate change. Participants learn firsthand about the interests of different countries and the range of policy responses to mitigate future climate change.

In this adapted video segment, ZOOM guest Laura shows us some of the natural features of Yellowstone National Park, including geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, and mud pots, as well as some of the wildlife.

This course introduces principles and technologies for converting heat into electricity via solid-state devices. The first part of the course discusses thermoelectric energy conversion and thermoelectric materials, thermionic energy conversion, and photovoltaics. The second part of the course discusses solar thermal technologies. Various solar heat collection systems will be reviewed, followed by an introduction to the principles of solar thermophotovoltaics and solar thermoelectrics. Spectral control techniques, which are critical for solar thermal systems, will be discussed.