NASA Wavelength Resources Collection

NASA Wavelength is a collection of resources that incorporate NASA content and have been subject to peer review. You can search this collection using key words and/or the drop down menus to pinpoint resources to use with your audience of learners.
163 result(s)

Solar Week Tuesday: Scavenger Hunt

This is an online game associated with activities during Solar Week, a twice-yearly event in March and October during which classrooms are able to interact with scientists studying the Sun.
Audience: Elementary school, Grades 3-5, Middle school, Grades 6-8, Middle school, Middle school, High school, Grade 9
Topic: Earth and space science, Solar system, The sun, Solar physics, Engineering and technology, Image processing and visualization, Engineering and technology, Aircraft, probes, satellites and/or spacecraft, Engineering and technology, Remote sensing, Physical sciences, Light and optics
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Eco-Schools USA Climate Change Connections

Designed for use in the high school classroom, this curriculum uses Earth system data, models, and resources from five NASA missions (Aqua, Aura, ICESat, Landsat, and Terra) to engage students in a systems approach to climate change.
Keywords: Climate models, Climate feedbacks, Climate forcings
Audience: High school
Topic: Earth and space science, Earth processes, Climate, Earth and space science, Earth processes, Earth's energy budget, Earth and space science, Earth processes, Geochemical cycles, Earth and space science, Earth structure, Atmosphere, Engineering and technology, Image processing and visualization, Engineering and technology, Remote sensing, Mathematics, Data collection, analysis and probability, Physical sciences, Energy, The nature of science, Science and society
Materials Cost: 1 cent - $1
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Using Spectral Data to Explore Saturn and Titan

Learners will compare known elemental spectra with spectra of Titan and Saturn’s rings from a spectrometer aboard the NASA Cassini spacecraft. They identify the elements visible in the planetary and lunar spectra.
Keywords: Saturn's rings, Cassini mission
Audience: Middle school, Grades 6-8, Middle school, Middle school, High school, Grade 9, High school, Grade 10, High school, Grade 11, High school, Grade 12
Topic: Earth and space science, Astronomy, Earth and space science, Solar system, Planetary atmospheres, Earth and space science, Solar system, Planets, Engineering and technology, Remote sensing, Physical sciences, Light and optics
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Vesta Mosaic: Art informing science

This is an activity about albedo, which is a measurement of the reflectance of a planetary surface. Learners will classify areas on an image in terms of albedo values and then sketch their own portion of an image from space.
Keywords: visual analysis
Audience: Middle school, Informal education, Middle school programming
Topic: Earth and space science, Solar system, Planetary geology, Engineering and technology, Image processing and visualization, Engineering and technology, Remote sensing, Physical sciences, Light and optics
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Sandboxes and Satellites

In this activity, students explore how maps and models are used to represent the landscape. Students will recreate their school grounds in a sandbox, clay, or a cardboard model. They will then photograph or videotape their model from above and from the sides.
Audience: Elementary school, Middle school, High school
Topic: Earth and space science, Earth structure, Landforms/geography, Earth and space science, Earth structure, Vegetation/land cover, Engineering and technology, Image processing and visualization, Engineering and technology, Remote sensing
Materials Cost: 1 cent - $1
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MRC: How Do I Measure This? (Grades 3-5)

This is a lesson about measurement and cratering. Learners will read about the origin of the foot as a standardized unit of measure, work collaboratively to conduct an experiment about cratering, and collect and record data to draw logical and scientific conclusions.
Keywords: Measurement, Crater formation
Audience: Elementary school, Grades 3-5
Topic: Earth and space science, Solar system, Planetary science, Earth and space science, Solar system, Planets, Engineering and technology, Remote sensing, Mathematics, Data collection, analysis and probability, Mathematics, Measurement
Materials Cost: $1 - $5
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How Do Satellites Send Images and How Do We Use Them?

The activities contained in this lesson are designed to introduce students to the basic characteristics of satellite images and their scientific importance.
Keywords: Remote sensing
Audience: Elementary school, Grades K-2, Elementary school, Grades 3-5, Elementary school
Topic: Engineering and technology, Image processing and visualization, Engineering and technology, Aircraft, probes, satellites and/or spacecraft, Engineering and technology, Remote sensing
Materials Cost: 1 cent - $1
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Does What You See Depend On Where You Are?

In this activity, students compare and contrast the visual perspectives that result when viewing objects from different distances. In part one of this lesson, students view simple shapes from varying distances and record their observations.
Keywords: Satellite images
Audience: Elementary school, Grades K-2, Elementary school, Grades 3-5, Elementary school
Topic: Earth and space science, Earth structure, Landforms/geography, Engineering and technology, Aircraft, probes, satellites and/or spacecraft, Engineering and technology, Remote sensing
Materials Cost: 1 cent - $1
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Solving a Mixed Up Problem

This is a lesson about using the light from the star during an occultation event to identify the atmosphere of a planet. Learners will add and subtract light curves (presented as a series of geometrical shapes) to understand how this could occur.
Audience: Middle school, Grades 6-8, Middle school, Middle school, High school, Grade 9
Topic: Earth and space science, Solar system, Planetary atmospheres, Engineering and technology, Remote sensing, Mathematics, Geometry
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Your Watershed's Story

Students describe the interaction between the river, its quality and the lives of people in the watershed where they live. Students will design a questionnaire, interview local people, and compile the oral histories collected to establish the recent history of a river and its watershed.
Keywords: Ethnography
Audience: Middle school, Middle school, Grades 6-8, Middle school, High school
Topic: Earth and space science, Earth structure, Landforms/geography, Earth and space science, Earth structure, Ocean and water, Engineering and technology, Image processing and visualization, Engineering and technology, Remote sensing, The nature of science, Science and society
Materials Cost: 1 cent - $1
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