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.
1604 result(s)

Play Dough Planets

Learners will demonstrate the size (volume) differences between Earth, Earth's Moon, and Mars. An extension is provided to estimate the distance between the Earth and the Moon, and the Earth and Mars, using the scale of the play dough planets' sizes.
Keywords: Size and scale of the solar system
Audience: Elementary school, Grades 3-5, Elementary school
Topic: Earth and space science, Solar system, Earth and space science, Solar system, Comparative planetology, Earth and space science, Solar system, The moon, Mathematics, Geometry
Materials Cost: 1 cent - $1
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Just Passing Through (Intermediate Version)

Students will time the flow of water through soils with different properties and measure the amount of water held in these soils.
Keywords: Water holding capacity, Soil characteristics, Soil moisture, Infiltration, pH
Audience: Elementary school, Grades 3-5, Middle school, High school
Topic: Earth and space science, Earth structure, Geology, Earth and space science, Earth structure, Ocean and water
Materials Cost: $1 - $5
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Square Roots Using a Carpenter's Square

In a mechanical demonstration of the Pythagorean theorem, this example provides a practical, hands-on method for deriving square roots using a carpenter's square.
Audience: Middle school
Topic: Mathematics, Geometry, Mathematics, Measurement
Materials Cost: Free
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THEMIS Magnetometer Line-Plots

This is an activity about the properties and characteristics of Earth’s magnetic field as shown through magnetometer data and its 3D vector nature.
Audience: High school, Higher education, Undergraduate, Non-majors, Higher education, Undergraduate, Majors
Topic: Earth and space science, Earth structure, Earth's magnetic field, Mathematics, Problem solving, Physical sciences, Electricity and magnetism
Materials Cost: $1 - $5
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S'COOL: Intro to Clouds/Sky Watcher Chart

This resource is a joint NASA/NOAA cloud identification chart with explanations.
Keywords: Clouds
Audience: Informal education
Topic: Earth and space science, Earth structure, Atmosphere
Materials Cost: Free
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Permanent Bar Magnets

This is an activity about the basic properties of magnets and magnetism. Learners explore concepts such as magnetic fields and polarity, which form the basic ingredients of a study of Earth's magnetic field and the technology of magnetometers.
Keywords: Magnetic fields, Magnetometers, Polarity, Electromagnetism
Audience: High school
Topic: Physical sciences, Electricity and magnetism
Materials Cost: $5 - $10
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ClimateBits: Ozone Hole

This brief (2:04) video explains the ozone hole over Antarctica - the annual thinning of stratospheric ozone caused by manufactured chemicals. Twenty-five years after the Montreal Protocol limited the use of ozone depleting chemicals, scientists are starting to see signs of recovery.
Keywords: Stratosphere, Ultraviolet radiation
Audience: Informal education
Topic: Earth and space science, Earth structure, Atmosphere, Physical sciences, Chemistry, The nature of science, Science and society
Materials Cost: Free
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Tornadoes and Galaxies

In this lesson, students will investigate the Doppler Effect and discover how the same principle can be used to identify a possible tornado in storm clouds and investigate the rotation of distant galaxies.
Audience: Middle school, Grades 6-8, High school
Topic: Earth and space science, Astronomy, Stars, nebulae and galaxies, Physical sciences, Light and optics
Materials Cost: $5 - $10
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SciJinks: What Causes Rainbows?

This article explains the cause of rainbows. SciJinks is a joint NASA/NOAA educational website targeting middle school-aged children and their educators. It explores weather and Earth science through articles, videos, images, and games.
Audience: Informal education, Middle school programming, Informal education, Youth public
Topic: Earth and space science, Earth processes, Weather
Materials Cost: Free
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Bringing More Meaning to Weather Predicting: The Weather Station and Reading the Sky Help Put it All Together

This chapter provides teachers with instructions to install a school weather station, and to build simple instruments to monitor weather conditions.
Keywords: Thermometer, Barometer, Weathervane, Anemometer, Psychrometer, Hygrometer, Rain gauge, Beaufort scale
Audience: Elementary school, Grades 3-5, Middle school, High school
Topic: Earth and space science, Earth processes, Weather, Earth and space science, Earth structure, Atmosphere, Earth and space science, Earth structure, Ocean and water, The nature of science, The scientific process
Materials Cost: $5 - $10
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