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)

Earth, the Universe, and Culture

This lesson will help students understand the cultural nature of scientific research. Students explore famous scientists, their theories, places of origin, and their culture.
Audience: Elementary school, Grades 3-5, Middle school
Topic: The nature of science
Materials Cost: 1 cent - $1
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Density: Sea Water Mixing and Sinking

These two hands-on labs are about the role of temperature and salinity in governing the density of seawater, a major factor controlling the ocean's vertical movements and layered circulation.
Keywords: Properties of water, Ocean salinity, Seawater density
Audience: Middle school, High school
Topic: Earth and space science, Earth structure, Ocean and water, Physical sciences, Chemistry
Materials Cost: $1 - $5
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What's the Matter?

In this lesson, students will explore the density of substances as a model for understanding the mass to light ratio as a predictor of dark matter. They will measure and calculate mass and volume to calculate the density of a foam ball.
Audience: Middle school, Grades 6-8, Middle school, High school
Topic: Physical sciences, Structure and properties of matter
Materials Cost: $1 - $5
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How Far? How Powerful?

Gamma-ray bursts are distant explosions that briefly outshine the rest of the gamma-ray universe. In this lesson, students will follow the same procedures used by today's astronomers to determine two basic facts about gamma-ray bursts: their distance from Earth and their power.
Keywords: Doppler shift, Electromagnetic spectrum, Hubble's Law, Spectroscopy
Audience: High school, Grade 11, High school, Grade 12
Topic: Earth and space science, Astronomy, Origins and evolution of the universe, Earth and space science, Astronomy, Size and scale, Mathematics, Algebra, Mathematics, Measurement, Mathematics, Number and operations, Physical sciences, Energy, Physical sciences, Light and optics
Materials Cost: Free
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Postcards from Space

This is an activity about boundaries. Participants will imagine they have taken a journey from Earth through the Solar System out into the Milky Way Galaxy.
Audience: Informal education
Topic: Earth and space science, Solar system, The sun, Heliosphere, Engineering and technology, Aircraft, probes, satellites and/or spacecraft
Materials Cost: 1 cent - $1
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Grandpa's Social Security

This simple example shows how algebra can be useful in the real world by exploring the question: Should Grandpa start receiving his Social Security benefits at age 62 or should he wait until age 65?
Keywords: Computation, Functions (math)
Audience: High school
Topic: Mathematics, Algebra, Mathematics, Problem solving
Materials Cost: Free
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Using Mathematical Models to Investigate Planetary Habitability: Activity C The Role of Actual Data in Mathematical Models

Students explore how mathematical descriptions of the physical environment can be fine-tuned through testing using data. In this activity, student teams obtain satellite data measuring the Earth's albedo, and then input this data into a spreadsheet-based radiation balance model, GEEBITT.
Keywords: Radiation balance model, Albedo, Energy Budget, Global Warming, Greenhouse Effect, Land cover, Satellite data, Mathematical modeling
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 structure, Atmosphere, Earth and space science, Solar system, Comparative planetology, Engineering and technology, Image processing and visualization, Life sciences, Ecology and ecosystems, Mathematics, Data collection, analysis and probability, Mathematics, Problem solving, The nature of science, The scientific process
Materials Cost: Free
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The Great Planet Adventures Planetarium Show

Developed as a planetarium show, this video describes the unique environment of our solar system planets and a few satellites, along with some of the challenges and possible solutions for potential human habitation on each.
Audience: Elementary school, Grades K-2, Elementary school, Grades 3-5, Middle school, High school, Informal education, Elementary school programming, Informal education, Middle school programming, Informal education, High school programming
Topic: Earth and space science, Solar system, Planetary atmospheres, Earth and space science, Solar system, Planets, The nature of science, Science and society
Materials Cost: Free
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The Mathematical Implications of Lying

This article explores how statistics can be interpreted in different ways to yield different conclusions. It describes the outcome and discussion of two class activities.
Keywords: Probability, Mean, Average
Audience: Middle school
Topic: Mathematics, Data collection, analysis and probability
Materials Cost: Free
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Explorando mapas de colores: Usando datos de ozono estratosférico

Using the 5E instructional model, students discover the value of using color maps to visualize data. The activity requires students to create a color map of the ozone hole from Dobson data values derived from the Aura satellite.
Keywords: Ozone hole, Ozone mapping, Maps and mapping
Audience: High school
Topic: Earth and space science, Earth structure, Atmosphere, Engineering and technology, Image processing and visualization, Mathematics, Data collection, analysis and probability, The nature of technology, Technology and society
Materials Cost: 1 cent - $1
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