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)

Me and My Shadow

In this activity, students become familiar with the orientation of shadows, their size in relation to the object casting them, and how the alignment of the Sun, the object, and the shadow tells us much about how shadows work.
Keywords: Angle
Audience: Elementary school
Topic: Earth and space science, Earth, moon and sun, Days, Physical sciences, Light and optics, The nature of science, The scientific process
Materials Cost: 1 cent - $1
Go To Resource

MY NASA DATA: Using Vegetation, Precipitation, and Surface Temperature to Study Climate Zones

In this lesson, students investigate the relationship between precipitation, surface temperature and vegetation for four geographic locations.
Keywords: CERES instrument, Koeppen system, MISR instrument
Audience: Middle school
Topic: Earth and space science, Earth processes, Climate, Earth structure, Atmosphere, Vegetation/land cover, Engineering and technology, Aircraft, probes, satellites and/or spacecraft, Remote sensing
Materials Cost: Free
Go To Resource

International Space Station LABS: Engineering Activity 2 Mass and Speed: Protecting Space Suits from Orbital Debris

Learners will investigate the relationship between mass, speed, velocity, and kinetic energy in order to select the best material to be used on a space suit. They will apply an engineering design test procedure to determine impact strength of various materials.
Audience: Elementary school, Grades 3-5, Middle school, Middle school, Grades 6-8, Middle school, Middle school
Topic: Engineering and technology, Mathematics, Physical sciences, Motion and forces, The nature of technology, The design process
Go To Resource

Speaking Volumes about Dust

Learners will relate the concept of density to the density of dust in space.
Keywords: Density, Data analysis
Audience: Middle school, Grades 6-8, High school, Grade 9, High school, Grade 10
Topic: Earth and space science, Solar system, Mathematics, Data collection, analysis and probability, Physical sciences, Structure and properties of matter
Go To Resource

Mars From Above

This is a set of three activities about how scientists study other worlds. Learners will explore and compare the features of Mars and Earth, discuss what the features suggest about the history of Mars, and create a model to help them understand how scientists view other worlds.
Audience: Informal education, Elementary school programming, Informal education, Middle school programming, Informal education, Youth public, Informal education, Families
Topic: Earth and space science, Solar system, Comparative planetology, Earth and space science, Solar system, Planetary geology, Earth and space science, Solar system, Planetary science, Life sciences, Astrobiology, The nature of science, The scientific process
Go To Resource

Weather & Climate iQuest

Students build their understanding of weather and climate concepts by exploring several websites and online videos and completing a related worksheet. Students will examine NASA's role in both gathering weather and climate data and monitoring the changes to each that are occurring globally.
Keywords: Global warming, Extreme weather, Climate change
Audience: Middle school
Topic: Earth and space science, Earth processes, Climate, Earth and space science, Earth processes, Weather
Materials Cost: Free
Go To Resource

From Your Birthday to Jupiter's

Learners will explore Jupiter's origins through three stories. First, they model their own lifetimes by tying knots in lengths of yarn to represent key events in their pasts.
Keywords: Jupiter, Timeline, Origins
Audience: Informal education, Elementary school programming, Informal education, Middle school programming
Topic: Earth and space science, Astronomy, Origins and evolution of the universe, Earth and space science, Solar system
Materials Cost: 1 cent - $1
Go To Resource

Measuring the Speed of an Ejected Ball of Plasma

This is a lesson about magnetism and solar flares. Learners will evaluate real solar data and images in order to calculate the energy and magnetic strength of a solar flare moving away from the Sun as a coronal mass ejection.
Audience: Middle school, Grades 6-8, High school
Topic: Earth and space science, Solar system, The sun, Solar physics, Mathematics, Data collection, analysis and probability, Mathematics, Measurement, Mathematics, Number and operations, Physical sciences, Electricity and magnetism
Materials Cost: Free
Go To Resource

Paper Model of the Kepler Spacecraft

Learners will make a paper model of Kepler space telescope. Ideas for use include hanging all models in a display case that also houses student work. Note: the activity includes updated information in 2009 about the change from an articulated (movable) antenna to a fixed antenna on Kepler.
Audience: Middle school
Topic: Earth and space science, Solar system, Planetary science, Engineering and technology, Aircraft, probes, satellites and/or spacecraft, Engineering and technology, Remote sensing, Life sciences, Astrobiology
Materials Cost: $1 - $5
Go To Resource

Soil Chapter-Just Passing Through (Beginner Version)

In this hands-on activity, students create a model soil profile in a two-liter beverage bottle, time the movement of water through different soils and observe the amount of water held in these soils.
Keywords: Soil characterization, Soil profile, Percolation
Audience: Elementary school, Grades 3-5, Middle school, High school
Topic: Earth and space science, Earth structure, Geology, The nature of science, The scientific process
Materials Cost: 1 cent - $1
Go To Resource

Pages