![Cpalms [Logo]](/images/cpalms_color.png)
Word (.docx)
Acrobat (.pdf)
Create CMAP
Course Standards
General Course Information and Notes
General Notes
If this course is to be used in a STEM sequence in place of either the comprehensive or subject specific course sequences, teachers should refer to the test item specifications for the 8th grade SSA for information on tested standards which can be found at: .
This course is an integrated Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) course for middle school students. M/J STEM Physical Science includes an integration of standards from science, mathematics, and english/language arts (ELA) through the application to STEM problem solving using physical science knowledge and science and engineering practices. Physical sciences through applications such as aeronautics, robotics, rocketry, mechanical, electrical, and civil engineering, are emphasized in this course. Laboratory investigations that include the use of scientific inquiry, research, measurement, problem solving, laboratory apparatus and technologies, experimental procedures, and safety procedures are an integral part of this course. The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) recommends that at the middle school level, all students should have multiple opportunities every week to explore science laboratory investigations (labs). School laboratory investigations are defined by the National Research Council (NRC) as an experience in the laboratory, classroom, or the field that provides students with opportunities to interact directly with natural phenomena or with data collected by other using tools, materials, data collection techniques, and models (NRC, 2006, p. 3). Laboratory investigations in the middle school classroom should help all students develop a growing understanding of the complexity and ambiguity of empirical work, as well as the skills to calibrate and troubleshoot equipment used to make observations. Learners should understand measurement error; and have the skills to aggregate, interpret, and present the resulting data (NRC, 2006, p. 77; NSTA, 2007).
Special Notes:
Instructional Practices
Teaching from a range of complex text is optimized when teachers in all subject areas implement the following strategies on a routine basis:
- Ensuring wide reading from complex text that varies in length.
- Making close reading and rereading of texts central to lessons.
- Emphasizing text-specific complex questions, and cognitively complex tasks, reinforce focus on the text and cultivate independence.
- Emphasizing students supporting answers based upon evidence from the text.
- Providing extensive research and writing opportunities (claims and evidence).
Science and Engineering Practices (NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education, 2010)
- Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering).
- Developing and using models.
- Planning and carrying out investigations.
- Analyzing and interpreting data.
- Using mathematics, information and computer technology, and computational thinking.
- Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering).
- Engaging in argument from evidence.
- Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information.
ISTE Standards (http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs20-14_ISTE_Standards-S_PDF.pdf) should be incorporated in many contexts throughout the course.
Course Standards
Use grade appropriate Nature of Science and mathematics content benchmarks (i.e., if this course is offered to seventh grade students, then the SC.7.N benchmarks should be integrated into the course content, and SC.6.N and SC.8.N benchmarks should be omitted from the seventh grade course).
Florida’s Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking (B.E.S.T.) Standards
This course includes Florida’s B.E.S.T. ELA Expectations (EE) and Mathematical Thinking and Reasoning Standards (MTRs) for students. Florida educators should intentionally embed these standards within the content and their instruction as applicable. For guidance on the implementation of the EEs and MTRs, please visit https://www.cpalms.org/Standards/BEST_Standards.aspx and select the appropriate B.E.S.T. Standards package.
English Language Development ELD Standards Special Notes Section:
Teachers are required to provide listening, speaking, reading and writing instruction that allows English language learners (ELL) to communicate information, ideas and concepts for academic success in the content area of Science. For the given level of English language proficiency and with visual, graphic, or interactive support, students will interact with grade level words, expressions, sentences and discourse to process or produce language necessary for academic success The ELD standard should specify a relevant content area concept or topic of study chosen by curriculum developers and teachers which maximizes an ELL’s need for communication and social skills. To access an ELL supporting document which delineates performance definitions and descriptors, please click on the following link: https://cpalmsmediaprod.blob.core.windows.net/uploads/docs/standards/eld/sc.pdf.
Additional Instructional Resources:
A.V.E. for Success Collection: http://www.fasa.net/4DCGI/cms/review.html?Action=CMS_Document&DocID=139
General Information
- Class Size Core Required
Educator Certifications
Student Resources
Original Student Tutorials
Learn how scientific research is done based society's goals and what current group needs as you complete this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Read more from the fantasy novel The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald in Part Two of this three-part series. By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to compare and contrast the archetypes of two characters in the novel.
Make sure to complete all three parts of this series!
Click to view "Archetypes -- Part One: Examining an Archetype in The Princess and the Goblin."
Click HERE to view "Archetypes -- Part Three: Comparing and Contrasting Archetypes in Two Fantasy Stories."
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn to determine the key traits of a main character named Princess Irene in excerpts from the fantasy novel The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald. In this interactive tutorial, you’ll also identify her archetype and explain how textual details about her character support her archetype.
Make sure to complete all three parts of this series!
Click to view "Archetypes -- Part Two: Examining Archetypes in The Princess and the Goblin."
Click HERE to view "Archetypes -- Part Three: Comparing and Contrasting Archetypes in Two Fantasy Stories."
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn to identify aspects of setting and character as you analyze several excerpts from “The Yellow Wallpaper," a chilling short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman that explores the impact on its narrator of being confined to mostly one room. You'll also determine how the narrator’s descriptions of the story’s setting better reveal her emotional and mental state.
This interactive tutorial is Part One in a two-part series. By the end of Part Two, you should be able to explain how the narrator changes through her interaction with the setting. Click below to launch Part Two.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn how different scientists all over the world use vastly different skills to work toward the common goal of understanding and fighting an emerging disease in this interactive tutorial
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Continue to examine several excerpts from the chilling short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, which explores the impact on its narrator of being confined to mostly one room. In Part Two of this tutorial series, you'll determine how the narrator’s descriptions of the story’s setting reveal its impact on her emotional and mental state. By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to explain how the narrator changes through her interaction with the setting.
Make sure to complete Part One before beginning Part Two. Click to launch "The Power to Cure or Impair: The Importance of Setting in 'The Yellow Wallpaper' -- Part One."
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore the mysterious poem “The House on the Hill” by Edwin Arlington Robinson in this interactive tutorial. As you explore the poem's message about the past, you’ll identify the features of a villanelle in the poem. By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to explain how the form of a villanelle contributes to the poem's meaning.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
You'll explore how science does and does not influence decision-making about climate change, sea turtles, and human health, in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Continue to explore the significance of the famous poem “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus, lines from which are engraved on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.
In Part Two of this two-part series, you’ll identify the features of a sonnet in the poem "The New Colossus." By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to explain how the form of a sonnet contributes to the poem's meaning.
Make sure to complete Part One before beginning Part Two.
Click to launch "A Giant of Size and Power -- Part One: Exploring the Significance of 'The New Colossus.'"
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Continue to explore excerpts from the beginning of the historical fiction novel The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez in Part Two of this two-part series. In Part Two, you'll examine how setting influences characters.
Make sure to complete Part One first. Click to launch "Analyzing the Beginning of The Red Umbrella -- Part One: How Setting Influences Events."
Type: Original Student Tutorial
In Part One, explore the significance of the famous poem “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus, lines from which are engraved on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.
This famous poem also happens to be in the form of a sonnet. In Part Two of this two-part series, you’ll identify the features of a sonnet in the poem. By the end of this tutorial series, you should be able to explain how the form of a sonnet contributes to the poem's meaning. Make sure to complete both parts!
Click HERE to launch "A Giant of Size and Power -- Part Two: How the Form of a Sonnet Contributes to Meaning in 'The New Colossus.'"
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore excerpts from the beginning of the historical fiction novel The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez in this two-part series. In Part One, you'll examine how setting influences events. In Part Two, you'll examine how setting influences characters.
Make sure to complete both parts! Click to launch Part Two.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn the importance of replication and repetition in science as you investigate the composition of a penny with this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn how innovation is important in moving scientific thinking forward with this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn how to write a great "CER" paragraph that includes a claim, evidence, and reasoning with this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore the interconnected world of science, society, economy, and politics and how they all influence one another with this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn about scientific theories and how they can change when new information is presented with this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore how we define and describe scientific phenomena using scientific laws in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn how math models can show why social distancing during a epidemic or pandemic is important in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn about scientific theories and how they can change in this space-themed, interactive tutorial
Type: Original Student Tutorial
The universe is so big it is hard to even imagine! Consider the vastness of space with this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Investigate the benefits and limitations of experiments, observational studies, and comparative studies with this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn about different types of scientific investigations as you discover the Zebra Longwing, a special type of butterfly that calls Florida home. In this interactive tutorial, you'll also learn how scientists collaborate with each other and share empirical evidence.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Help Ryan revise his soccer science experiment to make it replicable. In this interactive tutorial, you'll learn what "replicable" means and why it's so important in science.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore the poem “The Twelfth Song of Thunder” from the Navajo Mountain Chant. In this interactive tutorial, you'll examine how a refrain in the poem better develops a theme of the poem.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn about the variety and amazing features of our universe in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore the poem “The Railway Train” by Emily Dickinson in this interactive tutorial. Learn about personification and vivid descriptions and determine how they contribute to the meaning of a poem.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore Robert Frost's poem "Mending Wall" and examine words, phrases, and lines with multiple meanings. In this interactive tutorial, you'll analyze how these multiple meanings can affect a reader’s interpretation of the poem.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn about the tools of science as we look at the mystery of bird migrations in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Compare conditions on Venus, Earth, and Mars, and learn why Earth is an ideal place for life in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn how scientific knowledge is open to change and how the knowledge about the Earth's surface has changed in the past 100 years as you complete this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Science isn't just about experiments! Learn about other ways to do science such as observational and comparative studies in this interactive tutorial. Science is varied and interesting as we use scientific skills to learn about the world!
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Examine the topics of transformation and perfection as you read excerpts from the “Myth of Pygmalion” by Ovid and the short story “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. By the end of this two-part, interactive tutorial series, you should be able to explain how the short story draws on and transforms source material from the original myth.
This tutorial is the second in a two-part series.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Examine the topics of transformation and perfection as you read excerpts from the “Myth of Pygmalion” by Ovid and the short story “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. By the end of this two-part, interactive tutorial series, you should be able to explain how the short story draws on and transforms source material from the original myth.
This tutorial is the first in a two-part series. .
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn the differences between science and pseudoscience in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn how science can help us make informed decisions that improve our lives as you complete this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore the processes of science and how it changes over time. This interactive tutorial uses the historical development of The Cell Theory to illustrate these ideas.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Engineering and science may be similar but their goals are somewhat different. In this interactive tutorial, learn about engineers; some of the different fields of engineering, where engineers work, what they do, and some of their goals.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn about the work of geo-scientists: What they do, where they work and the types of questions they strive to answer in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn about the world of physics and explore what physicists do. In this interactive tutorial, you'll discover where they work and what kinds of questions they try to answer.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn more about that dreaded word--plagiarism--in this interactive tutorial that's all about citing your sources, creating a Works Cited page, and avoiding academic dishonesty!
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn about the work of chemists, various fields of chemistry, where chemists work and the types of questions they strive to answer in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore the causes of tides as they occur along the coasts around the world in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn about the varied job of a biologist; where they work, what they do and the types of questions they try to answer.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore and contrast solar and lunar eclipses in this interactive tutorial. By the end, you'll learn how interactions between the Sun, Earth, and moon cause these cool phenomena.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn more about that dreaded word--plagiarism--in this interactive tutorial that's all about citing your sources and avoiding academic dishonesty!
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Technology is essential to scientific knowledge. In this interactive tutorial, you will learn how technology has helped us make scientific discoveries throughout history.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn how science relies on creative and innovative thinking as we explore the science of discovering exoplanets in this interactive tutorial. Science is a problem solving endeavor as we try and figure out and learn new things. The answers are hard to find, but if we keep asking questions and building on what we know, then we can solve problems to things we once were thought were impossible!
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn how to write an effective hypothesis with sharks as a focus in this interactive tutorial. A hypothesis should be testable and falsifiable.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn about the amazing science discoveries by people from all over the world and all walks of life. In this interactive tutorial, you'll see that science is by and for everyone!
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn how to write a valid conclusion from a scientific investigation. In this interactive tutorial, you'll also learn how to answer questions using scientific reasoning.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Discover how scientists classify stars according to their brightness, temperature, color, and size in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore the challenges related to space travel in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn about Isaac Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation. This law helps calculate the force of gravity dependent on the mass of the objects and the distance between them.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Come with me as we select Scientist's Next Top Model! When does an abstract idea become a real scientific model? When the model appears in scientific journals and textbooks all over the world. Before a model can grace the cover of these high profile, peer reviewed journals and textbooks it must go through a rigorous process. How does a model go from an idea to a scientific model? What took me 2000 years I am going to make happen for one lucky model in just 15 short minutes!
Competition is tough and each model will have to showcase why they are able to represent themselves as Scientist’s Next Top Model.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore the universe and identify key facts about galaxies and stars, how scientists learn about the universe, and contemplate the massive size of the universe.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Examine the electromagnetic spectrum and characteristics associated with different portions of the spectrum in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore the Sun and how energy goes from the Sun's core to our Earth in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn to differentiate replication (by others) from repetition (multiple trials) in experimental design through the information and practice exercises in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Cite text evidence and make inferences about the "real" history of Halloween in this spooky interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn more about that dreaded word--plagiarism--in this interactive tutorial that's all about citing your sources and avoiding academic dishonesty!
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore how scientists have used scientific thinking and methods to develop hypotheses about the development of life on Earth. Throughout this interactive tutorial, you'll see how learning through science requires retesting data, reconsidering evidence, and debate between scientists.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn how to define and identify claims being made within a text. This tutorial will also show you how evidence can be used effectively to support the claim being made. Lastly, this tutorial will help you write strong, convincing claims of your own.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn to identify models and their use in science with this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn to identify the independent variable and the dependent variable in an experiment with this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn to identify the importance of scientific laws and how they are different from societal laws.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore how our atmosphere both insulates our planet and protects life on Earth in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn how scientific knowledge can change when new evidence is discovered or new ideas are developed. In this interactive tutorial, you'll look at some famous example from the history of science, including the cell theory and the theory of plate tectonics.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Join Baby Bear to answer questions about key details in his favorite stories with this interactive tutorial. Learn about characters, setting, and events as you answer who, where, and what questions.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
In this tutorial, you will practice identifying relevant evidence within a text as you read excerpts from Jack London's short story, "To Build a Fire." Then, you'll practice your writing skills as you draft a short response using examples of relevant evidence from the story.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Compare and contrast the heliocentric and geocentric models of the Solar System in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn to recognize and explain the difference between scientific theories and scientific laws in this interactive tutorial. You'll also explore several examples of scientific theories and the evidence that supports them.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn how scientists use models to simplify and understand the world around us. In this interactive tutorial, you'll also explore the benefits and limitations of scientific models.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Educational Game
Students attempt to save towns from damage prior to the arrival of several different natural disasters. Students will learn the importance of early prevention and actions to protect others, themselves and their property when faced with a natural disaster. Certain disasters are more appropriate for particular grade levels. Each scenario takes between 20 and 45 minutes to play, depending on the disaster for which your students are trying to prepare. There are five scenarios available, hurricane, tsunami, flood, earthquake, and wildfire. Each scenario can be played on easy, medium or hard difficulty levels. As with life, there are no "perfect solutions" to each scenario and no "perfect score", so students can play multiple times and the scenarios will still be slightly different.These simulation are part of a larger website that provides multiple links for natural disasters.
Type: Educational Game
Image/Photographs
Choose a satellite to see the current view of Earth from that satellite.
Type: Image/Photograph
This site offers images captured by Hubble, a telescope that orbits Earth! You will find images of planets, stars, galaxies, moons, nebulae, and more.
Type: Image/Photograph
This site uses text and images to describe methods that the U.S. Geological Survey measures water temperature, pH, specific conductance, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, hardness, and suspended sediment.
Type: Image/Photograph
Perspectives Video: Experts
Some scientists' labs are outside! Learn all about a large-scale environmental model called LILA!
Download the CPALMS Perspectives video student note taking guide.
Type: Perspectives Video: Expert
Some places on Earth can be quite remote, like the depths of the ocean. Get there with technology.
Download the CPALMS Perspectives video student note taking guide.
Type: Perspectives Video: Expert
Perspectives Video: Professional/Enthusiast
Find out how math and technology can help you (try to) get away from civilization.
Download the CPALMS Perspectives video student note taking guide.
Type: Perspectives Video: Professional/Enthusiast
Presentation/Slideshows
This interactive tutorial explores the evolution of time measurement through the ages, beginning with Stonehenge and ancient calendar systems. It progresses through sun and water clocks, mechanical and quartz-movement clocks, and atomic clocks.
Type: Presentation/Slideshow
Resource provides a succinct overview of the nature of science; what science is and is not. Information includes the aims of scientific pursuits, principles, process and thinking.
Type: Presentation/Slideshow
Text Resource
This Frequently Asked Question page can be used by educators and students as a scientific resource to answer the question, "Why isn't Pluto a planet?". From the International Astronomical Union, the definitive answer from the governing body that classified Pluto as a dwarf planet.
Type: Text Resource
Tutorials
This tutorial discusses how the Earth's tilt causes the different seasons. The tutorial supports student learning with visual representations of how the tilt of the Earth as it orbits the Sun influences the seasons in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
Type: Tutorial
Spring, summer, fall and winter. Many places on the Earth have seasons. Others do not. What causes the seasons? This tutorial discusses seasonal changes and describes that they are caused by the movement of the Earth around the sun, the tilt of the Earth, and how high the sun will get in the sky.
Type: Tutorial
This video will help the learners with their understanding of atmospheric composition and the greenhouse effect.
Type: Tutorial
This website contains numerous interesting facts, images and activities intended to support greater understanding of properties of our solar system.
Type: Tutorial
Video/Audio/Animations
With an often unexpected outcome from a simple experiment, students can discover the factors that cause and influence thermohaline circulation in our oceans. In two 45-minute class periods, students complete activities where they observe the melting of ice cubes in saltwater and freshwater, using basic materials: clear plastic cups, ice cubes, water, salt, food coloring, and thermometers. There are no prerequisites for this lesson but it is helpful if students are familiar with the concepts of density and buoyancy as well as the salinity of seawater. It is also helpful if students understand that dissolving salt in water will lower the freezing point of water. There are additional follow up investigations that help students appreciate and understand the importance of the ocean's influence on Earth's climate.
Type: Video/Audio/Animation
In this video, new observation technologies are presented. National Geographic is developing and using these technologies to better capture the world.
Type: Video/Audio/Animation
Ocean explorer Robert Ballard gives a TED Talk relating to the mysteries of the ocean, and the importance of its continued exploration.
Type: Video/Audio/Animation
- This interactive tool contains views of Mars taken from Curiosity Rover
- Students get to observe the a close view of the surface of Mars
- Snap shots of different things identified on the surface are also displayed
Type: Video/Audio/Animation
This game aims at showing the use of model organisms in behavioral studies and in detecting the causes of certain diseases
Type: Video/Audio/Animation
This video provides a historical background about the definition of a planet and how different objects discovered in space were classified as planets or fir into a different category
Type: Video/Audio/Animation
This animation depicts key events of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, which launched in late 2011 and landed a rover, Curiosity, on Mars in August 2012.
Type: Video/Audio/Animation
A collection of crossword puzzles that test the knowledge of students about some of the terms, processes, and classifications covered in science topics
Type: Video/Audio/Animation
This 13-minute video segment produced by NOVA Science Now explores the work by one committed family and researchers to identify patterns in the genetic information of autism patients.
Type: Video/Audio/Animation
This video from NASA presents the 2005 hurricane season with actual data that NASA and NOAA satellites measured. Sea surface temperatures, clouds, storm tracks, and hurricane category labels are shown as the hurricane season progresses.
Type: Video/Audio/Animation
Every now and then, the Sun, Earth, and Moon align so that, when viewed from parts of the Earth, the Moon eclipses the Sun's light. Solar eclipses are fairly common -- the Moon will block out some portion of the Sun at least twice a year. However, it is still a special event to be able to witness a total solar eclipse. In this video segment adapted from NASA, learn how solar eclipses happen and why they are so difficult to witness.
Type: Video/Audio/Animation
More than 155 planets have been found outside of our solar system since the first extra-solar planet was identified in 1995. The search has long been heavily biased towards finding massive planets with short orbits. Now, to find an Earth-like planet, scientists are looking for a planetary setup that is similar to our own, in which a Jupiter-like planet lies a good distance away from its sun. This video segment adapted from NOVA explores how the arrangement of planets in our solar system may have affected the development of life on Earth.
Type: Video/Audio/Animation
This 2-1/2 minute video segment from Interactive NOVA: "Earth" explores the history of plant biology. The video takes the viewer from the earliest scientific hypotheses that plants "eat" dirt, to our present-day understanding of photosynthesis, the process by which plants use the sun's energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates, a storable form of chemical energy.
Type: Video/Audio/Animation
The Sun produces a solar wind — a continuous flow of charged particles — that can affect us on Earth. It can, for example, disrupt communications, navigation systems, and satellites. Solar activity can also cause power outages, such as the extensive Canadian blackout in 1989. In this video segment adapted from NASA, learn about solar storms and their effects on Earth.
Type: Video/Audio/Animation
In July 1991, the alignment of the Sun, Moon, and Earth produced a rare opportunity — a total solar eclipse with a particularly long duration and a path that crossed easily accessible locations, including a major astronomical observatory in Hawaii. In this video segment adapted from NOVA, learn about the mechanics of solar eclipses and observe the rare 1991 eclipse from the top of Mauna Kea.
Type: Video/Audio/Animation
Join teenager Hannah on a trip through the solar system in this "hip-hopera" that uses song and dance to introduce the planets, moons, asteroids and more. Download the lyrics for students to learn and perform or just play the videos in class.
Type: Video/Audio/Animation
This animation simulates a voyage from the sun past all nine planets. For convenience, the planets are lined up in the same direction. The animation shows each planet's average distance from the sun.
Type: Video/Audio/Animation
Virtual Manipulatives
This interactive lab explores the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram in areas of spectrum, classification, luminosity, and temperature. The simulator plots stars according to the areas you chose to explore.
Type: Virtual Manipulative
- Observe the orbit of the earth around the sun and its relationship to seasons
- Understand the factors affecting Earth's climate
- Observe the effect of Earth's tilt on the seasons
Type: Virtual Manipulative
This resource provides an interactive tool for the exploration of the solar system. To navigate the interactive solar system move the mouse to hover the target over different objects, to learn more about each click to access images, information about scientists, homework help, articles, news, missions, time lines, and important facts.
Type: Virtual Manipulative
This simulation demonstrates the effect of gravitation in determining planetary orbits as well as that of comets and satellites. This simulation allows you to change initial positions, velocities and masses of bodies and see the resulting orbit.
Type: Virtual Manipulative
This interactive demonstrates the impacts of the gravitational force of the sun on motion of objects in the solar system.
Type: Virtual Manipulative
This is a great resource with online lessons providing inquiry as you learn about the life cycle of the star as well as the usages of the H-R diagram. The images provide a conceptual understanding of the life cycle of the star and how it applies to the H-R diagram. You will enjoy the interactive lab tools as well as the online formative assessment questions.
Type: Virtual Manipulative
Congratulations
