Describes an activity that involves determining local solar time of the various parts of a total lunar eclipse--beginning of the dark umbral phase of eclipse, onset of totality, end of totality, and end of dark umbral phase of eclipse--and comparing to the solar time of the events at Greenwich to calculate the longitude at the place of…

Introduces Wilson A. Bentley, who studied precipitation. Discusses Bentley's method for measuring the number, size, and shape of raindrops and determining the rate of rainfall. Lists required materials and explains the procedure for students and teachers. Provides scientific background on condensation and precipitation. (YDS)

Describes an activity to demonstrate the freeze thaw cycle which can cause rocks to break apart due to the expansion of freezing water. (Author/MM)

Describes a 90-minute "Island Watershed" activity to help earth science students understand the concept of the water cycle. Introduces a surface waters unit appropriate for students in grades 7-10. Includes watershed project guidelines. (Author/KHR)

Describes seasonal activities that can be used to study the sedimentation process. (ZWH)

Uses a talk show activity for a final assessment tool for students to debate about the ozone hole. Students are assessed on five areas: (1) cooperative learning; (2) the written component; (3) content; (4) self-evaluation; and (5) peer evaluation. (SAH)

Describes how to differentiate a planet from a star and presents an activity in which students investigate whether Pluto is a planet. (YDS)

Describes a project that predicts the orbits of satellites using a TI-85 calculator. Enables students to achieve a richer understanding of longitude, latitude, time zones, orbital mechanics of satellites, and the terms associated with satellite tracking. (JRH)

Describes an activity that uses a simple classroom experiment to measure the amount of carbon dioxide in air samples. (ZWH)

This booklet gives a history of human observations of Mars, including observations made from U.S. unmanned spacecraft. Also included is a discussion, "Encountering a New World: How to Explore a Planet," which contains classroom discussion questions and four classroom activities. The classroom activities include: (1) How to explore a…

Describes an approach that uses the learning cycle to meaningfully teach students about mineral properties while alleviating the tedious nature of identifying mineral specimens. Discusses mineral properties, cooperative learning, and mineral identification. (JRH)

Describes observations of tethered satellites or subsatellites. Presents tracking tips to help students observe a new satellite, the Tether Physics and Survivability experiment. (JRH)

Presents a science activity using cubes for constructing the "Olympus Mons" model, the largest known volcano in the solar system. Uses the Catalina Mountains as a real-life comparison and builds a scale-proportionate model. (YDS)