Space Weather Compendium

As part of our education program in space weather, we have developed a compendium of lessons and activities from a wide variety of sources, compiling the best of the best. To aid teachers and their limited time, we’ve taken these lessons and organized them according to age groups. We’ve added a front page for each lesson that includes:

• Lesson summary
• Required student prior knowledge and skills
• Math and science standards (standards directly met are starred; standards that require teacher modification are not)
• Preparation time and in-class time
• A list of materials

In addition, we’ve included:

• Online resources
• Background material
• Additional lessons
• A glossary
• Tables of AAAS Benchmarks, NSES Science Standards, and NCTM mathematics standards

Activities

Grades K – 5

• Scope and Sequence (86 KB PDF)
• Standards (29 KB PDF)
• Pre- and post-assessment (2.7 MB PDF)
• Alternative assessment (426 KB PDF)
• Making a Sundial (446 KB PDF)
• Measuring the Earth’s Tilt (283 KB PDF)
• How Angle Spreads Sunlight (283 KB PDF)
• Making a Homemade Sunspot Viewer (311 KB PDF)
• Sunspot Flip Book Journal (377 KB PDF)
• Sunspot Numbers (287 KB PDF)
• Interplanetary Pool Games (287 KB PDF)

Grades 6 – 8

• Scope and Sequence (98 KB PDF)
• Standards (33 KB PDF)
• Pre- and post-assessment (319 KB PDF)
• Alternative assessment (2.2 MB PDF)
• The Dynamic Nature of the Sun (2.8 MB PDF)
• Features of the Sun (7.3 MB PDF)
• The Earth as a Magnet (1.4 MB PDF)
• Iron Filings and Magnetic Field Lines (733 KB PDF)
• Soda Bottle Magnetometer (438 KB PDF)
• Learning about Space Weather (709 KB PDF)
• Measuring the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (377 KB PDF)
• Science and Engineering Conference (270 KB PDF)
• Where to See an Aurora (1.1 MB PDF)
• CME Plotting (590 KB PDF)
• Radiation Hazards in Space (827 KB PDF)
• AM Radio Ionosphere Station (1.8 MB PDF)

Grades 9 – 12

• Scope and Sequence (119 KB PDF)
• Standards (25 KB PDF)
• Pre- and post-assessment (934 KB PDF)
• Mapping the Field of a Dipole Magnet (520 KB PDF)
• Mapping the Ambient Magnetic Field (332 KB PDF)
• Mapping the Field of Multiple Dipole Magnets (356 KB PDF)
• Earth’s Magnetic Field from Space (311 KB PDF)

Fun and Educational Links

• SORCE Education and Outreach
• Space Weather Center
• The Center for Science Education at the UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory
• Starlab: World’s Best Inflatable Planetarium
• Auroras: Your Guide to the Northern and Southern Lights
• NOAA/NWS Space Weather Prediction Center
• NASA Solar System Exploration
• NASA Heliophysics Division
• SOHO: The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
• Solar Max: Your Guide to the Year of the Active Sun

Classroom Resources

• Polar Vortex Interactive: Learn how energetic particles interact with Earth’s magnetic field and contribute to a small amount of ozone destruction.

• • The Sunspot Newsletter—a publication for middle and high school students
    • Volume One—English (3.2 MB PDF)—Spanish (3.0 MB PDF)
    • Volume Two—English (2.7 MB PDF)
    • Photo Gallery—Images of the sun, solar system bodies, and the sun-Earth connection.

Background materials

• • Magnetism (78 KB PDF)
  • Solar-Terrestrial Interactions (315 KB PDF)
  • Glossary (74 KB PDF)
  • Time Scale of Solar Effects (45 KB PDF)
  • NOAA Space Weather Scales (2.5 MB PDF)
  • Online Resources (NASA/GSFC “Cosmicopia”)