The following classroom activity articles developed by The Space Place staff at JPL have been published in past issues of the International Technology Education Association's (ITEA) journal The Technology Teacher. We are now making them available in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format so that all teachers may use them. Adobe Reader is available free for downloading from the Adobe web site.
Most of the activities can be adapted for grades 4-8. Some may also be of interest to grades 9-12. These activities support national education standards for science, technology, and math, as shown in this matrix.
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- How do you make a weather satellite?
- Booklet in .pdf or Flash format that explains in very basic terms how orbits work and all the components needed to build a satellite that senses temperature, takes images, and finds out other information about the weather from space. Written by a weather satellite engineer, also includes his notes and background material for presenting the topic using the booklet in the classroom.
- Disciplines:
- Earth science, physics, engineering design
- Activity:
- Group activity and discussion.
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- Team Up on the Weather
- Explains how weather satellites, teamed with scientists, pilots, computers programmers, and super computers work together to save lives and property by predicting where large storms will hit and giving people time to get out of the way. Includes a fun weather trivia game with lots of background information.
- Disciplines:
- Earth science
- Activity:
- Group activity and discussion.
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- Write the Book on Weather Metrics
- Introduces weather terminology. Invites students to investigate how we measure the weather and other characteristics of the atmosphere and create their own "Book of Weather Metrics."
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Disciplines:
- Math, science, technology, art
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Activity:
- Individual creative classroom and homework assignment.
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Become a Weather Wizard
- Introduces common weather concepts and terminology. Shows common weather map symbols and invites students to show real weather scenarios by drawing symbols on a map.
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Discipline(s):
- Earth science
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Activity:
- Group or individual desk activity, discussion
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Sizing Up the Clouds
- The teacher sets up three simulated "clouds" representing three different cloud types. Students use different methods to estimate "precipitation" contents of each cloud type. Each method is roughly analogous to methods actually used in weather forecasting. Finally, the "precipitation" from each cloud will be released, and the students will compare their estimates to what is actually experienced on the "ground."
- Disciplines:
- Earth science (weather) and technology, math (estimating, percentages, ratios, and averages)
- Activity:
- Classroom demo, observation and recording, discussion.
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- Water Works on a Blue Planet
- Learn about Earth's water cycle and water budget. Do a poster or mural that shows some of the ways water is transported from place to place on Earth.
- Disciplines:
- Earth science, visual arts
- Activity:
- Reading, discussion, and group (small or whole class) visual art project.
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