Science

Einstein's Big Idea tells the story behind the world's most famous equation, E = mc2. Learn about its discovery and legacy. Meet scientists whose experiments laid the groundwork. Read about the unknown patent clerk's bleak career prospects before his "miracle year" (1905). Hear top physicists describe the equation. Discover its role in the careers of three young physicists. Explore time dilation and the energy in a paper clip. Find a teacher's guide and transcript of this PBS program. (Public Broadcasting Service, National Science Foundation) []

Enduring Resources for Earth Sciences Education is a database of materials for teaching earth science concepts. Created by teachers and earth scientists, the database includes maps, documents, and other resources for teaching about earthquakes, volcanoes, rocks, oceans, plate tectonics, hyrdrothermal systems, earth's magnetic field, geological time, and more. (National Science Foundation) []

Paleontology Portal invites students to discover prehistoric life in the U.S. by state and time period, see famous fossil localities and assemblages, and search fossil images and paleontology collections from participating museums. Find field guides, maps, curricula, and K-12 resources. Learn about about careers in paleontology. (University of California Museum of Paleontology, National Science Foundation) []

Teaching Boxes helps teachers create earth science activities that focus on gathering data and analyzing scientific evidence. Topics include plate tectonics, weather essentials, seasonal upwelling, sea level changes, living in earthquake country, and mountain building. Each teaching box is online assembly of interrelated learning concepts, digital resources, education standards, and lesson plans. (DLESE, Multiple Agencies) []

Encouraging Girls in Math and Science offers tools for teachers to help girls achieve at the same level as boys in math and science. The site is based on five research-based recommendations: teach students that the brain grows when they practice and learn; provide prescriptive, informational feedback on strategies and effort; show female role models; spark initial curiosity and foster long-term interest in math and science; and teach spatial skills. (Department of Education) []

Energy and Material Cycles Visualizations provides animations, images, graphs, and photos on the carbon cycle, greenhouse gases, sea ice, sea level change, interglacial cycle, continental drift, tectonic cycle, and the hydrologic cycle. (Carleton College, National Science Foundation) []

NSF Multimedia Gallery features nearly 100 videos and webcasts on a range of science topics: a fossil that may represent the first vertebrate to emerge from the sea, turning forest-industry waste into fuel and textiles, "superglue" produced by aquatic bacteria, a house built on a "shake table" (earthquake research), teaching robots to swim, 14 engineering challenges for the 21st century, solving a crime scene mystery, a 60-second history of the universe, earth's deep-time archives, dinosaurs, and more. (National Science Foundation) []

Nuclear Energy Learning Resources for Schools offers a list of resources for learning about nuclear energy topics. Find information about how nuclear reactors work, what makes certain materials radioactive, the importance of nuclear energy in the 21st century, and more. (Argonne National Laboratory, Department of Energy) []

Rock Cycle Animations shows common rock-forming processes. See magma crystallize to form igneous rock, rock erosion to create sediment, transportation of sediment, deposition of sediment to create sedimentary rock, and the creation of a metamorphic rock. Animations can be paused and rewound to stress important points. (Carleton College, National Science Foundation) []

Secrets of Plant Genomes Revealed! is a lively, upbeat video exploration of how plants got to be the way they are and how we can make better use of them in the future. Learn how plant genome research is revolutionizing the field of biology. Find out how scientists are unlocking the secrets of corn, cotton, potatoes, and other plants that are important in our lives. Discover why the study of plants is exciting and how learning more about plants can improve our everyday lives. (National Science Foundation) []

Calculator-Controlled Robots is a guide book for using calculator-controlled robots with students in Grades 6-9 over the course of one semester. Missions are built sequentially on the knowledge of previous activities. The first missions have step-by-step programming instructions; in later missions, students create their own programs. Students use math and science concepts to direct their robots through various challenges. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) []

Polar Sciences Collection provides lessons for studying Antarctica and the Arctic, and topics related to them. Learn about ecosystems, ice sheets, global warming, earth as a system, and earth's albedo (diffusely reflected light from the sun). Find out about satellites orbiting earth, how the poles compare, Inuit observations of climate change, and tracking polar bears. (Teachers' Domain, Multiple Agencies) []

Cleaning Water is a lesson in which students (Grades 3-5) create and test a system to filter "gray" water. Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) recycle their water, including moisture from their sweat and exhalations and water from showering and shaving. These wastewaters are purified and then used as drinking water. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) [] Engineering Design Challenges: Thermal Protection Systems helps students (Grades 6-9) learn how NASA engineers design thermal protection systems -- the systems that protect spacecraft from the heat of atmospheric friction (during launch and re-entry) and engine exhaust heat. Students work in teams to design, build, and test an aluminum foil and copper screening structure to protect a model launch vehicle from a propane torch for as long as possible. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) [] Nanotechnology: The Power of Small is the companion website for a public television series on nanotechnology and the environment, health, and privacy. See video clips of expert panels as they wrestle with dilemmas: the promise, the consequences, and potential risks of medicine, solar cells, and security systems enhanced by nanotechnology. (National Science Foundation) [] NASA Science looks at NASA's past, present, and future missions. It includes interactive tables and searches for earth, heliophysics, planetary, and astrophysics missions; information about dark matter and dark energy, planets around other stars, climate change, Mars, and space weather; science questions for NASA science missions; a "citizen scientist" page of resources to help citizens engage in scientific investigation; and expanded "For Educators" and "For Kids" pages. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) [] What Is A Planet? is a lesson in which students (Grades 9-12) compare characteristics of planets, comets, asteroids, and trans- Neptunian objects; create a definition for the term "planet"; and formulate an argument for or against the planet status of a hypothetical newly discovered object in our solar system. (In 2006, the International Astronomical Union approved a new definition for "planet" and other bodies.) (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) []