Accidental Discoveries

This lesson will help the students understand that science theories change in the face of new evidence, but those changes can be slow in coming.

Accidental Discoveries

This segment from Swift: Eyes through Time traces the history military officers and engineers discovering a strange phenomenon in the sky that astronomers now know are gamma-ray bursts.

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Airborne Wind Energy

The strongest and most consistent winds are found in the jet stream as high as 30,000 feet above the earth. In this video from QUEST produced by KQED, learn about the benefits and challenges of wind energy.

Airplanes: Designing for Stealth

Explore this NOVA interactive activity to see how engineers have modified a military plane's sound, shape, and heat emissions to minimize detection.

Amplitude

This interactive activity adapted from the University of Utah's ASPIRE Lab shows how a pendulum's amplitude changes as you set it swinging from different distances from its axis, and how the amplitude of a sound wave changes as you adjust the volume.

As the Rotor Turns: Wind Power and You

An Investigation of Wind Power as an Energy Resource in Pennsylvania

Astronomical Images in Different Wavelengths

Visible light is just one portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that a telescope may detect. This collection of images produced for Teachers' Domain features radio wave, infrared, visible light, and X-ray images of distant stars and galaxies as well as images of the telescopes designed to detect the various wavelengths of radiation.

Astronomy Theories

This video segment from Swift: Eyes through Time deals with the advancement of science through changing existing ideas, refuting outdated theories, and incorporating new findings.

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Bear Creek Wind Farm Tour

In this interactive, a construction project manager explains the process of constructing a wind farm, its challenges and benefits.

The Beginnings of the Telescope

This animated essay from the NOVA Web site examines the design of Galileo's refracting telescope and Sir Isaac Newton's reflecting telescope.

Beyond Einstein

NASA scientists describe some of the ways current science is addressing several of Einstein's fundamental questions and theories in this video adapted from NASA.

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The Biomass Balancing Act

An investigation of biomass as a sustainable energy resource.

Blacker Than Black

In this video adapted from NASA, two members of a NASA research team working to produce carbon nanotubes share some background behind this new technology, show examples of how it will be useful, and explain the various tests being performed to ensure readiness for spaceflight.

Booming Sands

This video segment, adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, presents basic concepts of physics behind "booming" sand dunes. See how surface tension affects potential and kinetic energy and how it all works together to create sound.

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Building Curiosity: Rover Rocks Rocker-Bogie

NASA engineers test Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory rover, and demonstrate its material properties, its handling and mobility, and its design features in this NASA video.

Building Simple Machines: A Glass of Milk, Please

In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, the cast shows how the 34 steps in their Rube Goldberg invention use everything from gravity to carbon dioxide gas in order to accomplish one simple task: pouring a glass of milk.

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Building Simple Machines: Plant Quencher

In this video segment from ZOOM, Jillian explains how her simple machine uses marbles, levers, flowing sand, and a spinning wheel to water a plant.

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Calorimetry

Do you know how many calories are in a macadamia nut? This video segment highlighting a Calorimetry experiment will give you the answer.

Capturing Renewable Energy

Students investigate renewable energy sources and how to transition from an energy source to a usable, on-demand power source.

Chernobyl: What Really Happened?

This text excerpted from Richard Rhodes' book, Nuclear Renewal and reprinted on the FRONTLINE Web site examines the causes of the Chernobyl accident.