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.
Collection Developed by:
WPSU
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5-8 |
QuickTime Video
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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.
Collection Developed by:
WPSU
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5-8 |
Lesson Plan
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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.
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6-12 |
Flash Interactive
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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segment from Swift: Eyes through Time deals with the advancement of science through changing existing ideas, refuting outdated theories, and incorporating new findings.
Collection Developed by:
WPSU
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5-8 |
QuickTime Video
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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.
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6-12 |
HTML Document
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Cooking Cookies with Solar Power
In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, two solar cookers are tested against a control to see which can cook a "s'more" faster.
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K-8 |
QuickTime Video
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Cow's Eye Dissection
In this interactive activity adapted from the Exploratorium, watch videos of a cow eye dissection and see how an eye works.
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6-12 |
Flash Interactive
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Diamonds: The Science Behind the Sparkle
This illustrated essay from the NOVA Web site explains why the atomic structure of a diamond slows down light and produces a sparkle more brilliant than from any other colorless substance.
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6-12 |
HTML Document
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Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity
What happens when you approach the speed of light? This video segment adapted from NOVA follows one of Albert Einstein's thought experiments and his quest to find the answer.
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9-12 |
QuickTime Video
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Einstein's Thoughts on the Ether
Do light waves travel through the ether like waves on a lake travel through water? In this video segment adapted from NOVA, a young Albert Einstein grapples with this question while examining the speed of light.
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6-12 |
QuickTime Video
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The Electromagnetic Spectrum: FRONTLINE
This video segment adapted from FRONTLINE introduces the electromagnetic spectrum and explains how the various types of electromagnetic waves are distinguished by the amount of energy each wave carries.
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6-12 |
QuickTime Video
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The Electromagnetic Spectrum: NASA
From radio waves to gamma rays, this video segment from NASA introduces the seven categories of the electromagnetic spectrum and how each type of radiation is part of our everyday lives.
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3-12 |
QuickTime Video
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Fireworks! Making Color
What gives a fireworks display its brilliant blue, green, and red colors? Learn how pyrotechnicians give fireworks color in this video segment adapted from NOVA.
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6-12 |
QuickTime Video
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Frequency
In this interactive activity adapted from the University of Utah's ASPIRE Lab, investigate frequency in terms of trampoline jumps, pendulum swings, and electromagnetic waves.
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6-12 |
Flash Interactive
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Galileo's Telescope
The invention of the telescope helped change our understanding of the universe. This video segment adapted from NOVA looks at Galileo's contribution to this technology.
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6-12 |
QuickTime Video
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Gamma-ray Burst Theories
This video segment from Swift: Eyes through Time introduces and explains theories of the origin of gamma-ray bursts.
Collection Developed by:
WPSU
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5-8 |
QuickTime Video
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Geometric Optics
This interactive simulation adapted from the University of Colorado's Physics Education Technology project illustrates how lenses refract light to form images. Manipulate the object, screen, lens, and focal length and observe how the image adjusts.
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6-12 |
Flash Interactive
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How Big Is the Universe?
In this media-rich essay from the NOVA Web site,
astronomer Brent Tully of the University of Hawaiʻi walks
you through the latest scientific theories about the size of
the universe.
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6-12 |
HTML Document
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How Light Moves
In this media-rich lesson, students conduct simple experiments to investigate how light travels. They examine the paths that light takes with different materials and observe shadows, reflection, and refraction.
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3-5 |
Lesson Plan
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How Light Travels
In this video segment adapted from Shedding Light on Science, observe demonstrations of the fundamental idea that light travels in straight lines.
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3-8 |
QuickTime Video
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Hubble's Expanding Universe
This adapted video segment, using footage from NOVA and NASA,
examines Edwin Hubble's work and how his findings laid the foundation for the Big Bang
theory.
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6-12 |
QuickTime Video
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Igniting Chemistry in Fireworks
Students learn about the concepts of spectral chemistry, combustion, and the nature of fire through the use of visually rich fireworks resources. Optional resources address chemical reactions for those who want a more advanced chemistry lesson.
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6-12 |
Lesson Plan
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Infrared Gallery
How would your world look if you saw heat instead of light? In this interactive resource produced for Teachers' Domain, see what familiar objects look like through an infrared camera and watch infrared videos of geysers, mudpots, and hot springs.
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3-12 |
Flash Interactive
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Laser Waterfall
In this video from the Encyclopedia of Physics Demonstrations, observe how a laser beam is trapped in a water jet because the light reflects against the surface of the water.
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6-12 |
QuickTime Video
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Light and Color
This video segment adapted from Shedding Light on Science illustrates the dispersion of light through a prism and how raindrops refract sunlight to form rainbows.
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6-12 |
QuickTime Video
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Light and the Law of Reflection
This video segment adapted from Shedding Light on Science demonstrates the law of reflection by showing how light energy is reflected off both smooth and rough surfaces at predictable angles.
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3-12 |
QuickTime Video
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9-12 |
QuickTime Video
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Light Years
This video segment adapted from Shedding Light on Science describes how astronomical distances can be measured in units of light-years, and how the finite speed of light allows astronomers to study how the universe looked long ago.
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5-12 |
QuickTime Video
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Looking Back in Time
This video segment of Swift: Eyes through Time provides concrete examples to explain the concept that distance in space equals distance in time.
Collection Developed by:
WPSU
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5-8 |
QuickTime Video
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Looking Back in Time
This lesson plan will provide a concrete way for the students to understand the concept of “distance in space equals distance in time.”
Collection Developed by:
WPSU
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5-8 |
Lesson Plan
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9-12 |
Lesson Plan
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Observing Refraction of Light
This video segment adapted from Shedding Light on Science illustrates how light changes speed, and thus direction, in a process known as refraction.
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5-12 |
QuickTime Video
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Primary Colors of Light and Pigments
In this interactive activity adapted from Shedding Light on Science, discover the difference between the primary colors of light and the primary colors of pigment—and the connection between the two.
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6-12 |
Flash Interactive
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Refraction of Light Demonstration
In this interactive activity featuring videos adapted from the Rutgers PAER Group, observe how light bends when it travels through a convex lens, a concave lens, and glass.
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5-12 |
Flash Interactive
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The Relationship Between Science and Technology
Students will learn how technology can help scientists solve a problem. One of the challenges scientists face with any spacecraft is attitude control. Students will be introduced to the problem of attitude control in space and two different ways scientists address it.
Collection Developed by:
WPSU
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5-8 |
Lesson Plan
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Shadow Tricks
Discover how you can use the properties of sunlight to create shadows in this video from Curious George.
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K-5 |
QuickTime Video
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Solar Car
In this video from DragonflyTV, follow the investigation of Isaac and Anjali as they record, measure, and analyze data about how the Sun's position in the sky affects a solar-powered car's speed.
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4-8 |
QuickTime Video
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Speed of Light
This video segment adapted from Shedding Light on Science uses historical illustrations and everyday examples to show that light has a speed and does not travel instantaneously.
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5-12 |
QuickTime Video
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Speed of Light: How Fast Is That?
How fast is 300,000 kilometers per second? This text from the NOVA Web site offers a few real-world comparisons for the speed of light.
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6-12 |
HTML Document
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The Light Stuff
This interactive activity from the NOVA Web site asks which items in your home can slow down the speed of light.
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6-12 |
HTML Interactive
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Speed of Light: Time Traveler
This interactive game from the NOVA Web site explores what happens to time as a traveler approaches the speed of light.
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6-12 |
Shockwave Interactive
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Stellar Velocity: The Doppler Effect
This interactive activity from the NOVA Web site illustrates the Doppler effect and shows how it applies to measuring the direction and speed of stellar objects.
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6-12 |
Flash Interactive
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6-12 |
QuickTime Video
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Telescope Girl
In this video segment from ZOOM, 12-year-old Katy gives people in her neighborhood a glimpse of the moon through a 10-inch reflecting telescope she built herself.
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K-8 |
QuickTime Video
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Theories
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.
Collection Developed by:
WPSU
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5-8 |
Lesson Plan
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Think Like Einstein
This interactive activity from the NOVA Web site challenges you to think like Einstein and understand how time travel might be possible.
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6-12 |
HTML Interactive
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Tour the Electromagnetic Spectrum
Take NOVA's interactive tour of the electromagnetic spectrum and find out why your eyes are like antennae for a narrow band of electromagnetic radiation.
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6-12 |
HTML Interactive
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Wavelength
In this interactive activity adapted from the University of Utah's ASPIRE Lab, learn how to measure wavelengths and see how wavelength affects the color of the light that we see.
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6-12 |
Flash Interactive
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What Is a Wave?
This interactive activity adapted from the University of Utah's ASPIRE Lab provides an overview of the characteristics and properties of various types of waves, including light waves, sound waves, and water waves.
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6-12 |
Flash Interactive
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