Science

Grade 8 Physical Setting

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VITAL NY State Test Prep

RESOURCE	GRADE LEVEL	MEDIA TYPE
All Planet Sizes This illustration from the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory shows the approximate sizes of the planets relative to each other. Note that the planets are not shown at appropriate distances from the Sun.	3-12	Image
Basketball Physics In this video from DragonflyTV, Jai and Jonathan track, graph, and analyze the motion of basketball shots as they investigate what factors influence the accuracy of their game.	5-8	Video
Biome in a Baggie This ZOOMSci video segment shows how to create self-contained environments and explore how plants grow under different conditions.	K-8	Video
Buoyancy Brainteasers: Boat-in-Pool Puzzler This interactive brainteaser from the NOVA Web site challenges you to figure out what happens to the water level when a rock is resting in a boat and when it is submerged in water.	3-8	Interactive
Cloud Types This interactive resource, adapted from NASA's S'COOL Project Tutorial, explains how you can classify and identify various types of clouds.	3-12	Interactive
Compare and Contrast Warm and Cold Fronts This visualization from McDougal Littell/TERC visualizes the movement of warm and cold fronts and the cloud types that are generated as a result.	6-12	Interactive
Density and Buoyancy: Experimenting with Club Soda In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, the cast discovers that gas-filled bubbles act like life jackets for raisins, making them buoyant.	K-8	Video
Density and Buoyancy: Making Eggs Float Why does an egg float in salt water? Learn about density and buoyancy in this video segment adapted from ZOOM.	K-8	Video
Density and Buoyancy: Mixing Hot and Cold Water Watch warm water float on top of cold water in this video segment adapted from ZOOM.	K-8	Video
Density and Buoyancy: Pouring Air into Water This video segment adapted from ZOOM offers a clever demonstration of buoyancy by showing how to pour a cup of air into a cup filled with water.	K-8	Video
Density and Buoyancy: Testing Liquids Will a grape float in oil? Will a metal nut sink in corn syrup? Watch as the ZOOM cast tests the buoyancy of a variety of liquids and objects.	K-8	Video
Earth as a System This visualization adapted from NASA maps progressive global changes onto a rotating globe. Earth's atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere are shown to be dynamic and interconnected.	6-12	Video
Earth in Motion: Seasons This interactive activity from the Adler Planetarium explains the "reasons for the seasons." Featured is a game in which Earth must be properly placed in its orbit in order to send Max, the host, to different parts of the world during particular seasons.	3-8	Interactive
Energy in a Roller Coaster Ride See potential energy convert to kinetic energy in this interactive activity from WGBH that shows a roller coaster in action.	3-12	Interactive
Erosion and Weathering Erosion and weathering may be caused by a variety of factors including wind and water. This still collage produced for Teachers' Domain features images of rock, soil, and beach erosion.	K-8	Image
Fossils Fossils are indicators of past life. This collection of still images produced for Teachers' Domain features examples of fossils from plants, animals, and insects.	3-12	Image
Galileo's Inclined Plane How did Galileo figure out the mathematics of falling bodies? This video segment adapted from NOVA examines Galileo's work on motion.	6-12	Video
Galileo: Sun-Centered System In the early 1600s, most people believed that the Sun revolved around a stationary Earth. This video segment adapted from NOVA tells how Galileo proved that the Sun, not Earth, is at the center of our universe.	3-12	Video
Heat Transfer In this interactive activity adapted from the Wisconsin Online Resource Center, learn how heat can be transferred in one of three ways: conduction, convection, and radiation.	5-12	Interactive
How a Dinosaur Became a Fossil This interactive resource adapted from the Museum of Paleontology at the University of California, Berkeley shows how a dinosaur can be buried under sediment after it dies, become a fossil, and then become exposed and discovered by paleontologists.	3-8	Interactive
How Do Tornadoes Form? In this video segment adapted from NOVA, scientists use computer simulations to explore the question of how supercell thunderstorms produce tornadoes.	6-12	Video
How Hurricanes Form This animation from NASA illustrates the phases in the formation of a hurricane.	6-12	Interactive
How Would You Turn a Bolt in Space? In this fast-paced NASA Brain Bites™ video, an astronaut demonstrates the impact of microgravity on the use of tools in space.	3-8	Video
Momentum In this interactive activity adapted from Wake Forest University, observe the effect of mass on velocity and momentum in elastic and inelastic collisions.	8-12	Interactive
Newton's Third Law of Motion: Astronauts in Outer Space In this video segment adapted from NOVA, NASA learns hard lessons from the first American attempt to do work while "walking" in space. The video also explores Newton's third law of motion.	3-12	Video
Observations of Climate Change In this media-rich self-paced lesson, students learn how data gathered through surveys with local residents and data collected by remote satellites are complementary tools that help deepen our understanding of the effects of climate change in the Arctic and elsewhere.	6-12	Self-paced Lesson
Periodic Table of the Elements This interactive periodic table developed for Teachers' Domain provides detailed information about the chemical properties of elements and illustrates the electron configurations that determine those characteristics.	6-12	Interactive
Phases of the Moon When we look up at the night sky, why do we see the Moon's appearance changing over time from a full sphere to a crescent to nothing at all? Find the answers in this interactive resource adapted from the National Air and Space Museum.	K-8	Interactive
Plate Tectonics: An Introduction This video segment adapted from Discovering Women uses animations to introduce the theory of plate tectonics and to explain why earthquakes occur and how continents form.	6-12	Video
Rock Cycle Animation This visualization of the rock cycle from McDougal Littell/TERC illustrates common rock-forming processes such as crystallization, erosion, and metamorphism.	3-12	Interactive
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.	4-8	Video
Solar Eclipses What is a solar eclipse and why are they only visible in some parts of the world? In this video segment adapted from NASA, astronomer Susan Stolovy uses animations to provide an answer to these questions.	3-8	Video
Total Solar Eclipse Animation This brief animation adapted from NOVA illustrates how total solar eclipses form and explains the stages from first contact to totality.	3-12	Video
Water Cycle Animation This animation from NASA visualizes the steps of the water cycle, including precipitation, evaporation, transpiration, and condensation.	K-8	Video
What is a Molecule? This video/animation shows that a molecule of water is made up of oxygen and hydrogen atoms. When oxygen and hydrogen atoms exist alone, their properties are different from the properties they have when they are chemically combined to form a water molecule	6-12	Video
What Is a Wave? This interactive activity adapted from Dr. Dan Russell, Kettering University, and 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.	6-12	Interactive
What is Matter? This video/animation defines matter, mass, and volume using water as an example. The size, electrical charge and location of the subatomic particles of matter are described. Different types of atoms are called elements and organized in the periodic table. What happens to the properties of atoms when they exist alone or together?	6-12	Video
Why Doesn't the Moon Fall Down? In this animated video segment adapted from NASA, astronomer Doris Daou explains how the forces of speed and gravity keep the Moon in a constant orbit around Earth.	3-8	Video
Your Weight on Other Worlds This interactive resource from the Exploratorium calculates your weight on other bodies in our solar system and offers an explanation of mass and weight and the relationship between gravity, mass, and distance.	6-12	Interactive