This article describes common misconceptions held by elementary students about the history of the polar regions, fossils, and geologic time. The article provides ideas for formative assessment, teaching strategies, and the National Science Education Standards.

This article discusses geologic misconceptions held by teachers and students and provides resources for formative assessment and teaching correct concepts.

This article lists common misconceptions about states and changes of matter and the water cycle. It provides formative assessment probes and information about teaching for conceptual change.

This article describes common misconceptions held by elementary students about the cause of day and night and seasons. The article provides ideas for formative assessment, teaching strategies, and the National Science Education Standards.

This article lists common misconceptions about light, heat, and the sun. It provides formative assessment probes and information about teaching for conceptual change.

This article lists common misconceptions about mammals. It provides formative assessment probes and information about teaching for conceptual change.

This article lists common misconceptions about weather, climate change, and the polar regions. It provides formative assessment probes and information about teaching for conceptual change.

This article lists common misconceptions about weathering, erosion, volcanoes, and earthquakes. It provides formative assessment probes and information about teaching for conceptual change.

This is an activity about identifying images of different space bodies and determining the cause of the craters pictured in each. Learners will use the Solar System Update software within Space Update to complete a worksheet. This is Solar System Activity 4 in Space Update.

The purpose of the resource is to produce a land cover type map from the digital file of a Landsat satellite image using MultiSpec software.

This article from the free online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle provides appropriate science lessons for Grades K-5. The focus is on acquainting young learners with climate-change concepts that are not too complex for their grade level and will not frighten them. In each issue, the magazine develops articles around one of the seven essential principles of climate science. The author believes early lessons about water availability and extreme weather events will prepare students for complex climate concepts they will encounter in later grades.

This is an activity about identifying constellations. Learners will look for constellations in the Sky Tonight online program, draw images of these constellations, and attempt to find them in the night sky. Learners will also be asked to make connections between the shape of a constellation and its namesake. This activity requires the use of a computer with Internet access. It also requires access to the clear night sky. This activity is Sky Tonight Activity 1 in a larger resource, Space Update.

The purpose of this activity is to construct a model that will provide students with a visual representation of parts per billion. Students work in teams to construct cubes of different volumes and to compare them to get a feel for parts per million by volume and parts per billion by volume. The intended outcome is that students gain a feeling for the small quantities of gases, such as ozone, present in the Earth's atmosphere.

In this lesson designed to enhance literacy skills, students learn how the theory that explains the position of Earth's continents was established and later modified, and gain important insights into how science and the scientific community operate.

In this activity, students construct three-dimensional models from terrain information provided by two-dimensional topographic maps. This will allow them to visualize how changes in elevation over a certain distance can be represented on a flat piece of paper that can be folded up and tucked away. Each group is responsible for constructing a model of Mount St. Helens 'before' and 'after', a depression, a stream, and a hill. Discussion questions related to the different representations are also included.

This video segment adapted from the Atmospheric Radiation Program explains the differences in the formation of tropical convective cloud systems over islands and over the ocean.

In this video segment, ZOOM guest Cassie takes us on a tour of the coral reef near her home in Key Largo, Florida, and points out some of its unique features.

This AstroBulletin article takes an in-depth look at the newest technology and instruments used to study the Cosmic Microwave Background. The site includes text and a seven minute video. There are links to three essays: "What Is the Cosmic Microwave Background?", "Antarctica: A Hotbed of Cold-Weather Research" and "DASI Does It."

This video from NASA features the Cosmic Origin Spectrograph (COS), which allows scientists to use spectrographic analysis to assess the composition of intergalactic material.

In this lesson, students will explain CRaTER's purpose and how it works. They will also design (using paper and pencil) a cosmic ray detector to answer their own questions. CRaTER's purpose is to identify safe landing sites for future human missions to the moon; discover potential resources on the Moon; and characterize the radiation environment of the Moon. The lesson includes background information for the teacher, questions, and information about student preconceptions. This is lesson 4 of 4 from "The Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation."