Join Simon, Anita and Dennis as they explore the names of clouds. And what's a Contrail?Download the Clouds Module storybook and learning activities!

In this activity, students monitor the change that takes place when water vapor condenses from a gas to a liquid and see how a change in temperature affects this transformation. Materials needed to conduct the investigation include two thermometers, a clear glass container, ice cubes and tap water. The resource includes background information, teaching tips and questions to guide student discussion. This is chapter 10 of Meteorology: An Educator's Resource for Inquiry-Based Learning for Grades 5-9. The guide includes a discussion of learning science, the use of inquiry in the classroom, instructions for making simple weather instruments, and more than 20 weather investigations ranging from teacher-centered to guided and open inquiry investigations.

This experimental activity is designed to develop an understanding that air has mass. Students conduct an investigation and observe the change in the position of a bar balancing a balloon inflated with air on one end and a uninflated balloon on the other end. Resources needed include a piece of wood, two rubber balloons, two large paper clips, ruler, nail, hammer and tape. The resource includes background information, teaching tips and questions to guide student discussion. This is chapter 7 of Meteorology: An Educator's Resource for Inquiry-Based Learning for Grades 5-9. The guide includes a discussion of learning science, the use of inquiry in the classroom, instructions for making simple weather instruments, and more than 20 weather investigations ranging from teacher-centered to guided and open inquiry investigations.

In this video adapted from ANDRILL, find out how geoscientists get through more than a dozen football fields of ice and water in order to study the rock and sediment beneath Antarctica.

In this video profile produced for Teachers' Domain, meet teacher Dustin Madden, an IŰ__ŒóíŠupiaq who hopes to inspire students to take an active role in protecting the natural environment by giving them a foundation in math and science.

This movie provides an 18-minute introduction to how NASA is observing our ever-changing planet. On the The Dynamic Earth DVD Web page you can download the video as an iPod or iPhone version, as well as an AppleTV/Full resolution version, and access a glossary and links to related Web sites.

This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center discusses how a drought can have negative effects locally, for example by increasing the number of forest fires, and also globally, for example by impacting air quality thousands of miles away.

This video segment adapted from NOVA tells the tragic story of two Japanese seismologists who disagreed about the threat of earthquakes in the early twentieth century. Today, seismologists in California offer residents a probability of risk that an earthquake might occur.

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, animations are used to show how the hills around Los Angeles were formed by earthquakes at small thrust faults that extend outward from the larger San Andreas fault.

The history of earthquakes in the San Francisco Bay area is plotted on a digital map and analyzed in this video segment adapted from NOVA.

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, a geologist digs a trench along the San Andreas Fault to reveal three thousand years of earthquake history. Information from the layers of sediment may help geologists to predict earthquakes.

This video segment adapted from NOVA uses historical illustrations, photographs, and animations to explain how seismographs work, the difference between P and S waves, and the Richter scale.

This is a unit plan where students will understand how Earth is systems of interacting components (spheres) and how changing one sphere will affect another. The carbon cycle is studied in quantity of carbon in each reservoir and how human and natural processes move carbon from one reservoir to another in two different time scales. The carbon cycle is studied qualitatively through demonstrations or labs with students developing models of the from of carbon in each reservoir.

In this video produced by ThinkTV, explore the effects of land masses on local climate conditions, and learn about regional impacts of land-atmosphere interactions.

In this media-rich lesson, students learn how global warming is changing the Alaskan environment and examine the consequences of climate change on the region's human and wildlife inhabitants.

This is a hands-on lab activity about the chemical composition and conductivity of water. Working in groups, learners will: conduct an experiment involving the process of electrolysis, prepare an experiment to better understand the process of ion exchange, discuss and research the "softness" and "hardness" of water, and use the periodic table to identify elements and learn their characteristics. Background information, a glossary and more is included. Materials needed for each student group include a 9-volt battery, two electrodes (e.g. copper strips, or two #2 pencils sharpened at both ends), electrical wire and glass beakers or ceramic saucers. This activity is part of the Aquarius Hands-on Laboratory Activities.

In this activity, learners conduct a simple experiment to see how electrically charged things like plastic attract electrically neutral things like water. The plastic will attract the surface of the water into a visible bump.

Each student will keep a science journal during each of the four seasons. Students will record observations of the general outdoor environment they visit and then will make observations of one specific item from the habitat in each season. At the end of the school year, students will make comparisons of their seasonal drawings and share the results with the class. The purpose of the activity is to introduce students to the concept of using a science journal to record information, to have students use science tools to make scientific observations and to make observational drawings in nature and compare the results throughout the seasons. After completing this activity, students will know about seasonal changes in a particular habitat. They will learn how to make detailed observations, record their results, make comparisons, and share information using a standard format.

A learning activity for the "Do You Know That Clouds Have Names?" book in the Elementary GLOBE series. Using information from the book and their observations, students construct a sky scene with trees and buildings as reference points on the ground and cloud types ordered by altitude in the sky. Students will describe clouds using their own vocabulary and will then correlate their descriptions with the standard classifications of cloud types used by the GLOBE Program. The purpose of the activity is to help students identify some of the characteristics of clouds and to enable students to observe clouds, describe them in a common vocabulary, and compare their descriptions with the official cloud names. Students will be able to identify cloud types using standard cloud classification names. They will know that the names used for the clouds are based on three factors: their shapes, the altitude at which they occur, and whether they are producing precipitation.