The Magnetopause Boundary

In this activity students explore in a quantitative way, how the distance to the bowshock balance point depends on the solar wind pressure acting on the Earth's magnetic field. They will explore the changes using actual satellite data, by both an algebraic and a graphical process. Students will discover that as the solar wind flows past the Earth, it applies pressure to the magnetic field of the earth, sweeping it back into a comet-like shape on the nighttime side of the planet and that the brunt of the solar wind pressure is exerted on the dayside field, compressing it; only the restorative pressure of the magnetic field pushes against the solar wind, and a rough balance of these pressures occurs. Students also learn that this balance moves towards the Earth when the solar wind pressure increases, and it moves outwards toward the sun as the solar wind pressure slackens. This line is called the magnetopause boundary. During this activity students use simple algebra to calculate the distance to the boundary where the solar wind presses on Earth's magnetosphere. Educational levels: High school

Planning a Trip to Mars

In this activity, students will calculate the cumulative radiation dosage for a trip to Mars. They will have to take into consideration the length of the voyage and the amount and sources of radiation that will be present, and will gain an understanding of the eleven-year solar cycle, solar proton events (SPEs), and galactic cosmic rays (GCRs). Educational levels: Intermediate elementary, Middle school

Sending Data from a Satellite Back to Ground

In this activity, students will learn how a satellite communicates information to the earth. They will discover that satellites use a transmitter and reciever system to send information and that the information must be transmitted correctly, recieved, and understood for effective communication. They should also understand that satellites transmit information as a stream of numbers, and gain experience with two ways that data is transmitted, recieved, and understood. Educational levels: Intermediate elementary, Middle school, Primary elementary

Solar Activity and Coronal Mass Ejections: Teacher's Guide

In this activity, students investigate solar activity and discover that the Sun constantly emits matter into space in the form of the solar wind. They will also find that from time to time the sun also ejects clouds of charged particles in an event called a coronal mass ejection (CME) which can cause harmful impacts on humans working in space, on communication satellites, and even on ground-based electric power systems and pipelines. As part of the activity, students will construct a graph to show the relationship between the sunspot cycle and coronal mass ejections. Teacher and student notes for using the graphing calculator are included. Educational levels: High school, Middle school

The Northern Lights

This activity requires students to plot the location and boundaries of a typical auroral oval in the Arctic region. They will see its geographic extent and determine its relationship to familiar continents and countries. As they perform this activity, they will learn how aurora are described by scientists and by other students, the geographic locations of aurora based on satellite data, how aurora appear in the sky at different geographic latitudes, and the height of aurora above the ground. This is one of series of activities that will help students understand how the Northern Lights work, what causes them, and how to observe them. Educational levels: Middle school

The Auroral Battery and Electrical Circuit

In this activity students use simple algebra and basic electrical principles to explore the formation of auroras by currents from the magnetotail region. They discover that scientists have proposed that changes in the magnetic field in the magnetotail region cause releases of energy that eventually supply the "battery" (stored energy) to light up the aurora on Earth. Students also learn that energy is stored in a magnetic field, and the amount depends on how strong the field is, and how big a volume it occupies. During the activity they estimate just how much magnetic energy is available in the magnetic tail region of Earth. Educational levels: High school

A Simple Magnifier

In this activity, students will discover the magnifying power of a lens and experience how scientists make modifications to these simple instruments in order to get the data they want. They will see that water, bottles, and jars can act as magnifiers, construct their own telescope, and explore why scientists develop new instruments to learn more about the world. Educational levels: Intermediate elementary, Middle school, Primary elementary