Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) is the process of evaluating materials to detect and measure the presence of defects without causing damage to the material being tested. In this lesson, middle and high school students are introduced to NDE,... (View More) refraction of light, and birefringence (the process in which light moving in different directions, or polarizations, travels at different speeds within a material). Students test a variety of transparent plastics using polarizing filters and analyze the extent and degree of stress the materials have undergone by examining the birefringence produced. Guide Lites are individual activities from NASA eClips™ Educator Guides that are developed for informal settings. Each Guide Lite follows the 5E model and includes lesson objectives, a materials list, and links to the supporting NASA eClips™ video segments. (View Less)

In this activity, student teams design small-scale physical models of hot and cold planets, (Venus and Mars), and learn that small scale models allow researchers to determine how much larger systems function. There is both a team challenge and... (View More) competition built into this activity. Experimental findings are then used to support a discussion of human outposts on Mars. The resource includes an experimental design guide for students as well as a handout outlining a method for the design of controlled experiments, and student data sheets. Student questions and an essay assignment are provided as classroom assessments. This is Activity A in the second module, titled "Modeling hot and cold planets," of the resource, "Earth Climate Course: What Determines a Planet's Climate?" The course aims to help students to develop an understanding of our environment as a system of human and natural processes that result in changes that occur over various space and time scales. (View Less)

Students will collect samples of particles in the air on simple slides they make themselves. They will classify, count and chart their findings, draw conclusions, make predictions, and compare their findings to other available data. Supplies needed... (View More) for the investigation include microscope slides, petroleum jelly, magnifying glass, microscope, Eosin, and Methyln Blue or iodine. The activity is part of the Ground Truth Studies Teacher Handbook, which provides more than 20 activities to build student understanding of global change and remote sensing, and includes background chapters for teachers, glossary, and appendices. (View Less)