The transit of Venus is a rare astronomical event that has been well documented throughout history. The most recent transit occurred in June of 2004, and the one before that took place more than 100 years earlier in 1882. This site from the South African Astronomical Observatory provides information and first-hand observations of the 1882 event from Wellington, South Africa. Just prior to the event, an observatory was erected at the Huguenot Seminary for girls, and some of the historical observations made from that site in 1882 are provided here for your perusal.

This video adapted from the Valdez Museum & Historical Archive, explores what happened during the Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964 through original footage, first-person accounts, and animations illustrating plate tectonics.

This movie shows a total eclipse of the Sun which occurred in 1994. It is accompanied by a link to a written description of the Sun's physical characteristics.

This NASA page is an image set illustrating the 20g centrifuge at the Ames Research Center. The photographs include two of human subjects strapped in the place at one end of the centrifuge arm.

In this physics activity, learners build their own rockets out of film canisters and construction paper. Learners discover how a chemical reaction (from a mix of water and Alka-Seltzer) creates gas pressure to propel the craft. The activity explores the three states of matter and Newtonäóťs Laws of Motion.

Students see firsthand that stars and constellations are not arranged in a flat, 2-D pattern in this Moveable Museum unit. The five-page PDF guide includes suggested general background readings for educators, activity notes, step-by-step directions, and a Big Dipper map. Students make their own 3-D models of the Big Dipper using readily available materials and examine their models, observing the 3-D constellation from new perspectives.

A 2-D map is a great guide here on Earth—and virtually worthless for finding your way around in outer space. Take a 3-D look at mapping our solar system and universe. This Moveable Museum article, available as a printable PDF file, looks at how astronomers use data to create 3-D models of the universe. Explore these concepts further using the recommended resources mentioned in this reading selection.

This web page provides information and contacts for the New Faculty Workshop hosted by the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), in conjunction with the American Astronomical Society (AAS) and the American Physical Society (APS). This annual conference helps new faculty understand how students learn physics and astronomy and suggests how this information can impact a new professor's teaching methods. The workshop is intended for faculty in the first few years of their initial tenure-track appointed at a four-year college or university. Materials from presentations at the 2005 workshop can be downloaded through the "View attached documents" link below.

This tutorial explains some of the techniques developed by astronomers to determine the distances of objects we see in the sky. Links to additional information are embedded in the text.

This site presents graphic plots of solar wind and magnetic field data from the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft.

This Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a test in which a small satellite was tethered to the Space Shuttle in 1992. Numerous wide-ranging links provide further information.

This Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) image shows a laboratory test of the ion drive engine used to propel the Deep Space 1 exploratory probe across the solar system in 1998. The site includes a description of how the device works and provides links for related information.

This APOD page features the first confirmed image of an extrasolar planet orbiting a sun-like star. Text and numerous links provide additional information; one link goes to the press release of the confirmation.

This Astronomy Picture of the Day depicts the Himalayan mountain range in Nepal. The image was taken from the International Space Station. Links provide background information about Skylab, the Himalayas, and plate tectonics.

This Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the "dust flaps" that Apollo 17 astronauts jury-rigged on the lunar rover. The site describes the origin of lunar dust and provides links for further information.

The COSEE network promotes a better understanding of the key role the ocean plays in global environmental cycles and processes. COSEE activities highlight the contributions ocean-science researchers make to scientific knowledge in these important areas. Each COSEE represents one or more ocean science research institution, an informal science education organization, and at least one affiliate organization representing the formal education community.

Children learn how seasonal weather changes affect everything, from the behavior of animals to the way we dress and play.

This video segment adapted from First Light explains why the highest peak in the Pacific, Mauna Kea, is an ideal site for astronomical observations. Featured are new telescope technologies that allow astronomers to explore the universe in more depth.

This module introduces the concept of biological absorption, storage and distribution of chemicals.

This website provides instructions on how to find and download images directly from the WISE archive. Anyone with an internet connection now has free access to high-resolution infrared images from the WISE mission. These instructions explain how to get the images you want, without using complex terminology and options that may be difficult for the layperson to navigate.

In this video, an environmental technologist visits an abandoned coal mine in Kentucky to talk about how a remediation system (a series of settling ponds and treatment cells) is neutralizing the acid drainage flowing from the mine and keeping it from damaging a creek downstream.

For years, our oceans have been hard at work absorbing the carbon dioxide that humans create through burning fossil fuels. Find out what effect that extra CO2 is having on our seas.

This module provides an intrioduction to acid and base chemistry. The Arrhenius and Bronsted-Lowry concepts of acids and bases are discussed as well as the pH scale and neutralization reactions.

This guide accompanies an educational wallsheet that uses active galaxies as an engagement to teach selected topics in physical science and mathematics from the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope Web site. Active galaxies have super-massive black holes in their cores, some of which emit jets of particles and light. It features three curriculum enhancement activities, background information, assessment information, student worksheets, extension and transfer activities, and detailed information about the physical science and mathematics content standards that are supported.

This resource covers Seyfert galaxies, radio galaxies, BL Lacertae (BL Lac) objects, quasars, supermassive black holes, determining masses in galactic centers using the virial theorem, and a model for active galactic nuclei.

This guide accompanies an educational wall-sheet that uses Active Galaxies as an engagement to teach selected topics in physical science and mathematics. Active galaxies have super-massive black holes in their cores, some of which emit jets of particles and light. The guide was developed by the Sonoma State University Education and Public Outreach group to support the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, formerly the GLAST mission. The Active Galaxies Educator Guide features three curriculum enhancement activities, background information, assessment information, student worksheets, extension and transfer activities, and detailed information about the physical science and mathematics content standards. This is part of a collection of resources provided by the Space Science Education Resource Directory, and has passed a SSERD Panel Review.

This large pop-up book with foldouts contains a 3D model of an active galaxy with jets that pops up out of the center. Active galaxies, a major scientific target for the GLAST mission (renamed Fermi in 2008),contain super-massive black holes at their cores, and sometimes emit jets of particles and light. One foldout contains explanatory information for the parts of the galaxy depicted in the central pop-up, as well as a glossary, while the other contains a classroom activity, the "Tasty Active Galaxy." The back of the book features a cartoon story: "How the Galaxy Got Its Jets."

Selected resources provide three web-based activities to complement science lessons in an issue of Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle. The free, online magazine for Grades K-5 teachers explores the essential principles of climate literacy.

This web page contains a homework assignment that asks the student to solve problems based on the launch and flight of a rocket. Developed as an alternative to traditional textbook homework, this item is based on the work of the Activity Based Physics project (ABP). Students must make estimations and build their own mathematical models to determine which concepts of classical mechanics apply to each section of the problem set. Topics covered include kinematics, Newton's second law, conservation of energy, and projectile motion. This item is part of a larger collection of alternative homework assignments designed for introductory physics students. Each assignment poses a series of questions about a single context. To successfully complete assignments, students must think critically about how the physical situation could be represented by mathematics.

In this activity, students construct adding slide rules, scaled with linear calibrations like ordinary rulers. Students learn to move these scales relative to each other in ways that add and subtract distances, thus calculating sums and differences. This is Activity A1 in the "Far Out Math" educator's guide. Lessons within the guide include activities in which students measure, compare quantities as orders of magnitude, use scientific notation, and develop an understanding of exponents and logarithms using examples from NASA's GLAST mission. These are skills needed to understand the very large and very small quantities characteristic of astronomical observations. Note: In 2008, the GLAST mission was renamed Fermi, for the physicist Enrico Fermi.

Hear about how respect for Earth can help us attain a more sustainable lifestyle in the face of climate change in this video segment adapted from United Tribes Technical College.

This site presents information about the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft and its mission, science goals, history, and background. The mission summary includes a brief description of the energetic particles from the sun and from interstellar and galactic sources that are the objectives of the ACE mission. Links to additional information are also supplied.

This activity (on page 2 of the PDF) is a full inquiry investigation into aerial imagery. Learners will use the internet to gather free aerial imagery of nearby points of interest (or use laminated images prepped by educator). Then, they will imagine they are traveling in a spaceship to visit Earth for the first time and explore how their view changes as they approach Earthäóťs surface. Relates to linked video, DragonflyTV GPS: Earthquakes.

Multiple activity, comprehensive lesson plan includes background information, grading rubric, information on associated learning standards and assessment, as well as links to additional external resources. Activity explores the concepts of a hurricane's impact on the environment, society, and economics of a given community. Students map the potential storm surge and flooding on a topographic map and locate and report on past hurricanes in a specific geographical region.

This astronomy program is designed for middle school children in out-of-school-time settings. The program explores basic astronomy concepts (like invisible light, telescopes) and focuses on the universe outside the solar system (stars, galaxies, black holes). The program is structured for use in a variety of settings, including astronomy days, summer camps, or year-long afterschool programs. Although session activities build concepts sequentially, each session activity is designed to be freestanding as not all participants may attend every session. A manual provides background information and descriptions of how to conduct each activity. A companion website provides additional information and resources for the program leader.

In this video from Nature, geological detectives use ancient diamonds to learn more about Earth's inner layers.

This video segment adapted from Big River: A King Corn Companion shows how agricultural chemicals from the Midwest that travel downstream in water runoff create a vast marine dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico.

In this activity (page 1 of PDF), learners will construct an air cannon by cutting a hole in the bottom of a bucket and stretching a garbage bag over the other end. Then, they aim the cannon at a paper target and try to knock it over by giving the plastic bag a good whack. Learners also experiment with hole size to make the cannon more effective. Relates to the linked video, DragonflyTV: Forecasting.