Students watch a short video to gather information about sources of methane emissions and then extend their understanding of these sources to evaluate monthly trends in the Alaska region, ultimately making connections to Earth’s energy budget.

Students will investigate the role of clouds and their contribution (if any) to global warming. Working in cooperative groups, students will make a claim about the future role clouds will play in Earth’s Energy Budget if temperatures continue to increase.

In this activity students will compare different methods for observing the Sun’s corona and make predictions about what they will observe during the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse.

Learners will build a 2D model of the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) Spacecraft model. 

Learners use a compass to trace magnetic field lines of a bar magnet. They observe a CME hitting Earth’s magnetosphere and compare its shape to the magnet. They then apply their understanding of magnetic fields to those found on the Sun.

Learners will analyze space-weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Learners will compare two different types of data: sunspot data and measurements from magnetometers on Earth.

This hands-on activity uses the kitchen sink to model the properties of the boundary of the heliosphere and takes learners through the scientific processes used in investigations: Making observations, using models, and communicating results.

Learners will explore differences between weather on Earth and space weather and the hazards of each.

Using a “fun-size” bag of rainbow bite-sized candies learners will place different colored candies on a diagram of the Sun-Earth system to show different space weather conditions during solar minimum and solar maximum.

In this activity, learners predict the likelihood of aurora on Earth by examining the Kp-index and using NOAA’s 30-minute aurora forecast.