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Pinhole Viewer
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In this activity, learners discuss and investigate how cameras, telescopes, and their own eyes use light in similar ways.
Shadow Dance
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In this activity, learners experiment with shadows and light sources to understand the relationship between the angle illumination and the shadow's length.
Cosmic Debate
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In this activity described on pages 2-3 of the PDF, participants debate whether there there's life elsewhere in the universe.
Exploring the Universe: Pack a Space Telescope
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Space telescopes can offer us better, clearer views of the universe (and of our own planet) than Earth-based telescopes can, but getting these large, delicate pieces of equipment into orbit is tricky.
Exploring the Universe: Exoplanet Transits
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In "Exploring the Universe: Exoplanet Transits," participants simulate one of the methods scientists use to discover planets orbiting distant stars.
Do the Mystery Samples Contain Life?
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In this activity (on pages 13-16 of the PDF) learners investigate three mystery samples to see which one contains life. The three samples are sand, sand and yeast, and sand and antacid.
Crash Landing!
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In this activity, groups cut out and sort cards showing items recovered from a crash landing on the Moon. The 12 items range from food and water to rope and matches to a self-inflating life raft.
Proportionality: The X-Plane Generation
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In this activity, learners build a 1:140 "scale model" of NASA's X-33 Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Technology Demonstrator, and investigate how the model dimensions compare to the real vehicle.
Exploring Earth: Investigating Clouds
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“Exploring Earth: Investigating Clouds” is a hands-on activity in which visitors create a cloud in a bottle and explore it with laser light.
Where Does Life Live?
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In this activity (on pages 22-24 of the PDF), learners match extreme enviroments with life forms they support.
Exploring the Universe: Filtered Light
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"Exploring the Universe: Filtered Light" demonstrates how scientists can use telescopes and other tools to capture and filter different energies of light to study the universe.
Paint by the Numbers
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In this pencil and paper activity, learners work in pairs and simulate how astronomical spacecraft and computers create images of objects in space.
The Earth's Timeline
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In this group activity, learners will mark important developments of life on Earth on a timeline (each foot in length representing 200 million years).
Morning Star and Evening Star
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This demonstration activity models how Venus appears from Earth.
My Angle on Cooling: Effects of Distance and Inclination
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In this activity, learners discover that one way to cool an object in the presence of a heat source is to increase the distance from it or change the angle at which it is faced.
Mission Insignia
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In this science/art activity, learners create an insignia or emblem for a planet exploration mission.
Pocket Solar System: Make a Scale Model
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This fun and simple hands-on astronomy activity lets learners build a scale model of the universe with little more than adding machine tape.
Weather Stations: Phase Change
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In this activity, learners observe the water cycle in action! Water vapor in a tumbler condenses on chilled aluminum foil — producing the liquid form of water familiar to us as rain and dew.
Rocket Science
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Learners create a small explosion by collecting hydrogen and oxygen gas together and squeezing them into a flame.
The Drake Equation
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In this math activity, based on the research of famed astronomer Frank Drake, learners calculate the possibilities of finding intelligent life elsewhere in the universe besides Earth.