NASA Logo, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
header

6-8 Lesson Plans


iMAGINETICspace - MMS Transmedia Book
Digital Age Story Books
NASA and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) teamed up to create a host of free STEM-based resources within 2 digital age storybooks and online teacher companions/guides designed to help students learn about NASA's missions currently studying the sun and it's effects on Earth.
+ View Digital Age Story Books
MMS Math Guide
MMS Math Guide
The new MMS Math guide will examples from the MMS Mission to introduce mathematics in a real-world context to fifth through eighth graders. The main area of mathematics covered in this guide is geometry.
+ View MMS Math Guide
Mapping Magnetic Influence
Mapping Magnetic Influence
This is a complete teachers guide on magnetism it is designed for students to explore magnets and to develop an operational definition of a magnetic “field” and an operational definition for magnetic “pole.”
+ Mapping Magnetic Influence Activity | PDF | 31 Pages | 876KB
Exploring Magnetism - Grades 7-9
Exploring Magnetism – Grades 7-9
Students will act as scientists discovering magnetic fields and electromagnetism through inquiry and measurement. Included at the beginning of each session is a summary of the session, a list of national education standards that the session covers, and a list of materials required for the session. Each session is broken into several activities, with each activity outlined for the teacher. In the Background Material section, you can find science background for the lessons. A glossary can be found after the background section. At the end we recommend different resources to help you teach and learn more about magnetism.
+ Go to this lesson
Magnetic Math (2009)
Magnetic Math (2009)
This 188-page book, produced by Dr. Sten Odenwald (Space Math @ NASA), contains six hands-on exercises, plus 37 math problems, which allow students to explore magnetism and magnetic fields. The activities include drawing and geometric construction, and introduce students in the use of simple algebra to quantitatively examine magnetic forces, energy, and magnetic field lines and their mathematical structure.
+ Magnetic Math book | PDF | 114 Pages | 7.2MB
Magnetosphere Graph Tutorial!
Magnetosphere Graph Tutorial!
This short tutorial shows you how to quickly read a graph that explains the solar wind’s effects on Earth’s magnetosphere. When the solar wind magnetic field is opposite the Earth’s, it is called a southward field and is considered to be negative in sign. You can monitor the ACE data in this graph to identify times when this happens.
+ Magnetosphere Graph Tutorial!
KP Index Tutorial
KP Index Tutorial
Every three hours throughout the day, magnetic observatories around the world measure the largest magnetic change that their instruments recorded during this time. The result is averaged together and place in a chart called the Kp scale. This brief tutorial shows you how to quickly interpret that data!
+ KP Index Tutorial
How are Magnetic Fields Related to Sunspots?
How Are Magnetic Fields Related To Sunspots?
Students discover that sunspots are the result of intense magnetic forces on the photosphere of the Sun using images from the SOHO spacecraft.
+ How Are Magnetic Fields Related To Sunspots?
Exploring Magnetic Field Lines
Exploring Magnetic Field Lines
When discussing space weather or how Earth’s magnetosphere protects us, we often see diagrams with lines wrapping around the globe. What are these lines? Can we see these lines if we were in space looking back at Earth? This activity lets us explore the magnetic field of a bar magnet and serves as a good introduction to understanding Earth’s magnetic field. It is also a good way to demonstrate why prominences are always “loops”.
+ Download this File | PDF | 2 Pages | 668KB