1. Coming into America: Dating Artifacts 5-8

Source: Scientific American Frontiers

Investigate new discussions on the presence of humans in North America, and emulate the work of archeologists in dating artifacts at a dig site. Explore how the depth of an object can offer clues to its relative burial time.

Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8

Subjects: Science & Tech, Social Studies

Topics: Geology & Natural Disasters. Archeology.

Resource Type: Offline Activity/Project

2. Crystals

Source: Dragonfly TV

Use salt and water to make your own crystals. Examine how a crystal grows by adding atoms or molecules to all its sides in the exact same pattern as the atoms and molecules that were added before.

Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8

Subjects: Science & Tech

Topics: Geology & Natural Disasters.

Resource Type: Offline Activity/Project

3. Fatal Flood

Source: American Experience

Research the history, politics, economics and engineering of the Great Flood of 1927, and describe civil rights violations surrounding the event. Explore the science of levees and explain how they protect some areas at the risk of others.

Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12

Subjects: Science & Tech, Social Studies

Topics: Engineering. Geology & Natural Disasters. Civics: Civil and Human Rights. Cultural Studies: African American Studies.

Resource Type: Offline Activity/Project

4. Hot Times in Alaska: Permafrost 5-8 and 9-12

Source: Scientific American Frontiers

Investigate the shifts in ecology that threaten the Alaskan ecosystem, and describe the cause and effects of permafrost. Perform an experiment to quantify the effects of frozen soil on water percolation.

Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12

Subjects: Science & Tech

Topics: Chemistry. Ecology. Geology & Natural Disasters.

Resource Type: Offline Activity/Project

5. Kayaking

Source: Dragonfly TV

Understand how water speed determines how rocks, sand and gravel are deposited along a riverbed, and how these deposited rocks and other material in turn affect the flow of water.

Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8

Subjects: Science & Tech

Topics: Geology & Natural Disasters. Motion & Forces.

Resource Type: Offline Activity/Project

6. Lost in the Grand Canyon

Source: American Experience

Research American explorers of the past and the present, and investigate the geology, history and significance of the Grand Canyon and Colorado River. Describe the importance of waterways to westward expansion, transportation and energy sources.

Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12

Subjects: Science & Tech, Social Studies

Topics: Energy. Geology & Natural Disasters. Transportation. United States History: 1850-1877.

Resource Type: Offline Activity/Project

7. Mountain Bike Trails

Source: Dragonfly TV

Understand that differences in sandstone are a result of the way the different areas sandstone is found in were formed. Examine how different materials affect friction on a bike ramp and investigate how a bike's gears work.

Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8

Subjects: Science & Tech

Topics: Geology & Natural Disasters. Motion & Forces.

Resource Type: Offline Activity/Project

8. Mystery of the Megavolcano

Source: NOVA

Describe the characteristics of a supervolcanic eruption. Analyze volcanic ash and use volcanic ash data to determine the source of a possible supervolcanic eruption that occurred in the western United States.

Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12

Subjects: Science & Tech

Topics: Geology & Natural Disasters.

Resource Type: Offline Activity/Project

9. NOVA scienceNOW - Mass Extinction: Viewing Ideas

Source: NOVA

Examine levels of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere throughout history. Explore how global warming may have led to the Permian extinction.

Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12

Subjects: Science & Tech

Topics: Geology & Natural Disasters.

Resource Type: Offline Activity/Project

10. NOVA scienceNOW - Stronger Hurricanes: Viewing Ideas

Source: NOVA

Learn about hurricanes and how warmer sea surface temperatures affect them. Analyze the debate about the relationship between global warming and hurricane intensity, and investigate the possible long-term impacts of global climate change on the Earth.

Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12

Subjects: Science & Tech

Topics: Geology & Natural Disasters. Meteorology.

Resource Type: Offline Activity/Project

11. Rivers

Source: Dragonfly TV

Investigate how rivers are formed, how they differ from other bodies of water and how river features affect the land. Conduct a sedimentation experiment and study how water meanders on a driveway.

Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8

Subjects: Science & Tech

Topics: Geology & Natural Disasters.

Resource Type: Offline Activity/Project

12. Sand Dunes

Source: Dragonfly TV

Examine which features of sand dunes and their environment determine why some are covered with plants and some aren't. Study how moisture affects the ability of sand to make mountains and why different soil types support different kinds of plants.

Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8

Subjects: Science & Tech

Topics: Botany. Geology & Natural Disasters.

Resource Type: Offline Activity/Project

13. SciGirls Activity 7: Earthquakes

Source: Dragonfly TV

Examine grains of sand and consider how the earth moves in an earthquake. Investigate what land features can be seen from different aerial images.

Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8

Subjects: Science & Tech

Topics: Geology & Natural Disasters. Scientific Inquiry.

Resource Type: Offline Activity/Project

14. Seismometer

Source: ZOOM

Build an instrument for measuring movement to learn about how scientists measure the Earth's movement with a seismometer.

Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8

Subjects: Science & Tech

Topics: Geology & Natural Disasters.

Resource Type: Offline Activity/Project

15. Surviving the Dustbowl

Source: American Experience

Examine the struggle of American farmers during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, and describe the impact authors and artists had on the policies of the New Deal. Compare their struggle with farmers today and survivors of other disasters.

Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12

Subjects: Science & Tech, Social Studies

Topics: Ecology. Geology & Natural Disasters. Economics. United States History: 1929-1945.

Resource Type: Offline Activity/Project

16. The Hurricane of '38

Source: American Experience

Map major storm disasters in the United States and describe the worst storm you've experienced personally. Describe the path and aftermath of a major storm and explore careers and technologies associated with weather and storm disasters.

Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12

Subjects: Science & Tech, Social Studies

Topics: Geology & Natural Disasters. Careers. Technology and Civilization.

Resource Type: Offline Activity/Project

17. Under and Around the Red Sea

Source: Scientific American Frontiers

Research the composition and physiology of coral by measuring and converting measurements of the cells, temperature and sizes of polyps. Use this information and simulate how an ancient earthquake could have caused the parting of the Red Sea.

Grade Level: 6-8

Subjects: Math, Science & Tech

Topics: Functions and Algebra. Measurement. Animals: Invertebrates. Geology & Natural Disasters. Oceanography.

Resource Type: Offline Activity/Project

18. Weather Folklore

Source: Dragonfly TV

Explore folktales about weather, decide if weather folklore can accurately predict weather and learn how meteorologists predict weather. Investigate how tornados form, build a tornado model and determine how to make the strongest tornado vortex.

Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8

Subjects: Science & Tech

Topics: Geology & Natural Disasters. Meteorology.

Resource Type: Offline Activity/Project

19. Whitewater Rapids

Source: Dragonfly TV

Examine how elevation change is related to the difficulty of rapids in a river, determine how to measure river properties such as elevation and flow rate and make a river model with sand in a jelly roll pan to observe how water carves a path.

Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8

Subjects: Science & Tech

Topics: Geology & Natural Disasters. Motion & Forces.

Resource Type: Offline Activity/Project