In this informational text, elementary school readers learn about the difference between weather and climate and about components of the climate system. The text can be used to practice visualizing and other comprehension strategies. Available in K-2 and 3-5 grade bands and as an illustrated book as well as a text document, the story appears in the online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle.

In this activity, learners use a hand-made protractor to measure angles they find in playground equipment. Learners will observe that angle measurements do not change with distance, because they are distance invariant, or constant. Note: The "Pocket Protractor" activity should be done ahead as a separate activity (see related resource), but a standard protractor can be used as a substitute.

In this demonstration, amaze learners by performing simple tricks using mirrors. These tricks take advantage of how a mirror can reflect your right side so it appears to be your left side. To make the effect more dramatic, cover the mirror with a cloth, climb onto the table, straddle the mirror, and then drop the cloth as you appear to "take off." This resource contains information about how this trick was applied during the making of the movie "Star Wars."

The ability to ask and answer questions while reading is essential to comprehension. This article discusses instructional strategies used to teach questioning and provides many online resources. The article appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, which explores the seven essential principles of the climate sciences for teachers in k-grade 5 classrooms.

In this optics activity, learners discover that when they rotate a special black and white pattern called a Benham's Disk, it produces the illusion of colored rings. Learners experiment with the speed of rotation and direction of rotation to observe varying patterns. Use this activity to explain to learners how our eyes detect color and how different color receptors in the eye respond at different rates.

A new instructional model, called Argument-Driven Inquiry (ADI), is introduced to elementary teachers in this article. The author shows how school librarians and classroom teachers can collaborate to help students construct and communicate evidence, or arguments. Evidence buckets, a collaborative activity, and related online resources are presented. The article appears in the free online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, which is structured around the seven essential principles of climate literacy.

Evaluating has been called one of the six most important reading comprehension strategies. In this article, it is also considered as a strategy for analyzing and interpreting data. This professional development article appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, which integrates science education and literacy instruction for K-grade 5 teachers. Each issue examines one of the recognized essential principles of climate literacy and the climate sciences and one or more reading strategies for elementary teachers and their students.

The books selected for this list complement articles in the issue of Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle that introduce the concepts of water availability and of extreme weather conditions. In nonfiction and fiction, the books for Grades K-5 emphasize that freshwater is a limited resource and explain how and why extreme weather events occur.

The author identifies online lessons that will support students in applying evaluation skills to fiction and nonfiction texts. The article appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, which integrates science education and literacy skills instruction.

Different approaches to teaching the reading comprehension strategy of inferring in K-5 classrooms are identified in this article. The article appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, which is structured around the essential principles of climate science.

Making predictions is a skill readers need for comprehending fiction and nonfiction. Three lessons are identified here to give young readers opportunities to make predictions about nonfiction text found in print or on web pages. The lessons are aligned with the national standards for English language arts. The article appears in the free, online magazine that focuses on the seven essential principles of climate literacy.

This item is an interactive Java simulation that illustrates the structure of two-dimensional vector fields using the "grass seeds" (or "iron filings") representation. Users enter x and y components for a field, then choose from a variety of field examples: two-point charges, dipole in constant or no field, two-line currents, radiating dipole, and dipole in a field with gradient. The applet will display the chosen field in either a grass seeds electric field or as equipotential lines. For more advanced users, the applet provides functions for yielding polar coordinates. This item is part of a collection of visualizations developed by the MIT TEAL project to supplement an introductory course in calculus-based electricity and magnetism. Lecture notes, labs, and presentations are also available as part of MIT's Open Courseware Repository: MIT Open Courseware: Electricity and Magnetism

This is a Java simulation on electrostatic induction, showing how it is possible to charge a conductor without direct contact. A conductor is placed in close proximity to a charged object (the user controls amount of charge from -200 to 200.) Charge separation in the conductor, grounding, and ungrounding are all then simulated in turn. At any time, users may view the changing electric field as a "grass seeds" representation or as electric potential lines. Clicking and dragging anywhere within the field will allow a 3-D view of the system. This item is part of a collection of visualizations developed by the MIT TEAL project to supplement an introductory course in calculus-based electricity and magnetism. Lecture notes, labs, and presentations are also available as part of MIT's Open Courseware Repository: MIT Open Courseware: Electricity and Magnetism

This is an interactive 3-D simulation of the electric field of two equal and opposite charges. The user moves an observation point around to see how the total field at various points arises from the individual fields of each charge. This item is part of a larger collection of visualizations developed by the MIT TEAL/Studio Physics Project to support an introductory course in electricity and magnetism. Lecture notes, labs, and presentations are also available as part of the MIT Open Courseware Repository: MIT Open Courseware: Electricity and Magnetism

This Java simulation depicts the interaction of charged particles inside the two plates of a capacitor. The user may place up to 12 charges in each capacitor plate and set the magnitude of particle charge. The simulation initiates with a view of the charges distributing themselves around the outer edge of the plates. The resulting electric field can then be viewed as electric potential lines or "grass seeds". This item is part of a collection of visualizations developed by the MIT TEAL project to supplement an introductory course in calculus-based electricity and magnetism. Lecture notes, labs, and presentations are also available as part of MIT's Open Courseware Repository: MIT Open Courseware: Electricity and Magnetism

This interactive Java simulation illustrates the field pattern created by two point charges with opposite signs of charge. Users can change the position and magnitude of charge and the field configuration will update automatically. Three field visualizations can be applied to the simulation: vector field, electric potential lines, and "grass seeds". This item is part of a collection of visualizations developed by the MIT TEAL project to supplement an introductory course in calculus-based electricity and magnetism. Lecture notes, labs, and presentations are also available as part of MIT's Open Courseware Repository: MIT Open Courseware: Electricity and Magnetism

This web page contains a set of 3D simulations and visualizations relating to supplement a calculus-based course in Electricity and Magnetism. Topics include the electric field of a positive and a negative charge, van de Graaff generator attracting and repelling a charge, creating and destroying an electric field, charge interactions, interactive molecules in 2D and 3D, lattices, an interactive electrostatic force experiment, and an electrostatic video game. Formats for these resources include Shockwave, Java (jnlp files), and MPEG. In addition, the TEAL project has made course notes, labs, and presentations available as part of the MIT Open Courseware Repository.

This is a simulation consisting of two fixed charges and one charge that is free to move. The objective of the game is to "steer" the moving charge around a maze by changing the value of the charge in response to the forces acting on it due to the electric field. This item is part of a larger collection of visualizations developed by the MIT TEAL/Studio Physics Project. Lecture notes, labs, and presentations are also available as part of the MIT Open Courseware Repository.

This is an instructor's guide for an experiment to measure electrostatic force, using parallel plates made from two washers, insulating perf-board, and aluminum foil. Photos and detailed instructions are provided for experimental setup. SEE RELATED MATERIALS for a Java simulation by the same authors on the topic of capacitance. For an Excel spreadsheet developed specifically to accompany this experiment, see link below: MIT Physics 8.02 Open Courseware: Labs

Part of the MIT TEAL/Studio Physics Project, this web page contains a set of 3-D simulations relating to Faraday's Law. Each of the visualizations was developed to supplement the MIT Physics 8.02 course in calculus-based Electricity and Magnetism. Topics for this section include 3-dimensional models of levitating and suspended rings, falling rings with and without resistance, and magnetic monopole/dipole above a conducting plane. Users will also find interactive Java simulations on falling coils and magnets, magnetic inductance, and Lenz's Law. In addition, the TEAL project has made course notes, labs, and presentations available as part of its Open Courseware Repository: MIT Open Courseware: Electricity and Magnetism